cake stall-any tips

daisyboo

Hi I'm doing my first cake stall and was wondering which cakes seem to sell better? Do people ususally do individual fairy cakes or whole cakes e.g. sponge? Also how much do people charge? I will be doing it in a church hall after a family service. Sorry if they sound like silly questions but I want to make it a success.

Thank you

Val_Mathison

We have recently held a cake sale in memory of our friend with proceeds to the hospice who looked after her. What we did was cakes and quiches by the slice, these were 50p each and small fairy cakes were the same price. This works better if you are offering drinks and people are eating there and then. If the cakes are to take away then whole cakes are probably better. Good luck!

daisyboo

Thank you very much and sorry to hear about your friend.

jembie

My friend and I used to do loads of cake stalls.
Cornflake/rice crispie cakes go down a storm and as they are really cheap to make you can just charge 20p for them. Also butterfly cakes and fairy cakes with sprinkles or smarties on top.
Gingerbread men, 10p biscuits and Eccles cakes were also big sellers for us.

Just remembered, my friend used to make little individual jellies and sell them for 50p each

Dustykitten

Hi our school PTA do cake sales regualry. As we are selling to parents with children we find small cakes sell best (you get the best return in terms of cake mix this way - a 3 egg sponge mix would make 30+ cakes) we sell them for 20p. Chocolate chrispie cakes are popular and anything with a blob of icing and a sweet. Adults tend to like slices of loaf cakes - eg banana or fruit. Gingerbread men also sell well. A large cake we would sell from £1.50 to £4 depending on it's size. We tend to make in the region of £180 per sale. You will need to make sure you have a stash of bags for people who want to take them away. Good luck with it. If you have anymore questions feel free to PM me. Dusty

full-time-mum

I've done a few cake stalls in the past and I find that it is impossible to know what will sell as it varies from time to time, even with the same group.

At xmas, I was successful with mincemeat slices but they didn't sell too well in the summer.

Millionaire shortbread always goes down well. Tea loafs are quick and cheap to make and usually sell.

Don't under-price yourself - you can always knock 25p off later but not add it on. I won't cook for the school as they sell cakes for less than the cost to make. I did a Macmillan fundraiser and was told by someone they weren't paying £3 for a chocolate cake and made an offer. I stuck to my guns and it sold for the asking price.

As a guide, this is what I have done in the past, obviously it depends on your market and the cause but I do

1lb loaf size banana/lemon drizzle/tea loaf £1.50 - £1.75
2lb loaf size banana/lemon cake £2.50 - £2.75
3 egg decorated chocolate cake (butter icing and melted choc on top + 1/3 flake crumbled for decoration) £3.00 - £3-50 don't take less than £2.75
Choc fudge fingers 25p
raspberry buns 35p
millionaires shortbread - packed into 4s - £1.50 - £1.75
3 egg jam sponge £2.25 - £2.75

Individual cakes depend on the size they have been cut into and I usually decide when I get there as you will get a range of sizes and a range of decoration. make larger highly decorated cakes your top price and smaller plain cakes you lowest and price others in between.

Remember that people are donating time as well as ingredients.

Make sure your prices are clearly marked either on each item or as a printed list. It is also worth taking time to display properly with a tablecloth (use empty boxes underneath to create different levels).

How about selling teas and coffees too, then people will buy an individual cake each to drink with their coffee and hopefully take some home too.

You also need plenty of change and bags.
(I go into tesco and pick up a few of the fruit and veg bags each time I go in during the weeks leading up to my sales!)

Remember too, that if this is to be a regular event, it is important not to flog the cakes off for peanuts at the end otherwise next time people will wait until reduction time. Much better to take left-overs and freeze them. Maybe slice and sell individually at the next coffee event.

Good Luck, I hope it goes well for you.

Shout if you want any recipes and I'll pm them.

daisyboo

Thank you so much thats great info, They alrady get tea and coffee free at the event its just a little gathering of families after church. recepies would be lovel especially for the bannana/lemon drizzel/choc fudge fingers. I attempted carrot cake yesterday, it was quite nice

silkysmooth69

i am on my local commette and we was advise cakes stalls are illegal now i will try find out more for u on that

silkysmooth69

http://users.bigpond.com/smartboard/law/cake.htm

silkysmooth69

http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=localnews&storyid=3659735

silkysmooth69

what we done is couse your not allowed to sell them we sold raffle tickets for the cakes you brought a raffle ticket and won a cake there are waya around it sorry to put a downer on it but thats the sucky law whats the world come to