Cash from Baking??

EssexGirl

Do any of you know a cake decorator who works in or around Poole/ Parkstone? I know a bride to be who is looking for a wedding cake and has been quoted £300 for something simple.
Please PM if you can help.
Many thanks.

Kim_Possible

code-a-holic wrote: »

The doilies i bought had a printed line inside the pattern on the outer edge so i just cut along that.

Here is a link to a blog that has a tutorial on how to make them from doilies. It's American but you could try it out .
HTH
http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/cupcake-wrappers-made-from-doilies-free-cupcake-wrapper-template/

judywoody

EssexGirl wrote: »

Do any of you know a cake decorator who works in or around Poole/ Parkstone? I know a bride to be who is looking for a wedding cake and has been quoted £300 for something simple.
Please PM if you can help.
Many thanks.

How simple? I think some people underestimate the work that goes into a cake and the amount of ingredients. I don't currently buy my ingredients from a wholesaler. But check this out - I made a 4-tier cake with a relatively simple design for my friend's wedding a few weeks ago (you can see the link a few posts earlier)..
The bottom tier was a fruit cake and all the others were sponge cake. Taking into account the decoration and the icing the ingredients alone cost me 100£. And then it took me nearly 2 full days to bake the cakes, cover them, stack them and decorate the cake. A lot of cake shops have to pay for staff and the rental of the shop as well as electricity. This is all included in the price of the cake. So please don't view a cake as something "simple" before you haven't done one yourself.

judywoody

judywoody wrote: »

Hiya,

wow this is such a long thread!! I was trying to get some information but gave up after page 3 :-)

Problem is: All the information I could find online on setting up a cake business was mainly based on the US. I know what I need to set it up.
I have been self-employed in the past and know about taxes, insurance etc.

I was wondering if anyone of you guys think I can do it part-time? I would like to work 2.5 - 3 days max. and I am not quite sure yet if I should go for proper cake decorating (which I like but think is too complicated and time consuming if you only have part-time hours available) or make lovely cupcakes. I have looked at websites of local cake bakers and came up with the following result:

- all my future competitors have very cheesy and cheap websites (I think I can do better)
- all their cake designs are cheap or the cakes are way too expensive (if I work from home I could offer them cheaper)

Here is also something I would like to offer (I guess some of the local cake bakers do that already but I would advertise this specifically):
choice of interesting flavours (not just madeira, fruit and chocolate) like carrot, cheese etc and a choice of wheat free or vegan and other special needs.

I have already practiced cake decorating and everybody LOVES my cakes. Same thing with cupcakes.

What do you think about my ideas?

BUT: I wanted to restrict myself to Weddingcakes/cupcakes. Do you think that this is a wise decision? I offered free cakes in the past (just asked to pay for expenses) and I got swamped with birthday and general party requests. Which is great if you have the resources but because I can charge a little more for wedding cakes (as I would be working part-time) and what's even more important I really like wedding designs and would like to put all my time and energy into this one special cake I would make per week. I know how important a wedding cake can be to a person and I think it will be easier for me just to restrict myself to one theme.

Would that be ok? Could I get away with that?

Wanted to attach my latest cake (The bride chose the design) - I taught myself how to do it and this is I think my 5th cake or so...
But I think I am not allowed to attach anything yet..or can someone tell me where to find the correct button?

There u go:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/828/img20110408211649.jpg/

Any thoughts on this one? (my idea, not the cake..haha)

gazpacho_uk

Just want to drop you all a quick message. I only found this thread a cpl of days ago and it is a wealthof information, so well done and thanks you all for your contributions. I am only up to page 30 at the moment, so still a long way to go before I catch up with you all !
I have been making cakes for friends and familiy for around a year now, but I am facing redundancy probably in Dec this year. Looking at my skills, I want to try and start up a cake business and have a lot of time to get the wheels in motion before I lose my job.
I would be looking at maybe a garage conversion or one of these log cabin/home office units that B&Q are selling as opposed to using our kitchen and have been looking at the legislation and complications regarding this.
As soon as I catch up on here and have digested all the info from the past pages I will be asking some of the many questions I have waiting .................

We are having a cake sale at work on Monday 16th and I got roped in to doing some cupcakes, so will post them next week If I can manage to sort the "link" thing out !

getting-sorted-sarah

Judy - my first thought is that if you aren't offering cakes for free in the future, you might find that you're not so 'swamped' as you were in the past. All you can do is see how it goes, your area and your cakes will be different from others, so it is hard to make a prediction as to how you'll get on. You can work part time - but whether or not your orders fit in with the hours you want to work is another matter! My advice is - suck it and see.

getting-sorted-sarah

Gazpacho - you'll probably find that most of your questions are answered as you work your way through the thread! Enjoy your reading!

karenccs67

I recently bought a booked called "Starting a Cake Decorating Business from Home" 2011 edition, only £8 from Amazon. It has a wealth of information and has lots of website addresses as well as examples of forms. I think if youre serious about setting up your own business its well worth buying.

karen xs

gazpacho_uk

still slowly getting through this amazing thread (up to page 49 now). Just had to give a heads up to all you bakers out there. I was in Asda (ashton Under Lyne) yesterday and 250gms unsalted butter is down to 50P (was £1.49). We now have no room in the fridge for anything else !

EssexGirl

judywoody wrote: »

How simple? I think some people underestimate the work that goes into a cake and the amount of ingredients. I don't currently buy my ingredients from a wholesaler. But check this out - I made a 4-tier cake with a relatively simple design for my friend's wedding a few weeks ago (you can see the link a few posts earlier)..
The bottom tier was a fruit cake and all the others were sponge cake. Taking into account the decoration and the icing the ingredients alone cost me 100£. And then it took me nearly 2 full days to bake the cakes, cover them, stack them and decorate the cake. A lot of cake shops have to pay for staff and the rental of the shop as well as electricity. This is all included in the price of the cake. So please don't view a cake as something "simple" before you haven't done one yourself.

Thank you for your input, but actually I have done a cake decorating course, so I do know a bit about costings and ingredients and time etc. I just don't want my nephew to be fleeced. I'd volunteer to do it myself, but as you can see from my signature I have a newborn baby to look after and can barely keep up with normal everyday things let alone find peaceful time to make a wedding cake.