Cupcakes
 

I have decided to see if i can develop a little business with cake making etc. Over here cupcakes are the bees knees at the moment, so that will be my marketing focus, with offers to do full sized cakes available.

Here are some i did yesterday.

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So pretty! Yum!

They are pretty popular here too. Yours look good!

Yeah, I read the cupcake thing is happening here too. The big cities have cupcake trucks which have a route where they park at several locations at different times throughout the day.

Of course they are constantly trying to come up with new gimmicks like flavors, colors, or decorations. They are expensive to, commonly $5. But I'd expect anything delivered, any convenience, in the big cities to be pricey.

Cupcakes are the rage here in the U.S. Here's my take on it as a consumer. It must taste good. :lol: Sounds like a joke, but I'm actually serious. Some are too sweet, not moist enough, good but I can make it too, etc. Although it's $3, $4 a pop, I would buy it if it's something it's something extremely good that I can't easily make at home. Don't underestimate a very good chocolate or strawberry cupcake. And as Bruce said, presentation is also important although I notice that many people don't even eat it.

Yours, by the way, are pretty. Too bad I don't live nearby otherwise I'd give you a taste test review. :D

I will sell those ones 6 for $10. They are just vanilla, but i am going to do some easter themed ones soon. I will post pics when i come up with a design.

I meant that many don't eat the frosting.

6 for $10 sounds too reasonable to me. If you charge more, people will think they are special and desire them more. I'd go 6 for $15.

And I just looked up Georgetown Cupcakes prices to compare. $2.75 each • $15 half dozen • $29 dozen

Ali they look gorgeous, and I don't even like cake much.
Good luck.

As well as pretty (as people buy with their eyes) how about including some of the things which are inexplicably popular, like peanut butter and bananas. I would personally make me run a mile, but that sort of weirdness seems top go over well with most people.

?

You have seen people buy a cupcake and then don't eat the frosting?

Are you sure they're not just scraping it off and taking it home to add to the zombie apocalypse privation preserve (zapp!)? Cuz... that's nutz.

Yeah, they eat the cake then throw the frosting away. Well, this is what I saw from people who ate at the shop. Don't know about those who take them home.

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I don't particularly like most frosting (especially what they put on most commercial sheet cakes), and I'll avoid the extra frosty bits if I'm cutting my own bit of sheet cake, but I haven't thrown away the frosting from a cupcake.

Though, now that I think about it, eating something that is bad for me and I don't really like seems even more nutz.

We've been doing the cupcakes for a couple years at work for our department parties. My boss loves them, so she orders dozens and dozens. I stopped eating them since I decided to be healthier. I just didn't enjoy them enough to make it worth the unhealthy factor. But back when I did eat them, I'd often only eat about half the frosting. Kind of taking bites from the bottoms and the sides and leaving a big bite of frosting at the top for last to toss in the trash.

For an office party, I should think they would make way less mess than cutting/serving a cake. Makes sense as a market target, Not for Ali, but if you have the capability of big orders on short notice.

Absolutely. For birthday parties too. Those cupcake cakes are popular for the kids parties for that reason.

Takes about 1 hour to make 30. I could output a shitload if required.

I hope your business takes off.

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I never eat the frosting. Grim. Only on ones I've made myself where the frosting is chocolate buttercream, but even then, I'm usually not into it by the time they're done because I've inhaled so much sugar during preparation.

When I send cupcakes in for Birthdays or team parties etc, I always include some unfrosted ones and they always get eaten.

How saturated is the market there, Ali? Here there are cupcake stores and home bakers everywhere and some are struggling.

...Maybe a "half-healthy" platter where you provide two layers of cakes with only the top layer frosted could be a gimmick to make you different? Emphasizing that people can choose this option and pay less because they are not paying for frosting that will be left? That way you will still provide they pretty that attracts the buyer, but also value to undermine the competition.

