Cakes For Fetes (Long'ish)
Decorating By Housemouse Updated 11 May 2007 , 10:13am by playingwithsugar
Just getting this off of my chest.... maybe it's just me... or does anyone else feel this way? I bake cakes to donate to the cake stall at our local church fete, and I cringe when I hand them over to the biddies running the stall as I know they will price them so low as to be absurd. We live in a prosperous area, the cake stall is always a huge attraction, and it makes me mad that they don't show any sense - pricing them all at about the same price if they're more or less the same size, regardless of what they are. The only exception, it seems, being fruit cakes. When I made chocolate sensation cakes and the moist lemon sponges with lemony fillings and lovely decorated tops (tho I say it myself!) and suggested a price for them (which was still way below any store-bought job) they just carried on as usual.
The only amusing thing in this is the elaborate ritual we have to go through of having our cakes held in the flat of a palm bounced up and down, as in some sort of 'weighing ritual', accompanied by knitted eyebrows, a sharp intake of breath through pursed lips followed by earnest but short discussion 'how much should we charge for this one, dear?' I bite my tongue but feel like saying sweetly, 'Well, how about an absurdly low price, as usual?'
This year I am thinking of bunging money equivalent to the cost of the ingredients in an envelope and giving it to them, as this makes more sense to me than seeing them priced for less than they cost to make.
Am I just a mean-spirited old mare?
Am I just a mean-spirited old mare?
I don't think so, but remember these ladies probably do not have a clue as to what goes into makeing a cake at your level.
They probably pull the box cake off the shelf and follow the directions to the "T". Slap some can frosting on it and say "Pat me on the Back - I'm a cake decorator".
Bless their little cake decorating hearts!
I'm sure they do not understand the level of sweat and tears that goes into one of your cake creations or the Extra's that go into your cake, not to mention the Pride.
From your description, it doesn't sound like they would listen to anything anyone said to them. Some folks just don't like change and God forbid that they should listen to someone else's suggestion.
Maybe next time, put a suggested retail price on the cake when passing it over to the old biddies or at least put a note in the bottom of the cake (in a protected envelope) stating that you appreciate the person's purchase and provide a business card or name/phone number and a suggested retail price.
Just a thought, but I would feel the same way you do if I were in your shoes.
Thanks Ladysonja
I ought to say that I don't do any of the really special stuff for the cake stall as that would just be over the top. No fondant, etc. We're just talking about really nice homemade cakes. I don't use it as an opportunity to show off or advertise (tho I do have a big head and can be insanely insufferable at times). That sort of thing is a big no-no, just not the done thing, and I've never seen anyone else do it.
I do put a label saying what the cake/filling/decoration is. I think I will put a price on and see what happens. I know that my cakes go quite quickly and people were wanting to buy them as I was unloading them from my car last year - with hindsight I should have done that.
You're right that they're set in their ways but not to think about things like this seems daft.
Also, I must thank my mum for reminding me that there ought always to be fun cupcakes and cookies priced specially for the kids to buy with their pocket money (so I wouldn't mind how little was charged for these!)
Another good suggestion from indydebi - Many thanks to you both. I'll have to give this some more thought - wondering instead about making a cake to be auctioned or auctioning a cake voucher.
Do they have a raffle? Maybe one of your cakes could be a (top) prize and more money would be spent that way in people trying to win it? Have you thought of volunteering to help with the cake stall, then you can charge what you feel is reasonable for all the cakes?!
Sometimes I think that people do not expect to get good tasting cakes from fete stalls. Most people seem to just get a boxed cake mix, bake it, slap on a bit of icing and donate it to the stall. So the cakes do not sell for lots of money. When someone comes along who donates a yummy, home made cake, it gets lumped in with all the other cakes.
One year when I was helping at the cake stall at our school fere, a lady donated a huge (I think it was a 14 inch) cake that was elaborately decorated with fondant. I think it must have been a fruit cake because it weighed a ton. It was beautiful and you could tell she put lots and lots of work into it. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to buy it and we kept dropping the price throughout the day but still no takers. At the end of the day, it was still there with a price sticker of $10. I just could not believe that nobody would buy this cake. 
We ended up giving the cake to our parish priest.
I felt so sorry for the lady who donated the cake because she kept coming past the cake stall and she could see her cake still there.
...that was elaborately decorated with fondant. I think it must have been a fruit cake because it weighed a ton. It was beautiful and you could tell she put lots and lots of work into it. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to buy it
barbaraK
That is precisely why I don't go overboard - wouldn't want to have to buy the cake back!! Perhaps I'll have to infiltrate the cake committee...
Or you could weigh it in your hand in front of them, before you hand it over, and say Alrighty, this feels like about 10 Pounds worth (or whatever the value of the cake is).
Theresa 
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