Cash from Baking??

Bluefire

sturdygirl21 wrote: »

Hey bluefire - how did you get into country markets? is this a nationwide thing? sorry, probably a stupid question there!! I'm wanting to do some markets but not sure where to start......

Not a stupid question at all... when I first found the website I assumed the whole market in my area was called 'Country Markets' - not just the one stall! It is a nationwide thing, you should be able to find out if there's one near you here: http://www.country-markets.co.uk/search-by-county-c120.html

All I did was go to the market & talk to the lady who runs it. They've been really helpful, lots of advice & even gave me some free packaging samples. They do ask that you do a food hygiene certificate at some point, but you don't need one to start up. I think proceedures vary from stall to stall; my Mum had to take in samples before she started to sell whereas I wasn't asked to.

ebsalita

They're lovely - just one tip! Blue isn't really a colour that humans tend to associate with food, so when using the colouring you might want to make the colour little more pastel.

You've done a great job though - have you tried these for cupcakes? http://!!!!!!/cupcake_photo-icing

stargazerselena

wow - ive just been recommeded this thread by Skintbint and its certainly given me lots of ideas to consider. Thank you all:D

skintbint_2

hi folks, just popping on to tell you about a new product that i'd never realised existed, its icing varnish and wow it is brilliant, i've used it twice once on a black cake and yesterday on a purple cake and they really look the bees knees, it gives the icing a really glossy finish if you use two coats, brilliant if you want to highlight something (cant remeber who was doing naughty cakes) but i have done the whole cake - i got it on ebay from a seller i use all the time, i also use this seller for really dark colours of icing (got 2kg of the purple for under £10) as i find that trying to get really dark colours is a nightmare.
hth

skint x

Vickisaver

Hi

I just found this thread, I have been considering starting to make and sell a range of fudge, but wasn't sure what I would need to start! Can you let me know if I have picked up the info correctly (been reading during breaks at work!)

1. Do a food hygiene course
2. Contact EHO and know what my cleaning system is for their visit
3. Work out my packaging etc
4. do my costings

I'm planning to sell mostly online as I work both part-time and full time, so any good websites would be great.

Thanks for all your help

esmer

hayley11 wrote: »

I made some cupcakes today and I wondered if you lovely ladies could let me know what you think?

The icing doesn't look very smooth I just made them in normal cases to practice the icing. I used half butter and half trex, does anybody else us that?

I feel like i've got a long way to go before I could think about selling these. I am seeing some improvement though so that's good.

If you click on the picture, a big one should open up.



Thanks, I appreciate any feedback. I worry that my friends and family say "yeah they're great" just to please me, I want to hear what people really think.

Sorry for the delayed feedback. I sometimes use unsalted butter but have recently found that Tesco margarine in the tub has made my butter icing really smooth. Its always best to really whip up the butter until its pale in colour and then add in your sifted icing sugar. As for the blue, would only use it for a boys party, and would not use as much, so I would only have a hint of blue. When I first did my cupcakes, I used to cover the whole cake, not I concentrate on the centre of it, and think it looks much more professional. This is all just my opinion of course.

my friends are the same with there "comments" but its no help if you want be a success at the cupcake business.

Here are my first ones

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1195993&l=b70c6056e7&id=1112095581

And now i do them like the following so you can see a bit of the cake.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1382028&l=72ddf6d01e&id=1112095581


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1363233&l=b4d9e9b144&id=1112095581

hayley11

Thanks Esmer

Agree about the blue, is a bit much! :rotfl:

Thanks for the tip about only icing in the middle, they do look great like that. Your cupcakes are so pretty.

I'm making a cake today for a girl I used to go to school with, she saw my cakes on Facebook and asked me to make one for her sons birthday I'm only charging what it costs to make but it's experience so i'm happy :j

I'm enrolling on the cake decorating course on the 19th August :j I can't wait! I get help paying for that as well as I get housing benefit

They also do a 10 week course in cupcake and biscuit decorating, I might do that too. I'll have to pay for that but I think it'll be worth it.

hayley11

The girl who asked me to make her sons birthday has let me down so I was wondering if I could freeze the sponge cake i've made? Will it still taste as nice when it's been defrosted?

karenccs67

hayley11 wrote: »

The girl who asked me to make her sons birthday has let me down so I was wondering if I could freeze the sponge cake i've made? Will it still taste as nice when it's been defrosted?

Hayley, I freeze my cakes but wrap it in clingfilm not foil, several layers. It only needs a few hours to defrost. It will taste fine and will be just as moist. Hope this helps. Karen x

Possession

thinkpositive wrote: »

I'm pretty much in the same boat with Esmer about working in cafe kitchens out of hours. I was hoping the cakes was a way of earning some money whilst looking after my toddler twins and the childcare costs of paying for them to be looked after while I bake at a cafe kitchen would make it a non-starter...though it is a great thought paulwf for anyone who doesn't have kids to look after.

I'd be a bit wary of going over the head of the EHO I spoke to....as they each have their postcode areas and I would always end up with the original EHO for inspections etc.

Re the ingredients....one interesting thing I noticed is that Morrisons Bakery stuff doesn't have a list of any of the ingredients on it!!!! Heyho, I suppose different rules apply for the big boys!

Esmer thanks very much for the recipe - looks yummy. Best of luck to you that you find another way to make money out of something you enjoy. Hope your cakes are a great success Hayley

Hello, hope it's OK to join this thread.
I have also had recent dealings with the local EHO, as we are going to start a sandwich van business. We asked him to come to discuss what needed to be done, and turns out we can do it from home. We already have a double sink, dishwasher and extra sink in the utility room. We have disinfectant-able floors and surfaces. No pets. All we need is to get extra fridges and obviously comply with regs.
Regarding the labelling, this is necessary when you are selling on your products, ie you are not the retailer. This is why Morrisons-own products in the bakery don't need the complicated labelling but Mr Kipling-type cakes do. So if I were to sell cupcakes from our own van or shop that would be fine but if I were to supply another cafe, school, theatre etc I would need to follow strict labelling guidelines.