Cake Making & Baking Group

[Laura2919]

I can understand why peoples jaws drop at the price of cupcakes and cakes. I have to admit I had tesco cakes for my wedding as I just wasn't willing to spend that much on cakes.

Even now I still don't understand £1.60 for a single cupcake. It does take time and effort, yes... but the ingredients aren't *that* expensive. True, all the extras that you need to make the decorations etc cost a bloody fortune, so special requests I won't include as they should be more expensive... but a plain iced cupcake? Nah, I'll just make them myself

I haven't ventured out into the world of different flavours, fillings etc yet though, so maybe that would add a fair bit to the price and make £1.60 worth it

Actually I find the ingredients expensive but I can stretch my batch to 16 so it works out alright. My cupcakes are more often than not more expensive than £1.60 but they get discount. Its not just the ingredients but what you put on the toppings then it adds up. I worked out that one of those Dr Oetker stars costs 17p here! Think about it cos it does add up. I agree with whoppy too its all about the time it takes too.
Then you might get someone who wants 4 choco, 4 lemon, 4 coffee, 4 sponge. That adds to it and then the boxes too cos they arent cheap, delivery if you deliver.
And to be fair whenever people ask about my Cupcakes they dont want plain iced ones.. They want something with that wow factor or something mad which takes ages.

 

[Erised]

That's very true ChewyCookie =)
Can I ask... do you include the baking time in your costs as such, or just the decoration time? See, I only bake for fun so to me it seems expensive... I guess when I'd be baking for someone else and at someone elses time frame I'd probably feel different about it.

-Edit-
Just thought I'd add a picture of my first attempt at icing a cupcake. It was fun to do!

 

[Laura2919]

You have to include everything if your planning on making it a business. Depends on what you do it for.
This is something I love doing whether I am making them for me or someone else. I love trying new things. Especially being in this group because the ladies give me some great tips and their cuppies are amazing.

 

[CocoaOne]

Oooh I love the colours Erised! They look almost metallic!

 

[Laura2919]

Just ordered some more cutters from Ebay. I think I need to stop. My gum trag arrived today. How much do I add to the icing?

 

[gemgti]

Just ordered some more cutters from Ebay. I think I need to stop. My gum trag arrived today. How much do I add to the icing?

about 1 teaspoon per 250g of fondant

 

[Laura2919]

Just ordered some more cutters from Ebay. I think I need to stop. My gum trag arrived today. How much do I add to the icing?

about 1 teaspoon per 250g of fondant

Great thanks.

Can you use it with royal icing?

 

[Whoppy-pop]

You can use it with royal icing but it'll make Pastillage not gum paste x

 

[helz81]

Anyone seen a 2 tier cake stand where the largest tier is on top and is bigger than 6inches? I've been asked to make my friends daughters cake and I want it to be on a stand with cupcakes underneath. xx

 

[Whoppy-pop]

Anyone seen a 2 tier cake stand where the largest tier is on top and is bugger than 6inches? I've been asked to make my friends daughters cake and I want it to be on a stand with cupcakes underneath. xx

I have a 4 tier cuppie stand and I've removed the top tiny tier and put an 8" cake on a 10" cake drum on the 2nd tier (which becomes the top one when you take the tiny one off) and then I'm putting my cuppies on the 2 tiers below that. It's reasonably stable just need to be careful of it. I'll post a pic tomorrow as the cake will have been eaten then. In the mean time this is where I got my stand;
https://www.weddingacrylics.co.uk/e...ome+Round+4+Tier+Clear+Acrylic+Cup+Cake+Stand
They're good as you can interchange the tiers

 

[Laura2919]

You can use it with royal icing but it'll make Pastillage not gum paste x

Will it still work the same? I want to do those Butterflies that Jo made? Or should I just buy fondant.

 

[Whoppy-pop]

Pastillage is like the concreet (sp?) of the suar world You can modle with it but you wouldn't want to eat is really, a bit too tough. Deffo add some gum trag to fondant, it'll do them perfectly. That's what I used for my little butterfly on my cup cake pod pic

 

[Laura2919]

Pastillage is like the concreet (sp?) of the suar world You can modle with it but you wouldn't want to eat is really, a bit too tough. Deffo add some gum trag to fondant, it'll do them perfectly. That's what I used for my little butterfly on my cup cake pod pic

Thanks will do.. Concrete wouldnt be good on the teeth will use fondant.

Where did you get your pods? I have searched online and cant find them anywhere..

Cupcakeboxesuk.com dont have them..

Another Q.. Does anyone use the large cupcake boxes that holds 24? I wanna order some sas they are only 9p more than the 12's but I dont want them to be flimsy.

 

[midori1999]

Some lovely cakes ladies!

I also think £1.60 for a cupcake is very reasonable, especially as it's not as though people order a lot at a time usually, so they're quite labour intensive.

I'm always gobsmacked by how tight people can be about buying 'home made' cakes as opposed to supermarket ones. I personally find supermarket cakes inedible, so wouldn't want one for that reason alone.

My sister made the following cake and posted it on Facebook. Someone asked her how much it would cost for a similar cake for their daughter's Birthday and as my sister only makes them for fun really, she said £20. Yet the person still messaged her back and said £20 was too expensive as they could get a cake in Tesco for £10. It's hardly like for like, is it?!

https://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e201/midori1999/joscake.jpg

 

[Glitterfairy]

I love that! Colours are gorgeous xxx

 

[CocoaOne]

Midori - that's crazy - cakes in Tesco are about a tenner anyway aren't they, and your sister's has two cakes! Even I'd pay £20 for that, it's lovely and what a bargain!

 

[helz81]

Love that cake a few posts above, the colours are lovely and I wouldn't complain at paying £20 for it!!

Whoppy-pop- Thanks for that link,thats exactly what I meant, don't really want a 4 tier one though, do you think the 2 and 3 tier stands are interchangeable too so the largest tier can move to the top?

Does anyone use Americolour red colouring gel? Is it better than sugarflair red? Need to use less of it to get a nice pillar box red?

 

[KarrierBag]

Been lurking for aaagggess here!! Quick question,

I'd like to do a two tier cake for DD's birthday in a fortnight, similar to midori's sisters cake - do I just ice them separarely and put one on top of the other or would that be too heavy?!

xx

 

[Wallie]

Well I had great intentions of making a sponge cake for my sister today. Two tries later I'm fed up.

I had one recipe for an 8 inch sponge cake, they came out about 1 inches tall each, so that's crap. They are hard as hell too. Second recipe 4 eggs, weigh them and then use the same in sr flour, sugar and butter and yes, they have turned out better but still I want the actual finished cake taller.

What would you gals use as a recipe for just a victoria sponge cake, two layers for 8inch round cake tins please? I did look at first page on here but nothing posted.

Thanks

 

[Whoppy-pop]

Laura I bought mine from a lady on a FB group - Cake Baker. She got a lot of 500 as that was the smallest they did and I bought my 100 from her. I will ask her where she got them.

Midori that is a lovely cake! £20 is a total bargin, can't believe someone thought that was too much!!!

Helz I'm sure you could interchange a 3 tier, drop them an email to check, they're a good company, I'm sure they'll check for you.

Wallie to make a 3" deep 8" cake I weigh 6 large eggs and measure out equal quantities of sr flour, caster sugar and stork. I bake at 170oc and it'll usually take about 1-1.15 hours