Cash from Baking??

TashaC

Hi Kelly-Lou haven't been on here for a while, I used to use Lurpak then switched to using Sainsburys Organic unsalted butter and doves Organic flour. When it comes to ingredients I've always been told to buy the best quality ingredients that I can afford to by! In the past I use cheap ingredients, but personally I think there's a difference... although that could just be me. Why not try making two batches and see if you and others can taste the difference?

Kelly-Lou

Hi Tashac
I have previously used cheaper brands and didn't like the taste especially for the butter cream, I felt it affected not only the taste but the texture as well. Thanks for your reply x

karenccs67

Kelly-Lou wrote: »

Hi Tashac
I have previously used cheaper brands and didn't like the taste especially for the butter cream, I felt it affected not only the taste but the texture as well. Thanks for your reply x[/QUOTE

I use McDougalls Supreme Self Raising flour and Lurpak unsalted butter, all works well.

lauraw78

leni wrote: »

sorry, I haven't read all this thread but are any of you members of the British Sugarcraft Guild? It has a invaluable forum https://www.bsguk.org

The reason I ask is it costs £25ish to join per year but you can then take out their insurance for £16 PER ANNUM if cakes/cupcakes turnover is less than £7500 and it's not your only business!

I've had my cake dec business for just over 2.5years and will probably be giving up my full-time employment and doing cake only as I become a mum this year - the people on that website have been very supportive/friendly and social as any internet person can be! Worth a look!

I have received an online quote for £58.91 for the year by MMA Insurance, I have a feeling this may go up once I call them though.

Re ingredients, you can't beat the better branded butter and flour, I use Kerry Gold and McDougalls flour, locally sourced free range eggs...everything is good quality and it does make a difference, I have done the side by side tests. Asda and Tesco's own butter I would never use, horrible, even certain better branded butters aren't as nice, perhaps it's personal preference but I stick to what I know works best!

I wonder if any of you have any good advice on advertising and building up a bigger clientele? I am currently getting a fair few customers via facebook and word of mouth, I'm thinking of perhaps doing a Farmers market, possibly printing out leaflets, anybody have any other ideas?

I'm in Liverpool and use a brilliant service called train2000, its a local free service to women wanting to start a business...highly recommend it!

Anyway, here's a link to my facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/LaurasLittleBakery
Any feedback would be great, I'm extremely new to the cupcake side of it, always loved baking but caught the bug when I discovered edible glitter...lol, such a girl!

nat21luv

I use the cheapest possible ingredients i can get my hands on whilst still being 'local' where possible. i use flour and sugar from Bookers(wholesale) which works out to be 30p per 1.5kg bag, butter(only used for buttercream) from a farm shop and eggs from my neighbours chickens-she's a vegan!! i get icing sugar from sainsburys-the massive bag for £3.50ish and soft spread is supermarkets own(the cheap basics stuff for £1.) My cakes cant taste that bad seeing as I made a business out of it?! I was sat in a cafe i supply to waiting for the manager and i overheard a group of old dears talking about my cakes. She said she had one a few days previous and the sponge was moist and fluffy so that'll do for me!

boltonangel

I have a severe milk allergy and i bake my own cakes because it can be hard to find cakes that are purely milk free and not wheat free. I just use vitality dairy free marg and a drop of soya or water if req.
There's a lot of people allergic to milk these days- genuine or not, but that's another topic!
Just remember they can't be dairy free unless you replace the egg with something.

boltonangel

Sorry I meant vitalite marg but I'm on my phone so it keeps 'correcting' things.
Also, at York farmers Market someone sells cupcakes for £3-4 each and they seem to sell well!

lauraw78

nat21luv wrote: »

I use the cheapest possible ingredients i can get my hands on whilst still being 'local' where possible. i use flour and sugar from Bookers(wholesale) which works out to be 30p per 1.5kg bag, butter(only used for buttercream) from a farm shop and eggs from my neighbours chickens-she's a vegan!! i get icing sugar from sainsburys-the massive bag for £3.50ish and soft spread is supermarkets own(the cheap basics stuff for £1.) My cakes cant taste that bad seeing as I made a business out of it?! I was sat in a cafe i supply to waiting for the manager and i overheard a group of old dears talking about my cakes. She said she had one a few days previous and the sponge was moist and fluffy so that'll do for me!

You can get the same bag of icing sugar at Bookers for £2.99!

Grimbal

Sorry to barge into this thread but I was wondering if you knowledgeable people could help me out on a couple of questions please? I'd like to set up a stall at my niece's summer fete & was wondering:

1. do I need a hygiene certificate & PLI for this sort of selling?
2. If I didn't actually cook anything, but reassembled from various ingredients (eg muffin mix in a bag), would that still require the same certificates & PLI?

TIA

Liz

hayley11

I use organic, fairtrade and locally produced ingredients only. I used to use the cheapest products but feel that my customers deserve the best and I have seen an improvement in taste.

When you work out the price per cake or cupcake, it doesn't work out that much more expensive to use high quality ingredients.