And/or Nut-allergy-Friendly might be a good direction to go in,, I know a lot of people worry about that when providing cakes for a large group.

Good Luck

I have thought about entering into the realm of food and diet issues, but have decided that it's not going to be cost effective to worry about it unless people order ahead of time. Then I can bake just about anything they might want, including gluten free etc. Most people over here seem to love icing and frosting and ganache, so I'll probably stay mostly standard.

I have one solid order already for an 18th birthday party in a few weeks. They want a large cake surrounded by similar cupcakes. That should be fun. I also have a good enquiry about a small function in need of sweets in weeks or so.

In the mean time, I will just keep making a batch every couple of days and advertise on the local community forums and facebook and try and build a name for myself.

Incidentally, since registering for a couple of the local forums in order to market my wares, I've managed to hook Aden up with two tutoring gigs which is great. Hopefully word of mouth will do it's thing for him there and he wont have to go flip burgers while he's at Uni. :)

Good luck, Ali!

Some cupcakes from the web. Probably work well for selling drinks along side them. ;)

There are some amazing artists out there. Actually, those would go well with a cake i am doing at the end of the month. Its for a mexican themed party, so i am making a taco cake.

Tricky cake...

Oh wow! I could so do that though. I just wouldn't think of doing it like that myself! Who wants to commission me???

Too fiddly for me, even if I was still baking, but perfect for you.
What a show-stopper.

If'n I had the £ I'd commission you, just so you had a photo for a website or business card.

Nice find, Bruce.

I am going to give it a go. Not this week though. Getting ready for Max's 5th birthday party on the weekend. I think there will be enough cake there. lol

race car cake for max
 

Outstanding!

That is the most beautiful borderline-copyright-infringement I've ever seen! ;) Nice work!

That's not a cupcake. It's a car cake! :redcard:

That's a car cake for her little cupcake... overruled. :haha:

Nice! Ali, what did you use to make the spoiler? Is it just fondant?

Yes Lola. I put wires in the supports, and let the whole thing set, then the next day poked it into the soft fondant when i iced the cake. :)

I just hope all the little grommets who are coming for his party have a case of severr cake envy. Haha

Well, I know for sure the parents will, hehehe. The mothers were envious of my nephew's birthday cakes in the past. :p: I'm looking forward to your future cakes. You've got skills. :thumb2:

That's fantastic, Ali! Love the car cake. I've seen your skills in person and They. Are. Awesome. :thumb:

How'd the party go?

I've eaten your baking, and my Mum has seen your person.
We both agree you are awesome.

It went well choco. A few new potential customers. :). Everyone liked the cake and cupcakes.

Awwww....thanks Sundae. Xx

I have three orders for next weekend. A cake to look like a taco, a chocolate mud cake and a mid sized order of cupcakes. :)

Hey, Ali. I was on FB the other day and saw a picture of meringue cupcakes on this page. I thought they look yummy and really pretty so I clicked on it to get the recipe. It took me to the page, so I scrolled down to look at other cakes and cupcakes on the page. After a while, I realized it's your page! Hahaha.....really nice cakes and cupcakes. :D

Haha...thats funny. Thanks Lola.

Oh, and if you want the recipe you can have it. Xx

Yes, I would love that lemon meringue cupcake recipe. :D

Okie doke. I will pm it. :)

Thank you!

Umm (raises hand) ... can I have the lemon meringue cupcake recipe too? Pretty please? I have a daughter who would LOVE some of those on her next birthday. If I could order them from you, I would. xx

ok, I will just post it here. But don't you lot tell anyone about my super secret recipe!

I assume you can all make a basic vanilla cupcake. If not, I can post a recipe for that too.

Once they're baked, simply cut a hole out of the middle as if you were making fairy cakes. Add the filling, then top with meringue.

