BAKERY PRICING GUIDE
How do I price a cake per serving?
Price the whole cake first: add ingredients, active labor, packaging, and other order costs, then divide by one minus your target gross margin. Divide that unrounded whole-cake quote by the number of servings you can actually sell. Use the per-serving figure to compare orders, then quote the whole cake to the customer.
Decide what one serving means
A serving count depends on the finished cake, portion size, and cutting plan. Use the count you would actually promise for this order. A larger serving lowers the count and raises the calculated cost per serving; changing the count alone does not change the ingredients or work already in the cake.
Calculate the full order before dividing
Suppose a celebration cake uses $24 of ingredients, two active hours at $25 per hour ($50), and a $6 box. Entered cost is $80. At a 40% target gross margin, the unrounded whole-cake quote is $80 ÷ 0.60 = about $133.3333, displayed as $133.34. Twenty promised servings give $6.67 per serving when that unit figure is rounded up to cents.
Check a smaller serving count
If the same $80 cake provides 16 larger servings, the whole-cake quote remains $133.34, but the displayed figure becomes $8.34 per serving. Do not lower the whole-cake quote merely because you cut more, smaller slices.
Add work that changes with the design
A larger tier, detailed decoration, delivery, setup, or individually boxed slices can change the full cost. Update ingredients, hands-on minutes, packaging, and other costs before dividing by servings. A per-serving shortcut cannot capture a design change by itself.
Use the figure as a comparison, not a promise
Round the final whole-cake quote for the customer. Separately rounded per-serving amounts may add up a few cents higher than that quote. Check tax, fees, waste, local demand, and any minimum order requirement outside the worksheet.
Try the numbers from your own order
A worked example is only a starting point. Enter your actual package prices, recipe amounts, and time.
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