I just inquired to the Ohio Dept of Agriculture about selling non-hazardous cakes out of my home. I asked what I would need to do regarding licensing. Here is the response:

You do not need a license for Cottage Foods. Listed below is the website describing it.

Sincerely,
(persons name...)

http://www.agri.ohio.gov/divs/FoodSafety/docs/CottageFoodOperation-factsheet.pdf

1)For all of you business people out there, what else do I need to consider?

2) Do you have any practical tips on labeling cakes?

3) Tax Time will roll around again, what do I need to be doing if I start to sell my cakes, that will make that easier for me?

Thanks CC..you guys are always so helpful! javascript:emoticon('')

What do you mean what else to consider?

Labeling - it spells it out completely. List all ingredients according to weight in your product, final weight of product, your name & address and that the product was made in a home based kitchen.

You cannot sell ANYTHING that requires refrigeration.

Food items are NOT taxable - no sales tax involved. You DO have to pay taxes if you charge for delivery or have rental fees on anything, however.

I claim m ycake business income on my regular taxes. Keep all receipts and invoices. Keep track of mileage/gas on the delivery vehicle. (log book helps with this one)

Thanks Loucinda....I was looking for input on how to keep my info for taxes. Or tips on how the rest of you label your items (what software, labels, etc you use)

I figured I'd ask those with experience....since some of you may have good advice to share =o)

Avery Labels - you get them anywhere! I have the ingredient labels saved on my computer for each flavor I use, you could even print them out and keep them handy. Use a seperate label for your fillings/ icings - makes it easier that way. You can use address labels for your address info too (inspector told me that).

Ohio is very baker friendly, and if you have any specific questions, if you call the Dept. of Ag. they will help you out too. We're lucky to live here!

Hi KristiBrooke! I was just looking into this today and came across your post. (I'm in Delaware, Ohio). Do you know if we can bake under the cottage food laws with animals in the home? I know I can't get a licensed home bakery because of this, but I'm unclear if it pertains to the cottage food law. Of course, I guess that means no yummy cream fillings in cakes.... Oh well!! Thanks so much! And, Good luck to you!!! :0)

Knitc - yes you can bake under the cottage food industry laws with animals in the house. You have to label everything as stated above, and you cannot make anything that requires refrigeration. (I am in Delaware too)

hi, I'm in Dayton, too! I work under the cottage laws. Another thing you should think about is getting some liability insurance. It adds a peace of mind to know that you're protected just in case. and some farmers markets/craft shows, etc. require it, if you ever want to do those.
good luck with your biz!

Maria

www.mariasbuckeyesfavors.com

Ok, I am sooo going to ask a dumb question, lol.... Does Buttercream icing count as needing refrigeration?? (pardon my goofiness)

I don't think so. You CAN refrigerate it, but you don't HAVE to. I was concerned about that as well, but then I read on here that the huge amount of sugar in the icing preserves the butter and milk, so it can be left out.

Maria

Thanks!!!! I was wondering just in case, lol. I'm a bakery manager but we don't do very many cakes. Just occasionally

We are soooo lucky to be in states that have cottage laws. I'm in Iowa, but it sounds like the laws are pretty close to the same thing.

CakeBoss is a program you could check into, although it isn't quite sophisiticated enough for my taste. Although they've done a lot of updates since the last time I looked at it. I'm a bookkeeper, so I like things that are very detailed. You can keep recipes, calendar, and everything on that one. CC members can get (I think) 10% off the purchase of the program. The lady who wrote it is a cc member. And if you have any questions, you just email them and they're very nice people. I do use QuickBooks for our farm and really like that. It keeps track of estimates, vendor invoices, customer invoices, checkbook register, etc. I want to move my cake stuff over to that at the end of the year. Right now I'm just on a homemade Excel workbook. One spreadsheet is for income, another for expenses. Your CPA can subtract one from the other to find your profit at the end of the year. It really can be that simple. But save your reciepts. You must have a receipt for every deduction you take. And do keep a mileage log in the car. No record=no deduction.

Buttercream has enough sugar to offset the dairy and makes it shelf stable. If you use the right ratio of sugar to cream cheese, you can also make a cream cheese icing that is good at room temp too. The cream cheese flavor isn't as strong, but it does work. State fair websites post the ratio requirements often since the food items that 4-Hers make also need to be shelf stable. You can get creative for fillings and use your buttercream recipe but use different flavorings. I've added cocoa for chocolate, peanut butter, creme de menthe syrup (that's awesome with chocolate cake), raspberry,e tc. It's not the same as mousse or custards, but at least you can add fillings that are legal. There was a post not too long ago about non-perishable filling ideas, including use of fruit spreads and how to make a mock mousse. Here is the link:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=6898791

Hopefully this helps!

Wow!Thank you everyone! I had some of the same questions since Michigan just passed the Cottage Food Law.