So what exactly goes into making a novelty cake then?

The price of cakes - particularly novelty cakes can sometimes be more than you might have had in mind initially. "Oh my!", you think. "Surely it can't be that much - it's just a cake!  Right?".

People often expect to pay a lot for a wedding cake, but are surprised at the quote they have been given for a novelty cake. Yet novelty cakes are often more difficult to make.

A novelty cake is never just a cake. It's a tailor-made commissioned piece of art for your friend/ loved one. A personalised gift to light up their face and make their day, and hopefully remember for some time afterwards. Much much more than simply a dessert at a party, or something to eat with their cup of tea; a novelty cake takes centre-stage on the table at any celebration.

Good cake-makers can make detailed novelty cakes look effortless, and unless you are making novelty cakes yourself, it can be easy to dramatically underestimate how long a cake may have taken, and what went into it.

Novelty cake-making is a skill that takes a lot of practice to develop. It requires a good artistic ablilty, an eye for detail, a steady hand, and an awful lot of patience. If you have never made a novelty cake before and decide to give it a try, then you could be in for a shock (and probably some disappointment)!

I have been making novelty cakes for a number of years, and below I have detailed what is involved in making an €80 sponge novelty cake. Cakes that cost more than this are priced as such because they take longer to make. It is not unusual for a more complex cake e.g. a car to take 12+ hours.


Here's what goes into an average €80 novelty sponge-cake

Research time (often around 30 mins for a tailor-made cake - to design the cake and work out the size required and items needed)

Shopping time : Each cake requires specific items that have to be sourced individually - including specific size and shape of board (boards cost between €2.49 and €13 depending on the size and shape), the box (can cost between €1.50 and €5) , ribbons, decoration, edible paints, other decorations, specific colours of icing, and in some cases new tools.

Preparation of sponge mixture and baking time: Around 1.5 hours in total.

Each cake is baked fresh to order within about 3 days of dispatch so that the cake is as fresh as possible and will keep for at least 2 weeks. Every cake is made using free range eggs and pure butter for a real home-made taste.

Decorating time: Around 3.5 hours for a €80 novelty cake.

Carving and sculpting the shape of the cake.

Butter-creaming between layers and around the cake.

Colouring and kneading the fondant icing and then decorating the cake - smoothing it so it looks neat and without bumps and air-bubbles.

Bringing the cake to life with all the details - using textures, colouring and molding of the different fondant parts and attachments, making the models, painting etc.

Ingredients used:

1.75 - 2.5lbs of pure butter (for cake and buttercream)
1.25 - 1.5lbs flour

1.25 - 1.5 lbs castor sugar

6    - 12 free range eggs.

1.5 -  2lbs icing sugar

Flavouring and jam

Plain fondant icing, pre-coloured fondant packs, specialised Mexican modelling paste, or flower paste for details and models.

Other items:

Edible paints, glitters, sprays, confectioners glaze, edible glue, CMC thickening agent for fondant, thick foiled cake board, ribbon for the board, and box - not forgetting tools for shaping and cutting. It is not unusual for the cost of these extras to add up to more than the cost of the main cake itself.

Ingredients and extra items normally add up to €28 - €35 for an average €80 novelty cake. That leaves around €42-€35 for my work and time on the cake. In comparison this is a much lower hourly rate than other skilled jobs would pay.

Delivery cost and time

I always deliver the cake free of charge if within 5 km of my house.

So - there you have it - the novelty cake experience behind the scenes.

What affects the price of a cake?

Figurines & models

A cake that has figures on it will add to the price of a cake. Animal figures require specialist Mexican modelling paste and take between 30 and 90 minutes to model (each add from €15+ to overall price), and dressed human figurines with facial expressions take around 1.5-2 hours to make (each add from €25+ to overall price).

Also bear in mind that little models of items will add to the price - the intricacy of the items and number of them is proportional to the cost.

'Technical' cakes

A cake that requires a technical representation such as, say, a car cake, camera cake, or an electric guitar cake, requires critical attention to proportions and measurements for a respectable likeness which takes time and must be factored into the overall cost.

Sculpted Cakes

3D cakes that need to be sculpted into a shape such as a car, a 3D animal cake or, for example, the Nemo cake will involve wastage of cake, so the cost of this wastage must be factored into the overall cost.

A metallic, shiny coloured cake

Cakes that are very silvery, gold, pearlescent, or metallic in colour will be more expensive as the metallic shiny edible paints and sprays are more costly than other colours. For cakes that require shiny gold detail, I often use 24ct gold leaf (real gold and completely edible) powder for a stunning finish.

Overall size of the cake

Most novelty and standard celebration cakes will feed on average between 35 and 45 people. If your cake is to cater for more people than this, then the cake will cost more.

Flavour of the cake

Cakes made with chocolate and also alcohol will cost more than other sponge flavours.

Fruit cake costs considerably more than sponge cake since it is full of rich ingredients: fruit, nuts, cherries, and lots of French brandy. However - a fruit cake will provide twice as many portions as a sponge cake of the same size and last a lot longer (sponge cake lasts around 2 weeks if kept in a cool airtight container, whereas fruit cake will last for months). As a price guide, a 10ins square fruitcake for example will cost €35 more than a sponge cake of the same size.
Candles

I don't generally supply candles for cakes. However, I will source them for you if requested and add this to the cake price - depending on the number and type of candles you require.