The
Timeframe and Cost of Decorated Cookies and Cakes
Timeframe:
Customer:
“Could you make me 2 dozen decorated cookies for a baby shower?”
Sweet Ivy: “Absolutely! When do you need them?”
Customer: “In 2 days.”
Ok,
here is where the timeframe for decorated cookies and cakes comes into
play. Most generally, a baker/decorator
cannot bake/decorate custom cookies/cakes in two days. First we must gather all of the information
about the baked good from the customer (flavors, icing types, colors, designs,
themes, etc.). We then sit down and design/sketch a possible cookie/cake for
the customer and get back with them.
Next, we shop for supplies and ingredients. Then we bake the cookies/cake. Next, comes the icing/decorating. The icing and decorating of cookies and cakes
can literally take days in itself depending on the project. These are some of the reasons bakers will ask
for 2-4 weeks notice (sometimes more) when doing a project, as there are sometimes multiple customers/projects going on at once.
Cost:
Customer:
“Can you make a birthday cake for my son?”
Sweet
Ivy: “Absolutely!”
Customer: “How much will it cost?”
Sweet
Ivy: (never hears back from customer)
The
cost of custom cookies and cakes tends to scare a lot of people away. We get the, “But I could go to WalMart and
get it for half that price!” You are
more than welcome to go to WalMart (or other grocer). However many bakeries in superstores get
their cakes in frozen and use a tub of premade icing. The employee (who has
little training and is making minimum wage and cares little about the finished
product) will just slap on the icing, an edible image, pipe a border and not
worry about the finished result. Most
superstore bakers won’t even TOUCH custom cookies. With a home-based baker, you will be getting
fresh ingredients, constant communication, attention to detail, along with our
heart put into each dessert. We want you
to be happy! By the time a home-based
baker designs/sketches the cookies/cake, shops for
supplies/ingredients, bakes, and decorates the
cookies/cakes…many of us end up making LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE on the desserts
we create. There is not much profit for
home-
based
bakers. If a baker quotes you $50.00 for
a cake, he/she is not “pocketing” $50.00 by the time all of the shopping/time/work
is factored in. We do what we do because
we LOVE it! It is our creative
outlet! It brings us joy to see people
happy with their desserts! We are not
offended when people walk away due to “sticker shock”. But we just want to assure people we are not
getting rich off of our desserts. This
post is also not intended to be a “woe is me” post. It’s just to explain what goes into
home-baked goods.
We
understand that some folks are on a budget (who isn’t these days) and custom
cookies/cakes may not be in the budget right now. We completely understand and hope that you’ll
consider us in the future!
I
started my baking journey in 2010 and still consider myself a “learner”, as I’m
learning new things each day! I take
that into account and tend to price my baked goods a tad bit lower than my
experienced friends. If there is ever
something you request that I feel I am unable to help you with, I am happy to
refer you to one of my more experienced local baker friends.
We
hope you enjoy our cookies, cakes, and desserts!
The
biggest compliment we can receive is a referral!
Thank-you for your support!
Sweet
Ivy Confections
