Cases Of Frozen Half Sheets From Sams?
Business By littlecake Updated 1 Aug 2007 , 9:00am by DecorateMe
anyone ever use these to help keep up with demand?
my friend was at a party that got a cake from sams and she said it was surprisingly good, and moist.
i'm so busy i feel like i'm drowning sometimes....i thought about getting cases of prebaked from sams, and baking the wedding cakes, and special cakes like i'm doing now.
i've kept my sheet cakes really affordable...i dunno maybe i should just charge more....i am getting sick of baking and doing all the clean up
I guess that's something you'll have to decide yourself, but I think it would be a little strange to order a cake from you and sometimes get one you baked and sometimes get the frozen Sam's version. Most people order from an individual to get that fresh baked, home-made taste, not something that came from the freezer. They may be good, but are they good enough to put your name and reputation on?! I have a lot of people that go to a wedding and try my cake and love it so much that's exactly what they want for any occasion. I use the same recipes regardless of shape, so they can get "wedding cake" flavor in a sheet cake, etc. It would be hard to explain the difference from one to another. That's just my opinion, I don't enjoy the clean up very much either, but it's all part of it. To be a decorator, you kind of have to be a baker.
-Lori
I don't do sheet cakes, simply because I don't want to get into the business of trying to compete with groceries and mega-marts. If you do choose to buy sheets, I think you need to do it all the time. That way you're customers always get the same product. You could probably get away with substituting one flavor...say chocolate...with your Sam's sheet to allieviate baking pressure.
Good luck with your decision.
I do a lot of sheets and that is where the wedding referals have come from- not that I have a huge bussiness-but the people that are buying sheetcakes from me are not wantinga " grocery-store version( no slight to anyone intended) and are fully aware that cost wise I canno compete - they are pying for taste but also custom work even in the form of a sheet. some people are more comfortable with a sheet than a "fancier " model- just some thoughts
IMHO, if you feel like you are drowning, back off on the number of orders you are taking. Don't "short change" the customer with a premade cake because you don't have the time. You want customers to go to you because of your cakes, not just because you have them.
If you have the right size oven, why not spend a day baking full sheet cakes your own recipe. You can freeze them and cut sheets to order. That way customers can still get your cakes.When I am overloaded I do this and it works out fine. I can bake 10 pans at a time which would yield 40- 1/4 sheets or 20 1/2 sheets. Of course I have a large mixer that will make alot of batter. I use the extenders for the pans and place a sheet of parchment over the top of the baked cake and then put another full sheet pan over the top to cover the cake. This saves alot of time. Just a suggestion.
If their cakes are anything like our Albertson's/Safeway here... ugh!
I have customers who can tell the difference between fresh baked and frozen.
If I tried to pull that off on them not even the devil himself on fire in my kitchen would be able to compete with the fury my customers would have.
Yeah, what melanie said, for the most part the whole reason people are ordering from you in the first place is not really HOW the the LOOKS but HOW it tastes. (the looks help a whole lot though). If it looks great but tastes like crap you would soon lose business. Those half sheet cakes at sams are the same exact ones they use at walmart (ya'll gotta remember that sam's and walmart are the same company).
if you feel like you are drowning, back off on the number of orders you are taking. Don't "short change" the customer with a premade cake because you don't have the time. You want customers to go to you because of your cakes, not just because you have them.
I agree with Meldancer. Personally I couldn't sell a cake as my own if I didn't bake it myself. Maybe I'm in the minority but I enjoy the whole dang process, baking, decorating and yes the clean-up. But I clean as I go so it doesn't pile up on me. I make good use of my dishwasher and have multiple spatulas, measuring spoons, bowls etc so I don't have to stop all the time to wash to reuse. When I stop enjoying the process it I'll quit.
Littlecake, you said you keep your sheet cakes really affordable. You are telling your customers, here is a cheaper way to get the good stuff. 
Once you compromise your quality by using someone else's cake product as yours, you loose what makes you special.
Get paid for what you do. That is why there is a demand! And you control the demand. 
If you are too busy there is one great solution: UP YOUR PRICES! If you can do less work for more/teh same money, how great is that? I upped my prices significantly last year and I kept track... Last year I made 88 wedding cakes, this year 66 on the books so far... and its the same amount of money!
a bakery near me buys all of her cakes frozen. decorates them and sells them. i don't think its common knowledge. i found out from the health department. if the flavors are good and you don't hide the fact that you are using them, i say its okay. i price my sheetcake high because i dislike them sooo much.
I agree with the majority of the posts. I wouldn't want my name on any cakes that weren't mine. What if you have a customer complaint about the flavor, moistness or anything else? What could you say?
I say, back down on your orders. Or only do sheet cakes in addition to orders that also contract you to do a bigger cake. I only do sheet cakes if a party orders a custom cake with a minimum of 100 servings. That way a bride can have her Dream tier cake but, it helps her stay on budget. I also don't do orders for any less than 50 servings.
For sheet cake orders you could always tell your customers that your sheet cakes are ordered from a wholesaler then decorated by you. That way they know and have the choice of going with you or not. I still would not want my name on any cakes I didn't personally make though....just my opinion.
Our Sams here has actually good tasting cakes. Everyone loves them. (I even like them--they are moist and taste good) I've had Sams cakes from other stores and thought they were gross--don't know what the difference is between my area Sams and theirs but there is a huge one.
