to think that £20 +£12 delivery is a lot to pay for cupcakes?

[laumiere]

Brought to you by a "WTF?" I work in London and a work colleague bought cupcakes for her party, from a bakery called Lola's - £22 for the cakes and £12 for the delivery!

Am I the only one who thinks this is MAD to pay for some cakes and surely they could go in the post?

nah, I can make them

i would never dream of spending that much money on cakes for anyone BUT i can assure you that the Lolas cupcakes are amazing.

a very kind friend sent some to me a couple of years ago, and they arrived by van if i remember correctly so that the box stays upright as do the cakes!

IMHO, cupcakes are totally overrated...so there.

kickassangel - you could make much more that 4 dozen in a day - I can make 72 pretty but basic ones for the school cake stall in 3 hours!

laumiere - I'm near Canterbury.

ok, i was thinking of whilst dd is at school (so not a full day) & with some kind of pretty thing on the top, and allowing for the fact that i wouldn't have every day to bake, but would need to buy supplies etc.

still, it's amazing how much people pay - i was talking to a professional cake maker & she charges between $3 & $5 per slice for larger cakes. so, a cake for 10 people is about $40. i could make 2 of those in a day, and would have no childcare costs to cover.

seriously, if you can get people placing orders, it can make a decent income without leaving the house!

Be careful, though, if it starts looking like a proper business there are all sorts of hygein hoops to be jumped through. Well, there are in the UK - are you in the States or does you £ key not work?

hygiene - obviously!

I don't like cupcakes at all but I love making them... I make them and palm them off on anyone who will have them. Perhaps I need to rethink this strategy

I'd consider it for a very special occasion, but probably not, for instance, for my sons birthday, because he's 3, and he wouldnt give a monkeys about how gorgeous it was even if it was Buzz Lightyear.
Plus I'd collect them myself lol!
I know someone who does astonishing cakes (see here - theres a link to cupcakes specifically but she does all sorts of cakes. She charges £2 upwards for cupcakes, but you can see why - the amount of detail and effort required per cake is enormous.
Pity I can't try any as I dont live nearby!

kickassangel, i'm a cake decorator, and the money is good, provided you can get the orders in.

but at the moment with the current climate people are trying to save money on parties (understandably) although my cupcakes do sell really well (£1.20-£1.50 each) as do my wedding cakes as they are bespoke.

the hygine hoops actually arent that difficult to jump through, you need a hygine certificate and need to be registered with the FSA who will come out and inspect your kitchen every 3 years (provided there is no problem) i do nothing diffrent or special (hygine wize) when i'm making cakes and my inspector was really happy with all my practices.

i do however have to keep a cleaning diary (which i forget ) and that is a pita, but you can always fill it in retrospectivly.

I must be very out of the loop as far as trends go because I didn't even realise that cup-cakes were fashionable until I watched Junior Apprentice!
Having said that I'm not that keen on cake anyway.
As far as expensive confectionary goes I was shocked at the price they charge for macaroons in Paris - not that I'd eat them anyway as I hate almonds but they are the "celebration" confection there apparently. Same with the bon-bons - outrageous prices!

£32 is cheap.

I usually charge a lot more than that.

women's obsession with cupcakes is really what's the word

For some people they are a little ray of sunshine. A very close friend of mine found that a cupcake a day helped her get through the awfullness of first the egg harvest so she might one day be able to have babies and then the chemo for her Colon cancer last year.
Your work collegue paid for them herself I assume and then shared with everyone else. They made her happy on her birthday.
Enjoy her happiness it's her money to spend.

Those cakes are gorgeous lynnie. I'd love to be able to do that. Not mad on eating them but would love to be able to make them

yeah they are arent they gwendolinemarylacy. sadly I'm rubbish at cakes. Cant bake em. and REALLY cant decorate em. I even c*ck up the cakes in a packet which come with their own decorations lol! I find this irritating since Im quite artistic in general but apparently this doesnt extend to foodage :)

However much you pay they are shit. So YANBU.