Cash from Baking??

Rince

esmer wrote: »

I had a look at cake boxes and they are really expensive for the cupcake variety, has anyone found them cheaper?

Thanks again

Hi esmer, i've looked far and wide for cupcake boxes and they aren't cheap, but this place is the cheapest I can find them, but you have to buy 100, but works out alot cheaper than anywhere else.
http://www.cakeboxesdirect.com/vmchk/Cupcake-Boxes/View-all-products.html
I've bought 100, 12 cupcakes window boxes for £65 + VAT, free delivery. I've incorporated this into to the cost per cupcake and I will only take a minimum order of 12. They look fantastic in the boxes, very professional.

paulwf

hayley11 wrote: »

Don't understand why having a washing machine would affect anything?

If you have a washing machine it means that you will be taking dirty laundry into the room so they wouldn't allow it in a professional kitchen as it should be as sterile as possible.

You'll probably ok for home baking though if you agree not to use it whilst cooking. The best thing to do is get your basic food hygiene certificate first, that will give you lots of "brownie points" with EHO.

With pets my fear would be pet hairs getting into the food...we have 4 cats and no matter how careful I am every so often a rogue cat hair will end up in our evening meal. People are paranoid about hair in food so it could really impact your business...for that reason I couldn't bake for profit from home. If one dog isn't causing any problems then EHO might find a way around it, just keep pet food bowls out of the kitchen and close the kitchen off during baking.

hayley11

paulwf wrote: »

If you have a washing machine it means that you will be taking dirty laundry into the room so they wouldn't allow it in a professional kitchen as it should be as sterile as possible.

I never thought of it like that, makes sense I guess.

You'll probably ok for home baking though if you agree not to use it whilst cooking. The best thing to do is get your basic food hygiene certificate first, that will give you lots of "brownie points" with EHO.

Yeah I definitely do want to get that, I did it at school but that was 11 years ago so pretty sure I need to do it again.

With pets my fear would be pet hairs getting into the food...we have 4 cats and no matter how careful I am every so often a rogue cat hair will end up in our evening meal. People are paranoid about hair in food so it could really impact your business...for that reason I couldn't bake for profit from home. If one dog isn't causing any problems then EHO might find a way around it, just keep pet food bowls out of the kitchen and close the kitchen off during baking.

Yeah dog hairs are a nightmare, we haven't found any in our food yet but knowing my luck the first one would show up in a cake :rotfl:

I just hope they believe me when I say that he won't be allowed in the kitchen during baking time.

Thanks for the advice

esmer

I dont have pets anymore, so should be free from any stray hairs. And as for my own I put it back in a hair band whilst cooking.

Rince, thanks for the links on the cupcake boxes. Do you supply to cafes or just do orders for birthdays?

Do any of you have photos of your cupcakes? cakes etc be nice to see what you are all doing?

I keep missing the EHO but his last VM was not promising. He suggested hiring a kitchen? cant see any in my neck of the woods. And that would just eat into my small profits.

Have any of you looked into TAX and VAT implications? do you need to register it, if you only make a small amount each week.

Thanks........ So many questions

karenccs67

Sorry this pic is soooooo big, i dont know how to reduce it. made these for a friend.

esmer

WOW they are stunning!!

smokiewater

Just thought I'd add my own experience to your chat.

My EHO let me start out in my own kitchen, and got us to go to a commercial kitchen when we got to big (no not talking about my waistline!) - we were able to convert an outbuilding in our old house, but now have had to rent somewhere.
I have always found env health really helpful, as long as you do as they ask, they have even helped me with labelling in the past.

Good luck with all your cake baking, the cupcakes above look gorgeous, people definitely want luxury at a price today.

hayley11

Karen they look amazing! Really pretty, love the glitter!

I can never get my buttercream to look that smooth, do you use just butter or do you add trex or something like that? I hope you don't mind me asking, i've asked others in the past and they're reluctant to give too much away. Don't want you to think i'm trying to steal your recipe

karenccs67

hayley11 wrote: »

Karen they look amazing! Really pretty, love the glitter!

I can never get my buttercream to look that smooth, do you use just butter or do you add trex or something like that? I hope you don't mind me asking, i've asked others in the past and they're reluctant to give too much away. Don't want you to think i'm trying to steal your recipe

I use unsalted butter and icing sugar and if its a little too thick add milk or water until you get the consistency you want. I also use sugarpaste colours too not the food colourings you can get in the supermarkets.

hayley11

karenccs67 wrote: »

I use unsalted butter and icing sugar and if its a little too thick add milk or water until you get the consistency you want. I also use sugarpaste colours too not the food colourings you can get in the supermarkets.

Maybe that's where i'm going wrong, I do need to invest in some decent food colourings.

Thanks