My advice is to up the prices of your sheet cakes and then pre-bake and freeze like cupcake suggested. This should save you some time, or you could just quit doing them all together if you can afford to cut them out from a business standpoint--I think that would be hard though since you have a storefront. (by the way, how is the restoration going on that building you were buying to turn into a cake shop?)
i do bake and freeze them in advance...i bake and take orders for an entire day....it does get crazy being interrupted constantly...sometimes i come back to the mixer and think...gee did i add the oil?
i have the whole set up...30 qt mixer big oven and freezer...it's still very hard.
i hat letting the batter sit while a long winded customer thinks i have nothing to do and goes on and on...
then it takes an entire day just to wash the cake collars and pans...not to mention my 500.00 plus electric bill every month.
sometimes on saturday i don't get to sit down for 12 hours straight....i guess i should raise my prices, but this is not a very wealthy community and i don't know if the market would bear much of a price increase.
since my overhead is so high i can't afford much help....i do have a lady who comes to help me clean....i don't want to hire a baker, because i am so picky about the cakes, i did hire one once for awhile, but the cakes came out so crooked i had to "prform surgery" on all of them...i figured i might as well do them myself.
my icing is really really good....i just thought if the premade ones were as good as my friend said i might give it a whirl......there are only so many hours in a day....since i had worked in 5 bakeries before having my own shop, i thought i was prepared for it....NOT EVEN CLOSE.
i'd kinda like to get away from so many sheetcakes, but right now they are paying the bills, so i gotta thrudge on....since i'm single and this is my only income.
thanks for asking about the remodel....i got moved into the guest house behind the shop just a couple weeks ago....it's not finished quite yet so it's kinda like camping....but i'm saving 400.00 dollars a month in rent!
i got some plumbing issues that are gonna cost about a grand at the shop....i decided to tear the back off of the building to have more parking in the rear, so i'll need to have some one come look and see about where the load bearing wall is etc.
the front is where all the big windows are and is about 900 square feet, so that'll be big enough for a cute lil shop for me...i went in, in the middle of the night to check on a huge leak a couple weeks ago and fell through the floor....luckily i didn't break anything...but my legs were pretty banged up...looked like i was in a car wreck.
i dunno, i think i just might be tired, i don't wanna give anyone an inferior product......i was just looking for a shortcut...maybe there is none, i don't think i can really decide unless i taste this stuff myself.
thanks for your opinions.
Littlecake, I know the dilema your in, but I started doing all my baking after hours, don't answer the phone, don't have any appointments sceduled. I get in that kitchen, crank the music up, and bake with NO interuptions, I get so tired of someone or something breaking my concentration. I too would get in the middle of a recipe and get disturbed and go back and say did I add this or that? I now have a little system that helps me know where I am in the recipe. If I am baking at midnight or 1 A.M., thats O.K. I do my best and fastest work at night. Besides I am a nightowl. I am not overly fond of sheets either, but it does pay the bills, and that leaves us with no choice right now. Hope you can get a little rest, sounds like you need a break.
thanks cupcake, i do need to do some after hours baking, i do some every week...usually on friday night when i realise i've oversold and don't have enough backup cakes in the freezer...lol.
all this remodeling, moving, and just comming out of busy season has taken it's toll....i can really tell i'm not 30 anymore, i used to be able to just go go go.
on a funny sidenote, people really do "eat with their eyes" first....like they say on food network...case and point...my old partner didn't want the responsibility of a business, and quit me , then went to work as the head decorator at a local grocery store chain....(she really is a talented decorator)...the store manager was smarter than your average bear and gave her free reign to decorate any way she wanted....she said ALOT of the customers make the comment..." boy, these cake taste soooo much better since you work here, and are making them now!"....HA HA....same cakes as before. interesting.
Oh boy, sounds to me like you are heading for a burn out! I know it's really hard, because I'm in the same situation, but once in a while you have to schedule yourself a small break, even if it's just an afternoon off, and away.
My only other suggestion might be changing your operating hours. If you need a little more quiet time to get ahead try shaving a half hour off both sides of your hours and see if that helps a little. Thankfully, I've finally built up enough business to be able to afford one employee. She waits the front counter for me, and deals with those chatty customers. She takes most of the orders and helps out with dishes, trash, and has now become a great help inside the kitchen with baking cookies and brownies. What a HUGE timesaver for me. I still bake most of the cakes, and do all the decorating, but the amount of freedom it has brought me has more than outweight the cost of her wages! There have been very few nights I have worked more than 12 hours since I hired her, and I could not have said that a year and a half ago! Something to think about all around. Just remember, you have to take care of yourself to be able to take care of your business!
-Lori
you know what?
my cleaning gal has had viral pheumonia (sp?)
and has been off for the last 5 weeks......
she is fast as can be, and can get the whole place spic and span in about 3 hours.....i guess i been missing her more than i thought.
how much do ya'll pay the help?
this girl is so fast, and i can trust her enough to leave her alone in my place....which means alot to me.
i pay her 12.50 an hour, but then again it doesn't take her long to get the job done...i hired her on at 8 bucks an hour...but she did so well i raised her pretty fast...some of my friends say i pay her too much, but good help is so hard to find.
i been thinking too since i'm already in my house, i can lay off the home projects for awhile...(i been doing most of the work myself, i'm a woodworker too)
and just work, and save up for the shop remodel....i been paying cash for everything, cause i do not want to be tied down to a bunch of debt....well i wrote a novel here...thanks for listening you guys!
Just wanted to wish you all the best in your new business. It sounds like you're really run down. I hope your cleaner gets well soon, and that you can get rejuvinated!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%