School fete bestseller...

LittleVoice

Tablet is definitely a Scottish thing! I'll return in a minute when I've written a recipe.

MoaningMyrtle

spiddy100 wrote: »

I am about to embark on baking for my DS1's preschool fair - my first ever PTA experience

I'm making a chocolatey tray bake and a banana cake with cream cheese icing. Just wondered how people normally wrap the cakes for the stall? I thought I would divide the tray bake into portions and wrap each in some cellophane I've got, but wasn't sure about the banana one. Do people buy a whole cake or a chunk? Would a freezer bag cut it or should it be wrapped in something more decorative? How to stop the icing sticking to the wrapper?

At our school, the class rep for each class (a Mum) gives out paper plates a few days before to everyone in the class. It reminds people to contribute if they can and they bring the cake(s) to school on the plate wrapped in clingfilm or in a named container/tin. Good Luck!!

Things which sell well are - rice crispie cakes, decorated fairy cakes, chocolate caramel bars and large sponges. The good thing about the individual cakes is that the children can afford to buy them themselves.

Mado

spiddy100 wrote: »

I'm making a chocolatey tray bake and a banana cake with cream cheese icing. Just wondered how people normally wrap the cakes for the stall? I thought I would divide the tray bake into portions and wrap each in some cellophane I've got, but wasn't sure about the banana one. Do people buy a whole cake or a chunk? Would a freezer bag cut it or should it be wrapped in something more decorative? How to stop the icing sticking to the wrapper?

Ask theladies running the stall: it depends!
There generally seems to be a mix of portions and whole cakes.
The crean cheese icing is going to be tricky as it will stick to the cellophane, unless you use a "rigid" clear wrapping film that you can shape in a pyramid with a ribbon.(if that makes any sense...:D)
Good luck!

LittleVoice

Tablet:

I'm back with a possible recipe:

Ingredients: 4 oz salted butter; 2 lb 4 oz granulated sugar; half pint whole milk; large tin (14 oz?) condensed milk. You now appreciate llac’s comments about sweet-tooths!

Gently melt butter in large heavy-bottomed saucepan.. Add sugar and milk and keep stirring until sugar dissolved. Add condensed milk. Turn heat up a little to bring mixture slowly to the boil. Then turn the heat down a little and simmer.

Test the mixture by dropping a little into a bowl of cold water. If the mixture turns into a soft ball you can pick up then it’s time to take off the heat. (Start testing after about 18 minutes of simmering but it’ll probably take about 20 minutes to get to this point.)

Beat the mixture for about 4 minutes but no longer than 5 or it will begin to crystallise. Pour mixture into a shallow baking tray and mark into fingers and leave to cool.

smitty2702

Whilst your all on the subject! I have been roped into running this years cake stall so id love your best recipes, info on what sells well, how to market it etc.. Im a first timer but they soon realised i love my HM Cakes!!

Claire

lil_me

We've found we ended up drastically reducing cakes prices at school fetes or we would end up with left overs. Shame really. Biggest 'money spinner' at ours is the tombola usually, guess who gets the job of running that manic stall!!!!

CaramelKoala

I live in Australia. The culture here is to charge way more than supermarket prices for home made cakes on the understanding that there is a "donation" component to the price.

We have a nut-free school with a healthy eating policy, but this doesn't apply to the School Fair (just as well with the teachers selling the candy floss...). The only rule is that you have to list all the ingredients and the date baked on a label attached. The labels are coded and are traceable back to the donator. They always sell out in rapid time and no one has been poisoned yet (to my knowledge).

spiddy100

Thanks for the advice on wrapping, I think I will wrap the banana cake in greaseproof paper (so that the icing doesn't stick), and try to tie it nicely with some ribbon or something.

Little Voice, thanks for that recipe. I *love* tablet, you can get it in Thorntons down here and it is my absolute favourite. No way I could cook it for the fair though, I would eat it all before I got there, and that would be bad news for my waistline

Mado

lil_me wrote: »

We've found we ended up drastically reducing cakes prices at school fetes or we would end up with left overs. Shame really. Biggest 'money spinner' at ours is the tombola usually, guess who gets the job of running that manic stall!!!!

I think That's OK to reduce stuff if stock isn't going.
But really you should strat at a fair price. It is after all raising money for the school/church/charity...

Lovaabargain

Mado wrote: »

The year before last I was a bit annoyed to see how the homemade cakes had been priced at the school fete: basically it was all on looks which meant that shop bought cakes who probably didn't taste as nice were more expensive, and I suspect some barely covred the costs of ingredients.
Whilst I appreciate that they have to sell and it is a family fundraisers, I found that to be very demotivating for the Mums who cooked!
So anyway, last year I made fudge and wrapped it up in little bags with coloured ribbons which seem to go down well.:cool:
I was wondering if you all had your favourites to bake for such occasions?

Would you be able to let me have your fudge recipe please? Quite fancy making this for my son's next school fair.

Thanks!!!