Does $60 sound like too much for a half sheet cake?

[An_Island_Girl]

Although some people really like the cakes at BJ's, Sams Club and Costco, it's just not for us.

We prefer to use a local organic bakery that lists where each ingredient comes from, and lets you customize your special cake any way you'd like it (like a wedding cake, but for any occasion). There is an initial consultation that you bring pictures, ideas, and have a taste session, then we go from there. These cakes cost anywhere from $75+ and the + can get quite pricy depending on how big you want to go.

This is a special occasion, and if the cake is a priority for you, spend whatever you are comfortable with. If you are having a party for just the graduates though, they might not mind an inexpensive Sams Club cake at all. Around here, no one really passes up cake, no matter how wonderful, or not it tastes!

 

[#1hoosierfan]

I paid $25 for a quarter sheet cake for ds's birthday. The lady does cakes as a hobby. She hand drew Donald Duck in buttercream icing, so I know it took a long time.

 

[aprilgail2]

Sounds spot on for a bakery cake. I got a full sheet cake and it was 125.00.

 

[mjkacmom]

Costco sheet cakes are really good, as are our Shoprite cakes (people always ask me where I got it).

 

[elgerber]

If you or a friend has a costco membership, they have good cakes there for a LOT less. $14.99 half sheet? I think.

I ordered one for a baby shower. It was good.

You get a filling if you want too.

Good luck.

I love having an occasion that gives me an excuse to order a Costco half sheet!!! They are so yummy!!!! I think they might be $16.99 now, but still cheaper than everywhere else.

 

[bucket o' butter]

That seems high to me. I decorate cakes and I charge $26 for a half sheet cake. I know that is a bit lower than most stores, but I don't do it for a living. I wouldn't think you should pay any more than $40 and I still think that would be too much.

 

[bucket o' butter]

I love having an occasion that gives me an excuse to order a Costco half sheet!!! They are so yummy!!!! I think they might be $16.99 now, but still cheaper than everywhere else.

I think you are thinking of a quarter sheet cake which is a 9x13 size. A half sheet is 13x18. $14.99 seems way too cheap for a half sheet even if it is Costco.

 

[elgerber]

I think you are thinking of a quarter sheet cake which is a 9x13 size. A half sheet is 13x18. $14.99 seems way too cheap for a half sheet even if it is Costco.

Have you ever bought one at Costco? It is a half sheet for that price. It costs less then the quarter sheets at Target and other local grocery stores.

 

[budafam]

It sounds about right to me as long as it's not a cheapo Walmart cake.

I decorate cakes and usually charge by the serving. A half sheet serves quite a few people surprisingly and it can get costly. It also depends on what kind of design you're looking at, filling, icing, flavor, etc.

Bakers who charge what grocery stores are charging are giving other bakers a hard time... home made cakes should be more expensive IMO. They take a lot more work and are not just slapped together in mass quantities like grocery stores.

 

[Mom_Rides]

I ordered DD's first birthday cake from a local bakery. The cake was decorated so awesome and they gave us her "smash" cake that was in the shape of a number 1 for free. It was a full sheet cake and it cost me $80. One bite into the cake left me wishing that I had just went to Walmart or Meijer. The decoration sure was cool but that cake was not good. The price sounds right if its more then just a standard cake but if you've never been to this bakery before (as I had not) then I would recommend that you do a sampling first.

 

[sticker231]

Half sheet cake at Costco $17.99

 

[Judique]

We are in the process of ordering a cake for our graduation party. My Dh thinks that $60 is too much to pay for a half a sheet cake. I'll gladly pay more if I don't have to worry about making a cake! What's the going rate for cakes in bakeries?

The bakery close to me (in Maryland) charges that price for a 1/4. It is high. Costco has an $18 cake that is good.

That said, the bakery's cake is excellent! Makes me want to go over and buy a dessert......

 

[scrapquitler]

We are in the process of ordering a cake for our graduation party. My Dh thinks that $60 is too much to pay for a half a sheet cake. I'll gladly pay more if I don't have to worry about making a cake! What's the going rate for cakes in bakeries?

