A Thread For All Uk Bakers!!
Decorating By hailinguk Updated 25 Aug 2017 , 10:29am by Magic Mouthfuls
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And my boy told her it was for me and showed her some cakes I'd made, if I was making a cake for someone who makes cakes themselves, I'd make sure it was as good as I could get it. So either that's her best (yikes!) or she just doesn't care!
Haha let's hope that isn't her best...
I also think we are in an era where people like to get bargains and they expect something for nothing. If you don't want to pay that much for a cake that is fair enough just don't expect someone to give up their time and effort and not make any money from it. People want to appear like they have money and have all the fancy big cakes for every birthday but they don't want to pay for them!
I'm with you Maisie I would only spend that much on a cake myself for a special occasion or milestone birthday but not everyone seems to think like this it seems.
At the end of the day I think as long as you are confident that your cakes are worth what you are charging then you have to have a thick skin to what people say who don't know anything about baking. And as for people who bake 26 cakes for Mother's day and sell them for £10 each...I can't imagine she'll be doing this job for a long time. Word has to get out eventually about how bad they taste...either that or she'll just burn herself out and realise its not worth how little money she is making.
AWe have cheap cake people here and then we have nasty cheap cake lady. Good grief I don't know how she gets orders and I still think it has to be a joke because they just look shocking, so badly decorated it's laughable. My two year old could do better :/
Maisie, I know a few around where I used to live and they are cheap and I think to my self whoever orders from them get what they pay for.....
I had a cake done by some lady for my eldest son's christening. I didn't like it as it was madiera and hated it. From that day onward I baked all my cakes ( I use to bake before I got married too ) and started as a business 8 years ago....
AYeah, I have to say I do love a bargain but who doesn't? There are some things that are worth paying for tho, you work out what's worth paying for and what's not as you go don't you. I don't buy cheap ingredients for example, cake is a treat, a luxury and a lotta calories so it might as well be woth it! But, boards, boxes, ribbons etc, I shop around to get a bargain. I read in another thread that someone buys free range eggs to feed her family but factory chicken eggs for cakes! I could never do that, I'd go without cake first. I could understand someone feeding their family eggs from caged hens if that's all they could afford but I don't understand how anyone could use those eggs for a luxury treat knowing what a terrible life those poor chickens have. Oops,I'd better get off my soap box now I think!
Oh yes I definitely agree Maisie I love a bargain as much as the next person and definitely like to shop around for the best price on all things. But there are definitely some things worth paying for and I'm not going to spend my hard earned money on something that isn't worth it. I'd rather pay more and get better!
And that is very strange using free range eggs for your family and caged eggs for your cakes. She can obviously tell/appreciate the difference if she is using free range for her family so why wouldn't you want the cakes to be the best they could be!
AI didn't even consider the taste aspect, I couldn't see past those poor, little chickens living their lives in pain and misery for rich humans to scoff cake! My husband (a walking encyclopedia!) told me that even if an egg from a caged hen weighs heavier than a free range egg, there's still less egg in them. He said because the enviroment they live in is so stressful they lay eggs with a thicker, harder shell to protect them. I'll shut up before I turn you all into vegans and you lose your incomes, can't feed your kids and end up living in a cardboard box!
AHaha! I didn't know that but it is interesting. We were looking into keeping chickens last year and after doing a bit of research even some free range eggs aren't ideal conditions for chickens they still have limited space and no outdoor access. Organic is much better but people also don't know that - they think free range is roaming around a nice big field but it's not sadly.
AOh no, really? I'm going to be much more careful when buying eggs from now on. I'd love to keep chickens but my daughter is terrified of them.
AI've just checked my eggs, the happy egg co has a website which I've just looked at but I've only read the tesco free range box. The tesco box says the hens are free to roam during the day, happy egg box says free to roam. But on tge website it says they roam in the day and are put in a henhouse at night. So that's pretty mych tge same as "free to roam during the day" isn't it?
AHens couldn't be left to roam at night as they'd just become fox food :(, so free to roam would just be the day I hope. We are getting chickens but won't be able to use the eggs in my cakes as no lion stamp :(. Shame as I will know they have been looked after and are happy so the eggs will be awesome.
Ah right that's great! You do have to be careful though because 'outdoor access' can still mean a large shed crammed with thousands of chickens with a tiny outdoor run they can't fit more than a handful in at a time. I know the happy egg company came under some scrutiny for that back in 2010 but they might have changed now. Free range can also mean they still have their beaks clipped (which is illegal in some countries but not in the UK) to stop them pecking each other and having their tail feathers plucked to keep the eggs clean. Maybe things are improving now there has been a lot of attention on the subject. I buy Tesco free range so glad they do have outdoor access (I know I should really have checked that out before now) and I try to buy organic if I can.
