To panic about my Christmas cake commitments?

[Stravy]

I'm supposed to be making Christmas cakes as a charity fundraiser and it's just occurred to me that, as I have to make them well in advance, if I don't sell any as many as I would like then I'm going to have spent a fortune on ingredients/boards/boxes and have nothing to show for it. The ingredients are really expensive, and I'm not sure if the mark up will be that great. (my estimates as to what people will pay vary wildly)

Will someone tell me that it will all be alright and people will pay a kings ransom for a fruit cake.

[formerbabe]

I would never make a Christmas cake or buy one that someone else has made. The huge cost of ingredients wouldn't make it worthwhile. You may as well buy a really decent supermarket one.

[harderandharder2breathe]

Doh zombie thread sorry

[harderandharder2breathe]

Fruit cake keeps better than a lighter cake unfortunately

Yes yes to using the fruit for mincemeat and selling jars of it! Much easier to make than a cake!

[VeryFoolishFay]

Reading this, I was surprised to see my own post! I think I made £18 from memory...

I haven't done that Chris, but it may be ok, given it is so early in the baking process. Time will tell. Good luck.

[ChrisPhil1923]

can anyone help ,I made my delia christmas cake put in the oven, 20 minutes later realised I had not added the soaked fruit. I got the mixture out put it into a bowl and added the fruit and back in oven. Have I ruined my cake or will it be ok . Has anyone else done this?

[Hatespiders]

I'm always making blooming cakes for our church sales. People don't generally want to pay more than £5 for any kind of cake. Suggest you make very small ones, not 8 inch. Perhaps 6 inch? They do indeed freeze well.

[Waltonswatcher]

Auction it or raffle prize. That's your best way of maximising the funds. Good luck

[FoolishFay]

Hi, hoping it's ok to resurrect this.

I've just made a 6" Delia classic Christmas cake which I'm going to decorate like this:

The plan is to sell / auction it at our first school Christmas fair.

Any idea on a guide price? It's a one off! I've bought a tin / cutters etc which I'll obviously use again. The cake board and box has cost £3.50 too! Suspect I'm not going to raise as much as I would like, give the love that's gone into it!

[aintnothinbutagstring]

I like Dundee style Xmas cakes, with the glazed nuts and sometimes glaced cherries/fruit on top, not too heavy and very pretty and festive to look at especially with a nice big tartan ribbon round. Quicker and easier than icing too. Can lace with a bit of Scottish whiskey.

[raisah]

I don't like fruit cake but would buy another type of cake. My friend bakes cakes & she did an amazing chocolate Grufallo one which was a hit. You could do a selection of cakes, traditional & none traditional Christmas cakes. Also, if you have 1 or 2 birthday cakes then people are more likely to buy those now than Xmas cake which is too far ahead iyswim.o

Have a small selection that people can buy from you on the day to see your range, take atleast a 10-20% deposit for the pre-orders. Also have a small catalogue of photos of your previous cakes & a pricelist with contact details that people can take away with them on the day.

[Stravy]

I have those! Got them cheap on ebay

[4forkssake]

What about something like this to make small cakes. They're from Lakeland (linking cos I've seen them in there) but you might find them cheaper elsewhere.

www.lakeland.co.uk/15781/12-Mini-Loaf-Moulds

[Taffeta]

Food grade cellophane

[Stravy]

Yes, I don't know what its called either. I think florists use it.

[marzipanned]

Oh my, no way would I pay that much! Well, the estimated prices I gave you before were apparently way too low.

Good cheap idea for packing is to use clear plastic and a nice ribbon. Not sure what the technical name of the clear plastic I mean is, but hopefully you do know what I'm talking about...

[WillSingForCake]

Yeah, freezing them (undecorated) will be fine. My mum usually makes two at once and freezes one for next year, and you can never tell. Think she leaves out the alcohol though, and then defrosts it a month or so before Christmas and drowns it in sherry to revive it.

[Stravy]

They charge £42 for an undecorated 8 inch round cake...

[Stravy]

I need lovely little boxes like the ones on here with 6 little cakes in. They look very considered.

www.simplydeliciouscakes.co.uk/occasions/christmas-cake/

[Stravy]

this

[Stravy]

oops!

[Stravy]

[[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alan-Silverwood-pieceRound-Multi-Mini/dp/B000IAZOPI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379104555&sr=8-1&keywords=mini%20cake%20tin&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 I can make tiny ones in this but I don't know how to package nicely and cheaply

[PurplePidjin]

Make Christmas Cupcakes - fruit cake in the base, then cut out circles of marzipan and fondant icing with a cookie cutter. Sell for £1-2 each, bet you get 12 from the equivalent of an 8" cake plus far less expensive marzipan.

[HibernoCaledonian]

I hate marzipan so I make my version of stollen without it. It's fabulous (if I do say so myself) but it shows that it can stand up on its own without the marzipan.

Hope that helps.

[magicstar1]

I sold cakes last Christmas and you won't believe what sold best....chocolate biscuit cakes! I made them in a bowl, and poured white chocolate over the top with a bit of holly, so they looked like Christmas puddings. Great seller!