Can anyone give me a good website that delivers sugarcraft tools, equipment and supplys to the uk? the shop near me doesnt stock much so i need a good online shop. i have tried make a wish but am struggling to navigate it. (when i do a search i never get what im looking for, im terrible with tecnology! lol)
TIA

Hi Katie

Have you tried Windsor Cakecraft? It's in Warrington but has a really good online shop. http://www.windsorcakecraft.co.uk/

I don't live far so use the shop for all my supplies.

Lyndsey xx

Hi Katie, I use Almon Art and Design a cake. Both are good. Here are the links for you,

http://www.almondart.com/

http://www.design-a-cake.co.uk/default.asp?path=http://www.design-a-cake.co.uk/content/news.asp

Hi!

Has anybody done farmer's market in the past? I'm doing something similar near at my place. I am planning to sell the following

-cupcakes (individually designed and not just iced swirls) - £2
- cookies - £1.2
- cookie lollies £ 1.5

My question is about pricing...The above prices are marked down because (1) I want them to sell fast (2) this is my first public sale so I also want to test the market (3) to advertise my goods. I'm just a bit worried that if I sell my goods using the above prices, they might assume they will also get the same prices when they commission something.

If the prices are too cheap, how much should I sell my stuff? I live at the London- Essex border. Based on the type of cars that people drive here, they are the perfect market for bespoke goods so the price can be very flexible.

----
Another question / topic:
I want to start approaching local cafes so they can sell my baked goods. Ideally, I'd like to rent a corner, have a dummy cake with my leaflets / business cards. They could also sell my cupcakes and cookies if they wish to.

Any advise / tips on how to do this? Any opinion on trade discount (if in case they want me to supply them regularly) or a sales commission when they sell a cake?

I hope somebody can help me. I'm new at this baking business. My background is in marketing, product / image branding, promotion, design & media. So if anybody needs help on this, PM me. I will be more that glad to help! Don't worry, I am not selling my services, just willing to help out because the people here are so helpful.

Thanks!

I have never personaly sold at a farmers market but have visited a few as a consumer and your prices appear good. If someone is interested in a bespoke custom cake then they will understand that it is not going to be cheap, but having said that I don't know enough about the area you are in to guess what they are likely to spend on a cupcake. Where I am people would keel over with a heartattack if I asked £2 for any style of cupcake but I am in a Poor area with many unemployed people.

As for the second question about cafe space. Have a word with a few in your area and see if it is something they will be interested in. As a bulk, regular order if they are wanting to sell your goods I would work out how much it costs to make them, add my time costs on and then add

so if is for example cost you £1 to make a tray of 12, add £2 for time add 25% makes them 50peach leaving the cafe to add their markup on and making you profit. This is only an example not what I would charge. As my costings for regular customers would be a 50% mark up.

Hope that makes sense.

Tm-treats,

I spent 18 mnths selling at farmers markets on the Essex/London borders (Romford, Wanstead, and Brentwood). I sold cupcakes with swirls, cookies, and occasionally home made sweets, and my prices were cheaper than yours.

Business was really good to start with as I was a novelty at the market, but it didin't last. You need to check out what other stalls there are at the market, and what the customer base is. For example, Brentwoods market go'ers tended to be in the over 50 bracket, and cupcakes did not appeal to them, especially when there was another (more commercial business) stall selling bar cakes, and muffins for less than one of my cupcakes cost!!

However, I did find that it was a great way of advertising the wedding side of my business and it really helped me out in my first year.

Where abouts are the markets you are planning on selling at?

Hi everyone

I'm trying to find a First Impressions Baby Mold that is used in this tutorial on here....

http://cakecentral.com/articles/683/how-to-make-a-gumpaste-baby-with-mold

I can find it on a few websites but none that are in the uk so the shipping won't be too much. I've seen other First Impression products over here but can't find this particular mold - I love it!

Any ideas would be great

Lyndsey xx

Hi Everyone,
I was just wondering how many of you are home based and how many are in a shop etc.

Hey folks,
It's been great reading everyone's posts and taking in all the advice. I'm a techer and I've been signed off recently and I've taken up cake decorating as a hobby in that time. I've become totally obsessed! And I've found that even tho I'm not officially set up in business yet, I've had plenty of 'orders' (you know, for family and friends) to keep me busy.

I've had a few business ideas around cupcakes, novelty cakes and wedding cakes. I'm a single girl and I'm just concerned that it might not be profitable enough to cover the mortgage. It seems that everything I read is from stay at home mums who bring in some income and no disrespect intended but what I need to know is can you make a living out of cake decorating from home? A local cake shop owner advised me to keep on my teaching job part time and do some cake decorating part time too. I'm in 2 minds about lots of it.

