I receive many phone calls and messages asking if I will bake a Birthday Cake but I often turn this business away or rather direct them to a baker who may be able to help for many reasons.
- I don’t like working out the pricing or the preparation involved in making these fancy and very special cakes and have heard of other bakers who have struggled dealing with customers who are not happy with the costs. Whilst working at Tynemouth Market I would hear people walking passed my stall stating that you could buy the cake from a supermarket far cheaper than what I was selling my bakes for and although very true a supermarket cake is mass produced – just saying!! I myself have bought supermarket cakes as they are convenient but nothing can compare to a home baked cake.
- There is so much responsibility put onto a home baker when making these specialist cakes that I take my hat off to those bakers who do this work. The work involved can be so time consuming and intricate I just wouldn’t have the time or patience to complete a bespoke cake.
- I would be worrying all of the time about the cake being damaged by one of my family so the whole of the household would be stressed to the maximum so I have avoided Birthday Cakes at all costs.
However, over the past year I have managed to say yes to a few birthday cake orders. The children have grown up and I have improved my decorating skills through practice and courses. I feel like now is the right time to add Birthday Cakes as a product to the webshop and I think my price reflects what I will be producing for a customer and these prices are based on what I have charged customers previously. I have baked a Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cake, Lemon Drizzle Cakes, Date & Walnut Loaf Cakes, Rainbow Cakes, Drip Cakes and a Giant Strawberry & Vanilla Cupcake to name but a few. Actually when I think about it I have made plenty of different celebration cakes for customers over the last couple of years so I am feeling quite confident about my decision.
My Birthday Cakes which I will offer from my webshop are for Sandwich Cakes which are spruced up with more layers or a fancy decoration which I can provide easily. Nothing too fancy as I hate the stress. The other type of Birthday Cake I will offer are Giant Cupcakes as I love making these and I actually forgot about them until a customer asked me one day for his daughter’s birthday and I said yes. I loved making this cake as it brought back the happy memories of the different styles of Giant Cupcakes which I have baked over the years for my children and close family. However, what I also enjoy doing is birthday-fying a Sandwich Cake of which I have done quite a few times recently.
Although I have made character cakes for my own family I am not going to offer these style of cakes on the webshop as I feel the pricing for the amount of work that goes into these style of cakes is really not enough so I don’t want to venture into this field of cake making. Also, with having children I always worry about the cake being damaged so I have always avoided taking any orders for the more bespoke cake. I will leave this style of cakes to the fabulous cake makers out there and then I don’t feel so bad when I turn down work.
My Birthday Cakes will be available in a variety of flavours and decorated with buttercream/ganache where appropriate. I will try and accommodate the customer’s requests but if I feel that I am being pushed outside of my comfort zone then I will turn the work down I’m afraid. There is too much other stress going on in this world than to add to it so let’s just see how it goes.
I have priced the cakes based on what I have charged in the past but also on what it would cost to bake the cake, decorate the cake and package the cake for the customer. There is a lot to be considered when supplying homebaked goods to the general public and a lot of work to be done.
I will be adding to the flavours available and changing things as I go but feel free to message me either by email at vdale@love-to-bake.uk or via facebook page if you have any questions. Who is going to be first?