To price a plated dessert, cost each component per portion (the base, the sauce, the crunch, the garnish), spread each prep over the portions you actually sell, and divide that cost by your target food cost percentage. If a slice of cheesecake with its garnish costs you $3.00 per plate sold and you want food cost at 28% of the price, the menu price is 3.00 ÷ 0.28 = $10.71 before tax. The target percentage is yours, not a textbook's. And the cost has to include what gets binned at the end of the week.
Cost it by components
A plated dessert is rarely a single recipe. It usually has a base (cheesecake, sponge, panna cotta), something alongside (a sauce, a compote, a scoop of ice cream), something crunchy (a tuile, a crumble) and the garnish. Cost each component as its own recipe:
- Cost of the whole prep, from your latest invoices.
- Weight of the finished prep. Weigh it yourself: compote reduces in the pan, crumble loses weight in the oven.
- Grams that go on each plate.
component cost per plate = prep cost × grams per plate ÷ grams the prep yields
Then add the components up. It is the same method as the guide on how to cost a plate for your menu, applied to dessert.
Garnish is cost too
The mint leaf, the three raspberries, the caramel shard, the cocoa dusted on the rim. Per plate they look like nothing; over a month of service they are real money. Weigh the garnish on ten plates, divide by ten and add it as another component.
If garnish fruit spoils before you use it, that is waste too. If you buy a punnet of berries and use half for garnish, the whole punnet is spread across the plates you garnished.
Service waste: what does not sell
Plated desserts are prepped before service and have a short life. Mousse weeps, cream splits, sponge dries out. Whatever does not go out in time gets thrown away.
For a few weeks, write down how many portions each prep gives and how many sell. That is your waste figure: do not borrow someone else's. Divide the prep cost by the portions sold.
Your target food cost percentage
Restaurants usually price menu items from a food cost percentage:
menu price before tax = ingredient cost per portion ÷ target food cost percentage
That percentage does not come from a table. It comes from what your staff, rent, utilities and profit need. Set your target and measure each dish against it. The guide on food cost percentage explains how to arrive at your number, and the plate price tool gives you the menu price from cost and your target.
Remember that food cost percentage only looks at ingredients. Gas, your pastry cook's time and the box for takeaway are not in it. So besides the percentage, look at how many dollars each dessert leaves you.
Worked example: baked cheesecake with berry compote
You serve a baked cheesecake with berry compote and whipped cream.
Cheesecake. One 9-inch cake:
| Ingredient | Cost |
|---|---|
| Cream cheese, 900 g (4 blocks at $5.00) | $20.00 |
| Sugar, 200 g | $0.30 |
| Eggs, 4 | $1.40 |
| Sour cream, 240 g | $2.00 |
| Graham crackers, 200 g | $2.00 |
| Butter, 100 g | $1.00 |
| Total | $26.70 |
You cut 12 slices. Over a month of service you sell 11 of every 12; the last slice of each cake dries out and goes. Cost per slice sold: 26.70 ÷ 11 = $2.43.
Berry compote. 500 g of frozen berries ($4.00) and 100 g of sugar ($0.15): $4.15. After cooking you weigh 450 g. Each plate gets 40 g: 4.15 × 40 ÷ 450 = $0.37.
Whipped cream: 25 g per plate, $0.15. Mint: $0.05.
| Component | Cost per plate |
|---|---|
| Cheesecake slice (per slice sold) | $2.43 |
| Berry compote | $0.37 |
| Whipped cream | $0.15 |
| Mint | $0.05 |
| Plate cost | $3.00 |
Price. Your target food cost for this restaurant is 28% (your example number, not a rule).
- Menu price before tax: 3.00 ÷ 0.28 = $10.71
- You put $11 on the menu.
- Check: 3.00 ÷ 11 = 27.3% food cost. Each plate leaves 11.00 − 3.00 = $8.00 for kitchen, front of house and profit.
If you had skipped waste and garnish. Costing only the cake over 12 slices gives 26.70 ÷ 12 = $2.23. At 28% that is $7.96, so $8 on the menu. At $8 your real food cost would be 3.00 ÷ 8 = 37.5%, nearly ten points over target, with nothing in the kitchen having changed.
If your menu prices include sales tax or VAT, take it out before running these numbers. Check your local tax rules or ask an accountant.
When a dessert does not pay
If the price you need is more than your guests will pay for dessert, you have three routes: cut cost (fewer grams of the expensive part, a different garnish), cut waste (smaller preps or desserts that keep longer) or accept a higher percentage because the dessert helps sell other things. Which one is right is a decision for the whole menu. The guide on menu engineering shows how to compare what each dish sells with what it leaves, and the one on how to price desserts and sweets has the method for every format, including desserts to take away.
Do it with the calculator
In the food cost calculator, enter each component, the portions it yields and the portions you sell; it returns the cost per plate and the menu price for your target percentage.
Frequently asked questions
What food cost percentage should a dessert have?
There is no number that fits everyone. Your target comes from your own staff, rent and running costs. Set yours and check each dessert against it.
Does garnish count in the dessert cost?
Yes. The mint leaf, the berries, the sauce on the plate and the cocoa dust all leave the kitchen on the plate. Weigh them per plate and add them.
How do I count desserts thrown away at the end of the week?
Write down how many portions each prep gives and how many you sell. Divide the prep cost by the portions sold. If you cut 12 and sell 11, divide by 11.
Do I work out food cost on the price with or without tax?
Without. Any sales tax or VAT in your menu price is not yours to keep. Take it out before working out the percentage, and check your local tax rules or ask an accountant.