All I know is that I'm really enjoying it and no matter how tricky the cakes become, it's way more enjoyable than my experience of teaching.

Any advice would be welcome UK bakers.

In my opinion njoycakes, you will not make a huge profit from being a home baker and decorator as you will not make enough after your initial costs to cover your household bills alone. You will need to subsidize your income with another form. If you want to make £300+ pounds a week after tax you will need to either be making 3-5 cakes a week or charging way more than most people want to pay. It is a fantastic second income or hobby but I don't ever see making my fortune from home baking


Lyndseyb52 the first impressions molds are hard to find in the Uk. celcraft do stock them now and again when they can get them in from America but usually sell out within 1 hour of them going online. You can get another baby mold by jem I think it is and you can work that one just as well. There is also one by diamond that is a special order mould.Try design-a-cake.co.uk

Thanks, I just managed to get one this week. Someone in the uk ordered about 10 of them for her ebay shop 'devon197272 and she let me have one before she advertised them

It's really lovely, I've only used it once but worked great first time..

I have never thought of making cupcakes for my cake decorating but now seeing how popular they are, maybe its time for me to practice! Can you tell me what size nozzle / tip I need to create the wavy whipped effect on top? Also, what is the best buttercream receipe you can put on top to ensure it keeps its shape? (and also is safe in hot whether)

I submitted a message but I can't see it on the thread. I wanted to know aht nozzle to use to create the whirl effect on top. Also, do you have a great buttercream / icing receipe to put on top that withstands hot whether?

Hi, tm-treats, I haven't done any farmer's market, but I sell my cupcakes for £2.00 when customers order them. That is without any handmade sugar models or flowers. With any of those, the price goes up between £2.50-£3.00. SO when customers buy the cupcakes, just let them know that those prices are just for the market. If someone like your cake, surely they are going to come back to you!

hisbird and njoycakes, I am doing this from home, even though I started working recently. The begining of every year are very slow with orders. Business pickup from around May/June. So I would say that it is very good as a second job/hobby.

MissCakeCrazy, I don't use buttercream for my cakes. I cover them with a disc of sugarpaste and decorate them. But I have an order for bc cupcakes for the time in June!!!!! So I have to make my normal non-crusting bc, which is 1:1 ratio of butter and icing sugar.

does anyone knows where to buy isomalt in uk?and also jewels mold?TIA

Thanks Bashini, does anyone else have any topping receipes which stay firm? I find the normal buttercream (icing sugar and butter) too sweet and more likely to melt).

I often use a mix of 40% butter and 60% cream cheese with confectioners sugar,as much as it takes to make it stiff enough to hold its form, you can flavour it with pretty much anything and colour it too. For a nice swirl you can use a 1m from wilton, but I have the large pme piping nozzel set that has 26 different nozzels and just use the larger ones and play with them. Well worth investing in at just £18 for the full set.

Thanks for the info. How come you use confect sugar instead of icing?

its the same thing I just call it confectioners sugar, sorry.

Does anyone know of a good cake decorating shop near the Gatwick Airport area? Surrey/West Sussex area? Not an online store? I'd like to be able to look at the products before I buy them.

Hi everyone. I like to do cake decorating as a hobby and am advertising my services for wedding and celebration cakes etc.. I have a full time job working 4 days a week and it would be litterally impossible for me to bake the cakes myself, I do not have a large deepfreeze either (I have no room in the kitchen). Do any of you sell undecorated cakes for cake decorators like me? Would you be able to send me samples of your cakes for tasting?

Sorry I can not help you misscakecrazy as I am way up north and would not want to risk cakes in the post

I hope you get something sorted that will help you continue with your hobby.

That criscocreme is foul. It leaves an awful aftertaste and slim on the roof of your mouth. I would never recommmend that stuff in a million years.

has anyone got a good bc recipe without shortening for covering cakes and cupcakes?

sillymoo84 sorry just my childish side coming out. great name

There is many a cake frosting recipe ranging from IMBC and SMBC to creamcheese frosting. It all depends on what you are looking for. You could also do a simple butter and confectioners sugar mix.
But criscocreme is a huge yuck! yuck! yuck! I do understand that it is essential to have a non melting frosting in some places and taste buds become accustomed to tastes but would you want to eat a lump of lard (yes I know lard is from beef) but it is just awful. and veg shortening is no better