to ask how much you would pay for homemade Christmas cake

Yeah, temperatures and storage etc. that's fair enough. I did the hygiene certificate ages ago, it was pretty easy.

It doesn’t need to be professional but there are basic guidelines you need to follow around storage, allergens, hygiene standards etc.

@TheHopefulBaker the car boot manager sounds absolutely clueless - you absolutely do need a certificate and potentially a council inspection as well. It’s not particularly expensive so much better to have it than get caught out.

I like making cakes but I do not think I would sell at a car boot- mostly because I would not buy food there. But if you have a cafe you get on well with, could you make your cakes in their kitchen and let them sell them for you?
The way you describe left over mix makes me think cake pops might be an idea, also have you tried making christmas cake truffles
Grownup Christmas Cake Chocolate Truffles - Larder Love

Sounds like a lot of effort to earn £20.

Tesco are looking for Christmas staff too.

@TheHopefulBaker you can do the food hygeine course in a day, and lots do them online. It's useful just to make sure you know everything you need to know, if you see what I mean.

For home baking businesses the requirements are pretty straightforward compared to someone making things with meat or uncooked dairy products. Baked cakes are a low risk item. So if you should decide to make a go of it in the future, give your local council a ring and they'll let know know what you need. I found mine to be extremely helpful!

Yeah, I know that now. Thank you. I would hope it's not as rigorous as someone actually setting up a full time food business. As in they wouldn't expect a professional kitchen?

Yes, but the spite was far superior to anyone else's! I bet the DD is six foot and willowy as well.

It's free to register to

It doesn't matter how occasional it is, maybe different EHOs have different rules but I know with my local council if you sell any food items as a home business you need to register your kitchen so it is inspected by the EH dept

You really need to check that you’re allowed to sell food at the car boot sale. You probably need food hygiene certificates.

Undercooked cakes can also make you sick, same if the ingredients or toppings haven't been stored properly.

No its not a you thing.

Lots of people are this way - including myself at times.

But when I stop and think I do start to wonder. I understand poorly cooked chicken or fish, I understand toxoplasmosis for pregnant women ( for the rest of us its better to have had it) and I understand unpasteurised dairy items and things like bagged salad which are high risk for listeriosis.

But I'm not actually sure what there is to worry about with baked goods. I mean if its gets kicked round the floor, yes, but no-one is going to bag that up, and even in cafes you don't really know. The girl at a very well-loved cafe near us steadied a scone with her finger as she slipped it on the plate for my mum the other day. That finger could have been anywhere , and the fact the place had a food hygiene certificate wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference to that incident - it was only chance I even saw. But I said nothing and mum was fine.

I mean, off the top of my head:

Is it baked properly?
How is it stored after baking?
Are there animals or small children who could potentially stick their fingers in it, or lick it?
Has it been dropped on the floor?
Does the baker have clean hands wrapping it and transporting it?
Are they aware of all the allergens?

There's a good reason why food businesses have to be checked and registered by the authorities. If OP's cake made someone ill and she wasn't registered or insured, she could find herself in a LOT of trouble.

Yes, it does go in the oven.

And then it comes out of the oven, to be touched again and potentially put on surfaces that pets have been on, for example. And then touched again to be decorated and then put it into packaging for transport.

I'm not some mad everything-must-be-sterile person, but I like to know what I'm eating. But also, I can't deal with doggy kisses (cute as I think dogs are, and as happy as I am to pet them), for example, so maybe it's a me thing.

I'm quite picky about hygiene, but I am wondering what people think the issue with baked goods is going to be. It all goes in the hot oven, and few of the ingredients in a Christmas cake are like oysters or things that must be very fresh.

Personally I wouldn’t buy anything home made from a car boot , fete , fair or whatever but plenty of people do , if you add up ingredients, time and electricity also the cost of whatever wrappings plus pitch and petrol at the boot fair I would guess it would add up to around £15 -£20 per cake , so you would need to sell for around £30 I can’t see anyone paying that , sorry

OP I would start off with some festive cupcakes which are easy and good sellers and you can make profit from them ( work out your ingredients and multiply by 3) . Test out the boot fair before you make lots of Xmas cakes . I do lots of craft fayres/ Xmas markets / school fetes and food is ALWAYS a big seller even when nothing else sells well. You do not need food hygiene for a few occasional boot fairs. It IS worth listing the ingredients but anyone with serious allergies won't be your target market.

I wouldn't buy one from a rando at a car boot sale. You might be baking it with a fag in your mouth and cats walking all over your surfaces as far as I know.

The best Xmas cakes I ever made (and sold) didn't have icing just marzipan with fruit and nuts/glace cherries pressed into it in a pattern,went down a treat.

You seem to be ignoring the points about food hygiene. You can’t just sell random cakes.

Aww, your cakes are really sweet and I’m sure they taste great. But honestly, I’d be tempted to do away with those cake toppers and go for a more classy decoration, eg holly and red berries made of icing, with maybe some edible silver glitter. Being presented in festive cellophane and ribbon would make all the difference too.
Good luck!

I'd bake as gifts for friends etc.

I have sold homemade things myself, and one thing I generally do (which is frowned upon) is to not count the cost of my time. But I like doing my crafting hobby, and there's only so many of the crafted items we need in the house, so I make them as gifts and sell the excess sometimes.

It's not business- minded, but I'm not trying to make a living, rather justifying the creation of yet another wooly owl!

You don't need a certificate for charity or fundraising events.

You do need one if you're baking for profit, which OP is.