How to cost a cake
- List every ingredient, including the small ones: baking powder, salt, vanilla, food colour. Small amounts of expensive things such as vanilla, saffron or good cocoa add up.
- Find the price per unit of each one: what you paid for the pack divided by the pack size.
- Multiply by the amount used and add up the lines. Include the frosting and filling, not just the sponge.
- Add what isn't an ingredient: the box, the board, the ribbon, and the oven time.
- Divide by what it makes to get the cost per cake or per slice.
Then decide what to charge. The recipe price calculator turns a cost into a price at the food cost percentage you choose, and the food cost percentage calculator checks a price you already charge.
Things bakers often leave out
- Greasing and dusting: the butter and flour for the tin.
- Decorations: sprinkles, fondant, edible glitter, toppers.
- Test bakes for a new flavour or a large order.
- Your time. A decorated celebration cake can take hours. Add it as an extra cost so it shows in the price, or make sure your food cost target leaves room for it.
Keep costs current
Butter, eggs and chocolate change price often. In Recipe Cost Calculator you update the price once and every recipe you are working on is re-costed. When you have settled a recipe and its price, submit it to lock the prices it was costed at, so you can always see what a bake cost when you priced it.