Something for Nothing?

 

If you don’t know, I decorate cakes.  I started doing this about 3 years ago and have baked, decorated & delivered over 100 cakes.  Most are for friends & family or just practice.  Since mom passed, I’ve taken a break from it but am starting up again this week.  I’m excited to get back into it.  I eventually want this to be my career.  We are in the early planning stages of that happening but in the meantime, I take the practice that I can get.  I get a lot of people coming to me looking for the “Ace of Cakes” type stuff.  Television shows like this have ruined it for many bakers.  People want the crazy, 3D, explosion type masterpieces that they create on these shows but they want to pay the Walmart prices.  The amount of time that I put into a cake is absurd.  You wouldn’t believe how long it takes to carve or mold a 3D figure and make it look decent.  There’s the ingredient cost then there’s the cost of all the tools, the extras (such as dowels, toothpicks, food colorings, cake boards, freezer paper/foil, ribbon, gumpaste, fondant, etc.) that nobody realizes.  So once these prices are taken off of the grand total, I end up making less than minimum wage for the amount of hours I work on a cake.  I’m done with doing that.  No more.  Not even for friends or family.  If you want an “Ace of Cakes” cake, check out their website!  They require a MINIMUM of $1,000 per cake order.  So before you go asking me for something crazy, please consider that.  Please consider the amount of time and energy and thought put into each cake.  I love creating but if I’m not getting compensated enough, I’d rather be spending the time with my family.