Cash from Baking??

TashaC

Hi Rince, would you be able to give a little more detail of what type of cake(s) you're making?

Rince

Morning, i've been making Victoria sponge with jam and buttercream filling then buttercreaming the outside and covering with icing and then decorating, with sugar flowers, hearts etc etc.

It's easy to cost for the ingredients but I don't know what to charge for labour. I'm going to be doing a cake next week for a dogs birthday (yes I know, strange !) so i'm doing 2 layers of Victoria sponge, jam buttercream, icing and then i've got a dog bone cutter and pawprints so put them all over then i'll pipe some grass around the base and some ontop. So that's cost about £7. And about 2 hours labour. Cheers.

TashaC

Well for an 8" cake I'd probably charge £30 to £35, My sugarcraft teacher recommended trying to price in a similar price bracket to what others are selling for.

I found buttercream really time consuming as its really hard to get totally smooth have you thought about using sugarpaste? Also if you intend to cover the cake with butter icing you will need to make either a madeira or a basic sponge recipe, the texture of a victoria sponge is too light! I can find you a recipe if you need one!

Rince

Oo if you've got a good maderia recipe that'd be great. Yes I was going to cover it in buttercream then the ready made icing that you role out, Regalice. Is Regalice the same as Sugar paste ? (I'm still learning). I've got some Sugar Florist paste for modelling. Where is the cheapest place to buy it from as it's quite expensive.

Thanks for the guidance on price. A few people have said charge around the same as other, approx £30, it's just I feel cheeky asking so much. I need to get over it if I want to make money

TashaC

Ok will dig the maderia recipe out for you, I must admit I've never made a maderia cake I usually use a one bowl recipe which is fantastic as all the ingredients can be mixed at the same time so will post that too. Oh and make sure you fully line our cake tin makes it a lot easier to get the cake out and I usually find it keeps it more moist! Also The International School of Sugarcraft book for beginners is really good place to start it's become my bible, you can pick it up on amazon for just under £7.

Regalice and Sugarpaste are more or less the same thing although there are two slight differences Regalice will dry harder... my teacher said it's the only type of paste she would use for a wedding cake to ensure it is set. The other difference is that regalice is sweeter then sugarpaste. Are you using the florist paste for modelling or flowers? If you just intend to use it for modelling you can just add gum trag to your sugarpaste or regalice!

In terms of prices I would probably assume the cheapest place to go would be the internet. Cake shops tend to be quite expensive for sugarpaste / regalice although I have never bought from there you may be able to pick up regalice from the supermarket I managed to find 484g for £1.55!

I recently made a 10" 3 layer stacked cake, when asked how much did I want for it I said just enough to cover the materials, After finishing the cake I felt totally different would have charged more as it took hours!

Rince

Thanks for the info. I usually use Delias all in 1 cake, but have never made Maderia. Yes I only use the florist paste for modelling flowers or using in the moulds to make leaves/flowers etc. I get the Regalice from Tesco/Morrisons which is £2.10 for 1Kg.

Whats gum trag ? and where do I get it from ? I'm booked on a Sugarcraft course in April so will hopefully be able to understand alot more !

TashaC

Gum trag (gum tragacanth) makes your paste firmer and is used for modelling, you can get it from any cake shop! Also cake shops are a great source of information, if your trying to make or do a specific task they should be able to give you a bit of guidance.

The Recipe I have is for an Eight inch round Quick Madeira Cake:

Ingredients

375g Plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
315g caster sugar
315g Margarine
5 medium eggs
3 Tablespoons of milk

Place flour, baking powder, sugar, Margarine, eggs and milk in a mixing bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon and then beat for 2 - 3 minutes until smooth and glossy. If using a mixer beat for 1 minute only.

Place mixture in to a greased and lined tin, smooth top with a spatula and give a sharp tap to remove any air pockets.

Place mixture in the centre of a pre heated oven 160ºC (325ºF/Gas 3) for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours

Test cake by pressing down the centre with fingers, it should be golden brown.

Let me know how it goes and good luck!

Rince

Morning, thanks for the recipe, i'll give it ago. I've been googling Gum Trag, think i'll get some next time at i'm my cake shop. I agree, I have learnt alot by asking the cake shop people.

I've been looking at regalice prices on the internet and none come close to the Supermarket ones. £2.20 for 1KG. But I don't know if they differ in quality. (Probably !)
Thanks for your help.

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Used to make cakes and got a reputation so was always busy. Self taught too. Just a few pointers. Don't feel embarrassed about the cost,people are paying for something home made and bespoke. Plenty of times I kicked myself for not charging enough, having sometimes been up til 3am finishing off a wedding cake. We all know commercial cakes are just not the same so you cannot compare them. Used to use Sainsbury's own ready to roll icing but not sure if they do it now.
Fruit boxes with cling film stretched over the top are fab to transport the cake and they have ready made handles.
If you do anything fancy like lace icing take some spares and fresh icing to fix when you get there as there could be casualties especially if well meaning people try to help. My husband once put his finger in a cake when unpacking it and I couldn't do a thing as we'd travelled a long way. Luckiy we were able to turn it towards the window and they never knew (divorced now!).
Good Luck

Rince

What a good idea for transporting a cake. I was wondering how I was going to get the cake i'm doing for next week, to the lady. I'll ask at the fruit and veg shop.

Is there anywhere cheap to buy the white boxes that cakes come in ? or cupcake trays ?

Thanks.