Cash from Baking??

TashaC

karenccs67 I did a beginners course at my local college, and have found it really hard to find a certificated course in London although there are a few about I'm yet to find something that can fit in.

Not to sure about the mums who bake course, may see if I can get stuck in myself like Rince I purchased a few cupcake books... its all about experience... will see how it goes Defo keep me updated with your progress!

A friend has approached me about selling cupcakes to him as he owns an events management company, so I need to think about pricing, packaging, as well as what flavours to make for him to sample!

Has anybody priced for cupcakes? I'm ok at costing the materials, but am unsure how much I should be adding for labour, and indirect costs such as electric?

karenccs67

Tascha. the cupcakes that Ive seen for sale are about £1 each, hope that helps.

Rince

The ones that are local to us start at £1.25. I've looked at alot of online cupcake websites and some are £1.25. Alot are £1.50 + depending on how fancy they are.

Cupcake boxes are expensive, I can't find anywhere cheaper than .....

http://www.cakeboxesdirect.com/vmchk/Cupcake-Boxes/View-all-products.html
http://www.craftcompany.co.uk/acatalog/Cupcake_Boxes.html

I got my 10inch cake boxes from cake boxes direct. The more you buy the cheaper it is.

I was really worried about what to charge for a cake, lots of people have been asking me since they've seen the cakes i've made and I said £30, they've all said that's fair and some of them have ordered cakes. I think if I did something more fancy or technical i'd charge more, but for now i'm going to carry on at £30. (£10 costs + £20 labour)

Anyone know how to put photos on here ?

skintbint_2

cant help you very much with the photos Rince, however a tip for the square cakes is to tie newspaper around the outside of the tin,you can put extra on the corners, happens because of the two sections of tin getting hot so close to each other so the tin cooks the cake quicker at the corners. i fold over abour three strips of newspaper lengthways and tie round with abour 3 inches going above the tin - this stops the top burning/browning too quickly as well - seen the Hairy Bikers do this and works a treat! HTH

Tascha- how many are we talking at a time/how often? as i think that may have an impact on your pricing.

lozza1985

I wish I could make nice cakes - have recently booked someone to do our wedding cake for next year, her work looks good and she was the cheapest we could find for the quality, but still £160 for a smallish 2 layer cake!

Some definately should have been wearing masks, there cakes "started from" about £400!!!!!!!!! If you can advertise yourself well, and get good referrals then you should do well, if you can make a cake for a friend/family wedding it would be good advertising, I nearly used the same lady as did my sisters wedding cake, but didn't because she didn't deliver. The lady we've booked with will deliver for £20, which is worth it for us as its one less thing to stress over. Could be worth offering delivery, as if you can get a few in the same area you would actually be making a profit on your delivery rather than just covering costs.

skintbint_2

lozza1985 wrote: »

I wish I could make nice cakes - have recently booked someone to do our wedding cake for next year, her work looks good and she was the cheapest we could find for the quality, but still £160 for a smallish 2 layer cake!

Some definately should have been wearing masks, there cakes "started from" about £400!!!!!!!!! If you can advertise yourself well, and get good referrals then you should do well, if you can make a cake for a friend/family wedding it would be good advertising! x

lozza - are you having fruit cake? you have time to learn and if you get the right recipes & books, its definately not as difficult as you would think

lozza1985

The cake itself wouldn't be a problem, it would be icing it, we want an iced me to you bear couple on the top in bride and groom outfits, with an iced black and White cat somewhere.....mine would look rubbish lol I'm not very artistic!

skintbint_2

saw these and thought about the cup cakes with tissue paper, unfortuantely the minimum order is 100 pieces, and delivery quite expensive at £9.95
http://www.winebox.co.uk/9-inch-cake-box-pink-polka-dot?sc=2&category=40023

hayley11

So glad I found this thread, so much useful information

I've just got into baking and I eventually want to start selling them. I've had a couple of people ask me how much I charge but as i've only made a few, I don't feel comfortable doing them for money just yet.

My local college were doing a 10 week course but they took it off and now the only ones they've got are the year long cake decorating courses that cost nearly £400. Can't afford that!

I was thinking of selling cakes like cherry cakes, lemon cakes, gingerbread etc as well as birthday/wedding cakes and cupcakes? Sort of having an online bakery? Do you think that would work?

Rince

I think it would work. Ever since I started making cakes and cupcakes as a hobby and taking them to work etc, i've had loads of requests and now have started selling them. People don't mind paying for something that homemade and that much better than shop bought cakes. I've been photographing everything I do and friends have all commented on how I should really concentrate on doing it as a business. But I know this will take time etc.
Go for it:)