Cash from Baking??

m_curiousity

Update - Had a really poor spot (at the far end of the room in the corner!) whereas the other cake stall was in the middle right in front of the door so everyone was buying from them as they came in! However still sold about 2/3's the cupcakes, made about £65 so very happy

Def recommend it to anyone!!

skintbint_2

m_curiousity wrote: »

Update - Had a really poor spot (at the far end of the room in the corner!) whereas the other cake stall was in the middle right in front of the door so everyone was buying from them as they came in! However still sold about 2/3's the cupcakes, made about £65 so very happy

Def recommend it to anyone!!

sorry missed your first post - well done on the sales - its a great feeling when you realise your hard work is recognised and you can make a decent profit! how much was your stall if you dont mind me asking? i have 3 cake orders this week - all for friends. look forward to hearing how your getting on or your next adventure!

gill37

m_curiousity wrote: »

Update - Had a really poor spot (at the far end of the room in the corner!) whereas the other cake stall was in the middle right in front of the door so everyone was buying from them as they came in! However still sold about 2/3's the cupcakes, made about £65 so very happy

Def recommend it to anyone!!

Can i ask how much you sold your cupcakes for? What were people prepared to pay?

And, how did you wrap/package them to give to people? Did you use bags or boxes. I am thinking about selling my cupcakes at the farmers markets but, as i want to keep costs down, can't figure out how to wrap them up for people. Boxes are really expensive.

m_curiousity

At the start I sold them for £1.50 each for the fancy ones, (i.e chocolate orange with butter icing and a choc orange segment on top, strawberry and whipped cream, cappuccino etc) and £1 for the basic ones (blueberry and pecan, plain water-and-icing sugar icing with smarties on top). Also offered 4 for £5 which a couple of people took up. At the end of the event I reduced them to 50p each or 3 for £1!

Made about £65, minus £20 for ingredients (however most of the ingredients were longer lasting items such as flavourings I'd run out of, so obviously these will last me for plenty of other cakes too!) and £5 for the stall (shared a stall with my mums friend, was £10 per stall. Didnt provide packaging, just nicked some napkins from the cafe and offered them! Most people wanted to eat them on the spot. A couple of people did ask if I had anything to wrap them in, so would advise taking some clingfilm or plastic sandwich bags.

My stall position was quite poor, as the other cake stall was right in front of the entrance and therefore lots more custom - I lost count of the amount of people that said 'oh if i'd known you were here I would have bought a cupcake instead, these look much nicer, but I've just eaten some cake from the other stall!'. Anyway if you can try and get a good position for your stall, catch people as they come in and shove cake in their face (not literally)!

Good luck

TashaC

Great to hear your doing so well m_curiousity It seems that there really is a market out there for well made cakes! I'm thinking of sell at a market and maybe approaching a few local shops to ask if they will sell them! How long in advance did you make you cakes?

I've spent so much money on equipment this week as I've been asked to make an anniversary cake for my mums friend am wondering what size to make the cake? She intends to serve the cake to around 15 people although she wants to give every one a proper slice! Have bought a 10" tin, but wondering if to try a smaller 9" or 8" or it will more cost effective to invest in a set for making a tiered cake? Also is it best to use 3 sandwich tins or just us a deep tin and slice the tin in half?

EssexGirl

I've been keeping an eye on this thread as it's something I've been considering doing.

TashaC my mum in law has one of these tins. It's brilliant for making tiered cakes, obviously they can't be round ones. Think she got it from Lakeland. I just googled multisize cake tin.

TashaC

EssexGirl, have heard about these tins... was wondering if they're any good!

skintbint_2

hi glad to see everyone doing well. i havent used the cake tin above but have been wondering about them too.
as for the packaging it may be worth getting tinfoil dishes from the £1 shop - and once you've used the dishes use the lids as trays and put in plastic sandwich bag .

would think a ten inch cake is fine - i usually use 8" but with a square 10" cake you'll get 20 1"x5" slices which is an ample size, i think the norm is 1"x2" slice - for madeira and 1x1 for fruit cake - i'm sure thats what they work wedding cakes out at. i always use a deep pan and have a slicer which trims the top straight as well as slicing
couple of tips (sorry if you know these already but hopefully useful to somebody thinking of trying baking)
always turn the cake upside down and use the bottom as the top if you see what i mean before decorating- better finshing.
wrap your tin in newspaper or greaseproof paper double layer about 2-3inches taller than the tin - stops the top burning before the middle is cooked.
if its a square tin use a double wrapping on the corners as thats where it cooks most saves you getting crispy corners.
am going to look at making sweets too a good one to start with is macaroon bars or bites - 1 small boiled tattie mashed no butter or salt (put through s sieve), add 1 box icing sugar when tattie cooled and then mix until so stiff you can just about knead it put into tray leave overnight (not in fridge) cut into squares and coat in chocolate and coconut - tip though when i was told this recipe i thought 1 tattie that'll not make much so used 3 ended up needing 4 boxes of icing sugar and over 400 bitesize chunks. usually make these for kids fairs and coffee morning and put about 6 chunks in cellophane bag and sell for 50p will keep for two weeks.

TashaC

Great tip about the greaseproof paper will defo be trying that one! Have gone for a 10 inch am sure that will provide ample! Couldn't find a sandwich tin so am thinking about doing the cake in a deep tin and then slicing in half!

Rince

Hi all, please can I join in. I've been wanting to start selling cupcakes and cakes for a while. I've booked myself on a Sugarcraft modelling course and have been watching youtube alot, there are so many people on there showing you how to pipe, decorate cakes etc.

I've taken photo of everything i'm doing and my mum has shown them to people and i've got my 1st order but I don't know how much to charge. It's cost me £7 to make, but I don't know what to charge for labour, it took me 2 hours. Any ideas ?

Also,what are the best courses to go on, I can bake no problem but could do with some lessons/qualifications ? in decorating cakes.

Thanks