Clueless about cakes - The PASH Wedding Forums and Message Boards

ringem1 · #1 03-02-2008, 02:25 AM

Im really not sure where to post this but I had a question about wedding cakes.....I am going to call the lady, that lives up the road from me who does cakes, on monday and I know absolutely nothing about cakes. So what kind of questions do I need to ask and what information is she going to need to know??

JessLynn · #2 03-02-2008, 02:35 AM

Off of the top of my head I would ask her about the kind of batter/mix that she uses, flavors that are available, cost per slice, type of icing that she uses, what time the cake would be delivered to you the day of your wedding, when you can do any tastings, how many layers you would need to feed your guest list, how far in advance is she going to prepare your cake (ie will it be fresh), if you are going to use white icing, is she going to use crisco or real butter (real butter causes icing to be more ivory or yellowish, crisco is greasier but causes that bridal white finish on your cake).

Woooo, that was more than I thought I would remember! Hope that helps!

NovemberGal · #3 03-02-2008, 02:42 AM

I'm assuming she makes wedding cakes, not just regular cakes? If this is a "regular" cake baker, you want to be sure she has experience with wedding cakes. Unless you're having a "deconstructed" cake, a sheet cake, or one that's just a couple layers, wedding cakes can be very different to construct, and just because someone makes good cakes doesn't mean they can make a wedding cake that won't crush or fall over.

That said, you mostly want to know what her price ranges and options are. What flavors does she offer? Fillings? Icings? How do these affect the price? (Wedding cakes are generally priced per serving, btw.) Can you have different tiers or layers done in different flavors if you'd like?

Do you have ideas of what you'd like as far as shape and decoration? Something traditional--stacked round or square tiers--or something more creative, shaped like a castle or basket or whatever? Do you have fancy decorations in mind? Patterns or colors, or icing ribbon or flowers or animals or other kinds of sculpture that would need to be made out of sugar or icing? Can she do what you what? How will the decorations affect the price? Ask about icing--buttercream, fondant, royal icing, etc. Be sure you tell her when and where the cake will be displayed, and for how long. Some kinds of icing cannot be outside in the sun, for example.

If you have ideas, bring pictures. You should expect her to show you pictures of her work. Look through them, mark or note ones that have elements you like (she should ASK YOU to do this--if she doesn't, you should ask to be allowed to). She should give you samples of both cakes and fillings, and maybe icings as well--if not at the first meeting, then at a second one, after you've determined a few flavors you'd like to try.

If you have pictures or samples of other elements of the wedding, like the colors of dresses, flowers, linens, those could be helpful to her in terms of offering suggestions for decoration of the cake. You should give her at least a ballpark number of how many guests you're having, and whether there will be other desserts or if the cake is the only dessert offering.

Ask her to demonstrate the size of what she considers a serving. Some bakers have a very generous serving size, and you can save money by ordering fewer servings and just having them cut smaller.

If you want a huge, impressive, fancy cake but don't have that many people attending, ask if she offers decorated "dummy layers". Sometimes brides will order 7-layer cakes (or whatever) and only three of those are real cake, the rest are foam or cardboard decorated with icing. A cost saving idea you can ask about if you're interested is sort of the opposite--a small two or three layer cake with a sheet cake in the back that's cut out of sight of the guests--they'll never know they aren't getting pieces of the "real" wedding cake, and you save money because the sheet cake is cheaper and not decorated so fancy.

Ask for references. Ask how she manages transportation and set up, and when she'd need to deliver the cake to your location. Ask if she provides real flowers if you want them, or if that's something you need to get from your florist. Ask if she rents cake stands and/or the pedestal/riser thingies that go between tiers if you want separated layers.

That's all I can think of at the moment!

ringem1 · #4 03-02-2008, 03:14 AM

Wow I had no idea that I needed to ask so many things but I have never had any experience with this sort of thing. Thank you those were very helpful.

KaileK · #5 03-02-2008, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NovemberGal

I'm assuming she makes wedding cakes, not just regular cakes? If this is a "regular" cake baker, you want to be sure she has experience with wedding cakes. Unless you're having a "deconstructed" cake, a sheet cake, or one that's just a couple layers, wedding cakes can be very different to construct, and just because someone makes good cakes doesn't mean they can make a wedding cake that won't crush or fall over.

That said, you mostly want to know what her price ranges and options are. What flavors does she offer? Fillings? Icings? How do these affect the price? (Wedding cakes are generally priced per serving, btw.) Can you have different tiers or layers done in different flavors if you'd like?

Do you have ideas of what you'd like as far as shape and decoration? Something traditional--stacked round or square tiers--or something more creative, shaped like a castle or basket or whatever? Do you have fancy decorations in mind? Patterns or colors, or icing ribbon or flowers or animals or other kinds of sculpture that would need to be made out of sugar or icing? Can she do what you what? How will the decorations affect the price? Ask about icing--buttercream, fondant, royal icing, etc. Be sure you tell her when and where the cake will be displayed, and for how long. Some kinds of icing cannot be outside in the sun, for example.

If you have ideas, bring pictures. You should expect her to show you pictures of her work. Look through them, mark or note ones that have elements you like (she should ASK YOU to do this--if she doesn't, you should ask to be allowed to). She should give you samples of both cakes and fillings, and maybe icings as well--if not at the first meeting, then at a second one, after you've determined a few flavors you'd like to try.

If you have pictures or samples of other elements of the wedding, like the colors of dresses, flowers, linens, those could be helpful to her in terms of offering suggestions for decoration of the cake. You should give her at least a ballpark number of how many guests you're having, and whether there will be other desserts or if the cake is the only dessert offering.

Ask her to demonstrate the size of what she considers a serving. Some bakers have a very generous serving size, and you can save money by ordering fewer servings and just having them cut smaller.

If you want a huge, impressive, fancy cake but don't have that many people attending, ask if she offers decorated "dummy layers". Sometimes brides will order 7-layer cakes (or whatever) and only three of those are real cake, the rest are foam or cardboard decorated with icing. A cost saving idea you can ask about if you're interested is sort of the opposite--a small two or three layer cake with a sheet cake in the back that's cut out of sight of the guests--they'll never know they aren't getting pieces of the "real" wedding cake, and you save money because the sheet cake is cheaper and not decorated so fancy.

Ask for references. Ask how she manages transportation and set up, and when she'd need to deliver the cake to your location. Ask if she provides real flowers if you want them, or if that's something you need to get from your florist. Ask if she rents cake stands and/or the pedestal/riser thingies that go between tiers if you want separated layers.

That's all I can think of at the moment!

Nice!