That depends on how delicious it is. If it's really delicious and has beautiful decorations and comes from a bakery rather than somewhere like the grocery store/wal-mart or costco, I would pay it.

I was just looking at the graduation cakes in my grocery store bakery last week. They were $29.99 but they weren't anything special. If I were getting something 'special' and extra nice, I would pay $60 for a graduation cake.

 

[bucket o' butter]

Have you ever bought one at Costco? It is a half sheet for that price. It costs less then the quarter sheets at Target and other local grocery stores.

Unfortunately we don't have a Costco near us. That is an awesome price for a half sheet! If they taste good, I would go for it!

 

[elgerber]

Unfortunately we don't have a Costco near us. That is an awesome price for a half sheet! If they taste good, I would go for it!

I love them!!!!!!!!! They have a chocolate with a choc. mousse filling and a white with a cream cheese mousse filling, both are sooooooooooooo good!! Thank goodness DS just graduated, so I can get one or two in July .

 

[mousebymarriage]

I just picked up a cake this morning for DS's b-day and the cost was $40 at our town bakery (not grocery store), they make awesome cakes! The cake is 1/4 sheet, chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream icing and chocolate mousse filling...can you tell DS really likes chocolate. Regular decorations and the entire cake (sides only) is covered in chocolate shavings. This is DS's favorite cake and he requests it whenever we have a special occassion. This is his family b-day party, his actual b-day is June 27th but we will be in Disney!!!!

*cake feeds 22-25 people.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Costco...awesome cakes..cheap prices.

 

[deezeealum]

I love them!!!!!!!!! They have a chocolate with a choc. mousse filling and a white with a cream cheese mousse filling, both are sooooooooooooo good!! Thank goodness DS just graduated, so I can get one or two in July .

we just picked up the choc/choc cake this morning for my daughter's 6th bday party. Costco cakes re amazingly good. Much better then our local grocery stores and our local bakeries charge over $60 for a cake that wasn't that special tasting or looking

 

[RooRach0906]

Our Martin's grocery store took over a Local grocery store called Ukrop's they kept the bakery the same and I got a 1/2 sheet of half devil's food and half white cake for DD birthday with buttercream icing for $35. It was oh so yummy! They left the bakery as the Ukrops bakery because in our area most local people LOVE there dessert and cafe foods. In fact, I know many many people who get them to make there wedding cakes. So I personally couldnt pay $60 for a half sheet.

 

[descovy]

Ellen, can you give us more info?

Some occasions a Sams/Costco/grocery sheet cake if perfectly adequate. But if you asked a baker to custom make decorations, etc, torte and fill, $60 may be a great deal! Also, what size are we talking? 11x16 (standard) or 12x18?

I sell cakes. I call my 12x18 a half sheet, but it serves 40-60. Homemade cake, homemade buttercream (with butter!) icing, torted and filled. It serves 40-60 people and I charge $65. That is a good deal for a bakery cake, we are talking $1-1.35 a serving. That's downright cheap!

Are you getting a generic spray of roses? Are you asking for fondant cutouts, figurines? Graduation cakes, especially, people request a sheet cake, and say, can you include that she plays basketball and is in drama, her favorite color, her high school emblem, her college emblem, etc., etc., etc., Yeah, that is a little more involved than piping red and gold flowers and writing Congratulations Sarah on a cake.

Grocery cake is shipped to the store frozen. They slap some crisco-creme on it and take an average of 15 minutes to decorate it. It is assembly line... quick get it done, move on.

Compare that to baking the cake, making the icing, creating a design that incorporates 5 featured without looking haphazard, etc... I might spend 6 hours on that cake, which equates to $10/hr... but that doesn't even count supplies/ingrediants, so yeah $7/hr. Suddenly $60 for a sheet cake sounds cheap!

So maybe $60 is or isn't too much for a sheet cake. It depends on the details though...