Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting: how much it costs to make, per portion
An oil-based carrot cake traybake with walnuts and sultanas, finished with a cream cheese frosting and cut into 16. Costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026; the brown sugar, sultanas and vanilla are Morrisons shelf prices from the same day.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample café menu, a realistic UK menu price. The lowest price is the one that just reaches 68% GP, the UK food GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). It covers the ingredients at a normal margin, not staff, rent or energy, and most cafés, pubs and takeaways charge more for simple dishes. Check what places near you charge. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
VAT: cold cake sold to take away is zero-rated; eaten on your premises (including your own tables outside) it is standard-rated at 20%. HMRC VAT Notice 709/1, section 4.1: “Cold takeaway food and drink is zero-rated, as long as it’s not of a type that’s always standard-rated” (Catering, takeaway food).
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Ingredients and cost, 16 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-raising flour | £10.49 | 7500 g | 300 g | £0.42 |
| Light brown soft sugar | £3.75 | 1000 g | 300 g | £1.13 |
| Vegetable oil | £26.99 | 20000 ml | 250 ml | £0.34 |
| Eggs, medium | £3.49 | 30 each | 4 each | £0.47 |
| Carrots (whole weight) | £7.49 | 10000 g | 370 g | £0.28 |
| Walnuts | £5.79 | 400 g | 100 g | £1.45 |
| Sultanas | £4.35 | 1000 g | 100 g | £0.44 |
| Ground cinnamon | £8.99 | 390 g | 6 g | £0.14 |
| Ground ginger | £3.49 | 400 g | 3 g | £0.03 |
| Baking powder | £1.79 | 800 g | 5 g | £0.01 |
| Full-fat soft cheese (frosting) | £9.99 | 1500 g | 300 g | £2.00 |
| Unsalted butter (frosting) | £30.49 | 5000 g | 75 g | £0.46 |
| Icing sugar (frosting) | £6.99 | 3000 g | 200 g | £0.47 |
| Vanilla extract | £3.50 | 95 ml | 5 ml | £0.18 |
| Batch total | £7.79 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 16) | £0.49 | |||
Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.
What it really costs: waste and staff time
| Ingredients | £0.49 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.02 |
| Staff time: 30 min hands-on for the batch of 16 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.50 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £1.01 |
At the sample café menu price (£3.50 ex VAT) that is 29% of the price, before rent, energy and everything else. Many UK sites aim to keep food plus staff (prime cost) at or under 60–65% of sales. The staff line counts hands-on prep only, not unattended cooking, and uses the April 2026 National Living Wage; put your own rate, minutes and waste in the calculator's real cost section or the prime cost calculator. Every dish side by side: the UK dish cost index.
Method
- Whisk the sugar, oil and eggs together; fold in the flour, baking powder and spices.
- Stir in the peeled, grated carrots, chopped walnuts and sultanas.
- Bake in a lined 30 x 20 cm tin at 170 °C for 35-40 minutes; cool completely.
- Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla, then beat in the cold cream cheese briefly; spread over the cake and cut into 16.
Costing notes
370 g of carrots as bought gives about 300 g peeled at the 82% yield on our carrot yield page. The frosting is £3.11 of the £7.79 cake. Several lines here are supermarket prices because JJ did not list them that day; a wholesale case of sugar and dried fruit would bring the total down.
Keep a cream cheese frosted cake chilled, and allow for it when you plan how many slices you cut and display each day.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 10 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher; one line JJ listed on delivery only is marked). Lines JJ did not list that day are Morrisons shelf prices from its website on the same day, marked on each line; a supermarket pack usually costs more per kilo than a wholesale case. JJ does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while soft drinks, alcohol, confectionery and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Self-raising flour: Wright's Self Raising Flour 5x1.5kg, 7.5 kg, £10.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Light brown soft sugar: Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Light Brown Soft Sugar 1kg, 1 kg, £3.75 shelf price — Morrisons (retail), accessed 2026-10-10
- Vegetable oil: JJ Vegetable Cooking Oil BIB 1x20L (OIL114), 20 L, £26.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Eggs, medium: Medium Eggs Size 3 1x30, 30 eggs, £3.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Carrots (whole weight): Carrots 1x10kg, 10 kg, £7.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Walnuts: JJ Walnuts 1x400g (SNA341), 400 g, £5.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Sultanas: Morrisons Sultanas 1kg, 1 kg, £4.35 shelf price — Morrisons (retail), accessed 2026-10-10
- Ground cinnamon: Schwartz for Chef Ground Cinnamon 1x390g, 390 g, £8.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Ground ginger: JJ Signature Ground Ginger 1x400g, 400 g, £3.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Baking powder: JJ Signature Baking Powder 1x800g, 800 g, £1.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Full-fat soft cheese (frosting): Croxton Full Fat Soft Cream Cheese 1x1.5kg (CHE182), 1.5 kg, £9.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Unsalted butter (frosting): Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 5 kg, £30.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Icing sugar (frosting): Tate & Lyle Icing Sugar 1x3kg, 3 kg, £6.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Vanilla extract: Dr.Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract 95ml, 95 ml, £3.50 shelf price — Morrisons (retail), accessed 2026-10-10
More costed dishes: bakery and cakes
- Victoria sponge — £0.37 a portion
- Scones with jam and clotted cream — £0.80 a portion
- Chocolate brownies — £0.33 a portion