The filling is as follows:

2 egg yolks
1 Can of condensed milk
Juice of one or two lemons

beat the egg yolks into the condensed milk, then slowly fold in the lemon juice till it sets. It goes quite thick. Don't worry if it looks like the lemon wont fold. It will. Just keep adding a little at a time till the mixture goes thick. Don't add any more juice after it sets or your mix will go runny again. Also, you may not need the juice from two lemons. It depends how tart the lemons are.

This is so much easier than making a lemon curd, but you could do that if you prefer.

To make the meringue, simply beat your egg whites till they're fluffy, then add several tablespoons of castor sugar. You may need an extra egg white. I used 4 whites to do a dozen cupcakes and had just enough. Again, it depends how big the eggs are. Try to use extra large ones.

You will have too much of the filling for 12 cupcakes, so you may want to just eat the leftover. :)

When you've put your meringue on the top of your filled cupcakes, you can either put them in a really hot oven for a couple of minutes, or under a griller, or you can blow torch them if you have one. You don't really want to cook the meringue too much. I think it's nicer if it's fairly soft still. If you cook it too much, the other issue is drying out the cake.

Have fun, and show pics!

Yum! Thanks, Ali!!

My pics may not happen until July, but when the lemon meringue cupcakes happen, I'll post. :)

Excellent! :)

I assume it was only my ignorance which stopped me realising that the lemon mixture should be heated? I Googled other recipes in the end and saw that this was part of the procedure. I honestly thought that some chemistry in the ingredients would cause it to thicken; hey, some things do, right? If it really was supposed to thicken cold, then I've no idea what I did wrong, because I added the lemon juice by the teaspoon and with every teaspoon it just became more dilute.

I very nearly gave up, but the egg count and the cost of the condensed milk was already so high I had to carry on. Note, high by my standards five days before payday.

I went for an Italian style meringue in the end.
I was a little wary of knowing how much sugar to add, having already proved myself an incompetent baker. So I picked an online recipe with detailed amounts. Sadly I couldn't find any which used 4 egg whites, and I'd already separated them, so I had to double up on the other amounts and was left with a mountain of meringue (and I know you said this might be the case anyway, Ali.)
Ditto lemon custard stuff.
Yes I could have made another batch of cakes to use it up but by then I was too weary. I hate to fail at things. And I'd been up since 04.45.

Mum said she likey, but if I made again I would SO use lemon curd (shop bought!) and a traditional meringue. Which is what you suggested Ali.

Leftover lemon sauce and meringue mix.

Not everything was wasted; I had a lovely yolky omelette for tea (one egg I failed to separate properly and two other yolks from baking)

Cakies:

Yay! Good job Sundae.

I dont usually heat it to thicken it. Just room temp. Were you using real lemons? It should thicken. Sometimes it just takes a little more stirring, although folding is more the action you want. Easy does it.

I just don't get it then.
I did suspect you wouldn't have left out an important point like that and that it was just me.
Perhaps I gave up too soon...

Mum has been much more effusive in her compliments this morning.
Yesterday she had a huge row with Dad over the remote control.
She spoke to him as if he was a child and he swore at her. Cue screaming rant.
Thinking about it, this almost immediately preceded me making the lemon filling. No wonder I started with the expectation of failure!

I will try again now I know it's possible.
After payday and with less meringue.

Yeah, i probably had twice as much meringue on mine. I will put a pic up. Do give it another go. It's really so much easier than lemon curd when you master it. You may have given up too soon. It does take a little while. :)

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Wow. That looks so delicious.

If I survive this move and find somewhere to live, I really must learn piping.
Glatt's right, those look wonderful.

Oh, rereading my post, I sounded almost accusatory. I didn't mean to come across that way, as it's not what I felt. I was just grumpy and unsure of myself.

Thanks glatt. :). They were popular.

Not at all Sundae. I knew what you meant. Xx

That looks yummy, except I don't like liquorice, so I might make chocolate meringues instead, or some such thing for the dark colour. Can't go wrong with berries, cream and meringue though. :)

Here's my taco cake.

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It looks delicious, but who's Hicole?