What cakes for baking stall at fundraising fair?

[MotherForkinShirtBalls]

What do you buy? I've been volunteered to organise the baking stall at a fundraiser next month. I've never paid much attention to it before so trying to work out what will sell. What's your top pick?

[CountFosco]

I refuse to make cakes for school any more because they sell cakes so cheaply, really pisses me off. At work we charge £1 a slice which covers the costs even of a nut based gluten-free cake or rocky road (and yes, I have costed them up).

The dreaded lemon drizzle is relatively cheap to make even with butter and is a good tray bake, and the chocolate crispie things (we called them doodlebugs growing up) are cheap and popular with the kids so notwithstanding the legendary thread are both an excellent idea.

At work (and school in particular) the icing covered things are very popular but if people know the bakers then a well made plainer cake or muffin can be very popular.

[TheScruffyDog]

I refuse to make cakes for school any more because they sell cakes so cheaply, really pisses me off. At work we charge £1 a slice which covers the costs even of a nut based gluten-free cake or rocky road (and yes, I have costed them up).

Oh God yes, annoyed moments I have known include when I was asked to make glutes free cakes for a bazaar, to then find they'd been cut up with the same knife and put on the same plate as the normal cakes. And when I made a ton weight of fudge and it was sold for 50p a 100g bar.

Depends on the audience, kids; chocolate crispy cakes with sprinkles on. Adults: hummingbird brownies recipe, lemon drizzle, blueberry and Poppy seed loaf. Carrot cake loaf with cream cheese frosting.

[Collision]

I make the cheapest cake possible with cheap ingredients but they still taste great!

Lemon drizzle is a good one.

Also cookies decorated with smarties go down well.

[WhoCaresWins01]

I have been involved in many many cake stalls at school church and WI.
My tip would be to avoid large individual cakes as the return on these is much lower. At school now we sell individual small cakes or slices of larger cakes - people often buy a selection to take home so we have cheap paper plates / bags / foil ready to wrap them in.
Decorated small cakes sell well as dp slices of lemon drizzle and chocolate cake.

[Blobby10]

Used to get involved in lots of cake stalls when my kids were little. Big cakes always made the most money as you could easily charge over £3-4 for a Victoria Sponge sized cake. Have plenty of carrier bags to give to shoppers - we had loads of people who 'would come back later' so they didn't have to carry the cake around with them and never turned up so we either ended up with several cakes that had been paid for but not collected or loads of cakes 'reserved'.

[Ginfordinner]

“I refuse to make cakes for school any more because they sell cakes so cheaply,”

I don’t understand this view. I am not looking to make a profit out of my baking. It is my contribution to the fund raiser. I don’t expect to be paid for the ingredients I use.

[Walnutwhipster]

I'm a qualified chef but poorly now and volunteered with a small local charity often doing cake sales. Our best seller without doubt were always brownies and simple chocolate cornflakes cakes if children were buying.

[donquixotedelamancha]

Turkish chocolate cake, made with nuts and biscuits.

Apparently it's quite good.

[labazsisgoingmad]

kids love those little plain sponge cakes with a bit of icing on top and something like sprinkles or decorating embellishments flowers for instance cheap to buy from a stall keeps kids happy too

[TheScruffyDog]

I don’t understand this view. I am not looking to make a profit out of my baking. It is my contribution to the fund raiser. I don’t expect to be paid for the ingredients I use.

Of course not. But to me it's counter productive. I could spend £15 on ingredients, the cake then gets sold for 25p a slice rather than a pound. It felt like a waste of time, energy and gas. I'd rather give the £15 and support in a different way. I never used to feel like that and always previously felt it was about the contribution in general (I got fleeced a couple of times which changed my outlook sadly.)

[AuntieStella]

I'd make sure you have something 'healthy' (chocolate/beetroot, carrot/courgette etc) and a clearly labelled vegan option.

Otherwise, all the stuff mentioned above, in whatever quantities people are kind enough to donate it.

If it's near Hallowe'en, then get some spookily decorated, but I wouldn't bother for anything else (no, not even Christmas!)

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Home-made cakes being sold to raise funds for a good cause shouldn't be sold at the same price as mass-manufactured long-life cake. I would never expect to have my costs reimbursed, that's my contribution, but if I go to the time and effort of making something that's going to be sold I'd like to see it sold for a price that's going to raise good money for the cause. Otherwise, as others have said, I might as well just have given the money I'd spend on ingredients, fuel, wrapping, labels etc and save myself the effort of baking.

[MsSquiz]

We do a tea party every year for Marie Curie and the first things to go are:
Mars Bar Krispy cake
Millionaire's shortbread
Simple iced biscuits

Then it would:
Scones (served with jam and cream so could be messy)
Cupcakes
Brownies
Victoria Sponge
Lemon drizzle

[ProperVexed]

@eyeoresancerre Just you and me remember that one, it seems!
I can't seem to do a link but it's in classics.


To pelt my cakes at this mum's head in the playground this afternoon?
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1718384-To-pelt-my-cakes-at-this-mums-head-in-the-playground-this-afternoon-fume

[Munxx]

Top hats, make sure there's too hats! It's the most popular here in Scotland!
(Bun case with melted chocolate then marshmallow stuck in then but if chocolate on top to stick a smartie onto) can sell individually for 20p it out a few in a bag for a quid.

[Munxx]

I am so sorry about the typos by the way.

[MotherForkinShirtBalls]

Ah yes,top hats! I forgot about them. Delish.

I get both sides of the argument on the cost of making the cakes vs recouping their value. I'm torn myself on it. I did suggest to the committee last year that if we charged everyone £10, we could in return promise not to hold a fair

[Collision]

Honestly I would rather pay £10 every term and skip the crap.......

The last cake thing I went to the cakes which were truly beautiful were sold for 20p each.

Ridiculous.

Private school as well. I would have paid £1 each as the cakes were stunning.

[MotherForkinShirtBalls]

You and me both, Collision.

Just had a thought. If I made (hundreds of) plain biscuits in the letters of the alphabet, would people buy them to make up words? Eg kids could make up a bag of biscuted to buy their name, I'd buy little bags if insults for friends who would find it hilarious if they worked it out, etc. 10p per biscuit.

[TheFaerieQueene]

I don’t know about cake sales - not something I have ever been involved in and I don’t eat cake.

I do make Bara Brith for people and apparently it is v nice.

This is the recipe I use

//www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/julies-bara-brith-friends-kitchen/

[FinnMcMissile]

I always make Millionaires shortbread for PTA sales now. I have tried other things, but find that if people don't know what they are exactly, they don't want them, e.g.the peach crumble bars I once made. Millionaires shortbread is always popular with adults. I agree with PP That Victoria sponge, brownies, coffee and walnut cake, lemon drizzle and fancy looking cupcakes are also popular. With kids, I agree that chocolate rice krispie cakes and cupcakes with frosting on top are winners.

[Bluerussian]

Scones, nice light ones, some with fruit and some without.
Cup cakes and muffins always go down well.

[Collision]

@FinnMcMissile do you have a good recipe for Millionaires Shortbread please?

[FinnMcMissile]

@Collision hope you can read this. It's straightforward, but requires a bit of planning as you have to let each layer cool before adding the next.

[managedmis]

donquixotedelamancha

^^

Where did you hear that?