Sorry feel like I'm giving a chicken awareness speech haha. At the end of the day free range is still better than those awful cages!
I'd love to keep chickens just cant decide if I want to give up my rabbit shed (which no longer houses rabbits!) for chickens or whether I want to go back to breeding rabbits. Decisions! Though I'm edging towards chickens...
Siany I never thought about not being able to use your own eggs in your cakes if you sell them. That seems crazy because surely they will be so much better looked after!
AHi all.
OK ladies what do you think of this?
My colleagues asked me to make a cake or a hen do, I said fine and what did she have in mind?
She sent me a few pics of giant cupcakes, but when I round out it would be for about 40 plus girls I said maybe not, then the other pic she sent wads lovely, a 10inch round with a mannequin and wedding dress, I said fab , its going to be a lemon cake as they're out for the night and didn't want a heavy cake,( not that mine are) I give her the price(£65) and waited cos I kinda knew what would come next, well I was right, she said it was too expensive!!!
So my new fab cakey friends my question is,
Do you all think thats over priced, personally I dont think so.
She I now having a 9inch with a flat type wedding dress, still very but no way the amount of work that the other cake would have been.
Absolutely not nanny that sounds perfectly priced. I'm sure if you used the per portion method of pricing it would come out around the same, plus the fact that the mannequin etc would take you a while to make! I sometimes think people need a completely breakdown of what goes into making a cake just so they understand!
AI have 2 friends who own chucks, I still buy them but they are for my egg and toastie soldiers, I keep my stamped ones for my cakes.
Besides the health inspector checked every single one of them.
AThank you Sugarluva, I didn't think it was either given the amount work involved.
I honestly think that because we bake at home we should be a lot cheaper, and yes I agree we dont have the same over heads as a shop would but it does take the same time so why should we be cheaper?
I was miffed, just that she took advantage of the fact I work with her hubby, grrr, rant over.
AYeah, makes sense to keep them in at night I suppose. I've just been reading online and there are some articles that say caged hens might be happier than free range cos free range can be crammed into huge factories and can't get to the hatch to get outside anyway, they haven't even got as much space as a hen with designated cage space. It's shocking actually. It says there are some very good farms and some very bad ones. If we can't believe what the boxes and websites say how can we choose? I always thought I was doing the responsible thing buying free range- because I believed what was written on the box.
nanny - exactly! Good for you for sticking to your price though. Once you give in to someone wanting it cheaper once they will just keep on taking advantage.
Maisie - It is shocking. I hadn't thought about caged hens being happier than free range but I suppose in the bad free range places it might be true. As with all things there are good places and bad places but there should be some 'standard' that companies have to abide by .
ASorry nanny, didn't see that, too busy ranting. I think £65 sounds really good actually! It does sound like a lot of work, fiddly and time consuming.
Tell her you're fully booked but maisie knows a cake lady who'll do anything for a tenner!
Only joking! :-D
AHi Barbara, I think you have under priced. My 10" starts from £75 and for a cake like that I would charge a bit more....
I always buy free range eggs and organic stuff like lemon, oranges, dry fruits and carrots... :)
A
Original message sent by maisie73
Sorry nanny, didn't see that, too busy ranting. I think £65 sounds really good actually! It does sound like a lot of work, fiddly and time consuming.
Tell her you're fully booked but maisie knows a cake lady who'll do anything for a tenner!
Only joking! :-D
That is so funny Maisie!! But you should do it to people like that!!!:lol:
ABashini, I definitely know you think its under priced, obviously, your doing well with your cakes and I applauded for that.
I wasn't going to give it to her cheaper, as I now I'm worth it,ooo thats sounds abit conceited and really I'm not like that at all, well its her loss.
ANo not conceited at all nanny, you have to toss your hair and pout like Eva Longoria when you say it tho!
AOf course Maisie, wouldn't have it any other way!
AAbsolutely, its her loss Barbara!! I am glad you stick to your price!!!
A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3216560/width/200/height/400[/IMG] This is one I just finished for a nursery school, very simple and I hope they like it!
AI know you will see my slight mistake, as I'm in wonderful cakey company, when I finished and stepped backed I realised I hadn't stuck the banner down, so I remove it to dot abit of glue only to find it was abit skewiff after and couldn't alter it then, hopefully she wont notice, I know you guys will cos if I can see so will you!
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