to ask how much you would pay for homemade Christmas cake

[TheHopefulBaker]

I am looking into ways to easily earn a bit of extra cash. I make a christmas cake every year just for myself and family as I love doing it, so I'll be putting in the money and time regardless. Every year I get feedback that my Christmas cake is lovely and I should sell them.

I'm wondering if it would be worth it to invest a bit more time and effort to make a few more, and maybe make a bit of money. I was thinking I could take them along to my local car boot sale in October and November.

I'm just wondering how much to ask. I usually make medium round cakes and decorate them with marzipan and royal icing. Then add a few simple decorations on top. Nothing fancy.

I'll try add a photo of last year's

How much do you think people would pay for a cake like this at a car boot sale?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

Plus insurance.

I'm not surprised they sold well! The point people are making is that it's unlikely you would even cover ingredients at that price.

If you donated your costs to the charity then happy days (like me with my brownies for the bake sale obvs); tho I do sometimes wonder if I would be better off just donating the money I spent haha.

I don’t think the rather random collection of Christmas figures do the cake any favours, nor does the skimpy bow.
As someone suggested, try a wide red ribbon around the cake and whisk up the icing to look more snowy.

I wouldn’t buy one OP, if we were friends IRL I would be delighted to receive one as a Christmas gift, but if I was buying one it would be from a bakery or home baker with all the right certificates

I would not buy a cake from a member of the public who I didn't know. Goodness knows what might be in it. And the ingredients are expensive so I don't think you'd make much money if you found a few customers.

About £25.

I make Christmas cakes. They are expensive to make at home. Yes, homemade are a lot better than bought cakes. But people don't want to shell out £40 for a homemade cake. I'd say there is no profit to be made in them.

I wouldn't even take one for free and if given one it would go straight in the bin.

Unless I know you are in a pet free, child free, smoke free home with impeccable hygiene at all times and nobody else ever entering the kitchen it's made in, I'm not eating anyones home made cake except my own.

I'm sorry to say, but I wouldn’t buy any homemade cakes - I would happily donate to school cake sale, but I wouldn't eat any one else's donations. You just don't know what their hygiene is like (not talking specifically about you, OP - just explaining my position).

You'll need various insurances and for your kitchen to be hygiene rated before you start. I also think that there are few people who would pay what the ingredients and your time are worth.

I used to have a cake business and in order to sell homemade cakes in the UK you have to be registered with your local council and they may or may not need to do a home check to give you a hygiene rating. You also need a certificate in food hygiene and to have public liability as a food business too. Your bakes also have to be labelled with all ingredients and allergens.

It may seem a lot for "just a few cakes" but you would hate to be in a situation where someone gets ill or worse from eating your cake and you end up in court. I know that sounds extreme but these things sadly do happen.

Look after yourself and if you want to go for it then why not, but do it properly x

I used to have a cake business and in order to sell homemade cakes in the UK you have to be registered with your local council and they may or may not need to do a home check to give you a hygiene rating. You also need a certificate in food hygiene and to have public liability as a food business too. Your bakes also have to be labelled with all ingredients and allergens.

It may seem a lot for "just a few cakes" but you would hate to be in a situation where someone gets ill or worse from eating your cake and you end up in court. I know that sounds extreme but these things sadly do happen.

Look after yourself and if you want to go for it then why not, but do it properly x

I make my own, the ingredients cost about £10 so I’m not sure you’ll be about to make money back

You could get paid to make cakes for family and friends but I wouldn’t try to sell to the general public. They won’t go for it.

I’m not a fan of Christmas Cake but I love the cute decorations. They make me feel nostalgic.

Hi , I had my own business making celebration cakes for a few years when I retired early and it is so hard to make any profit , but I wouldn't consider Christmas caje as far too expensive to make, the ingredients alone are pricey, but you also have to consider the other costs.. boxes, assorted cake tins , boards ribbons as well as be certain you have enough skill to do them professionally and factor in the other costs , ie shopping time, washing up, gas or electric ( fruit cakes take hours) and cost your time.
You also cannot just sell cake , you must be registered , have hygiene certificates and show that you understand how to store not only the ingredients but you need to do allergy training, add stickers to your boxes to inform people of the ingredients that may be allergens etc. It's a hugely complicated set up and not something you can just sell at a boot fair, abd the local councils abd trading standards would be all over you , quite rightly .I hate to put a downer on this but id think again, it's not a thing that makes much money .

Do you have food hygiene certificate? Otherwise I don't think you can sell them.

I don't buy things make in people's homes as a general rule, unless I know them very well!

I’d pay £40 for a nice homemade Christmas cake like that.

It’s not as simple as making cakes and selling them!
You have to be registered with your local council, you have to have a visit from environmental health, you will have to have a food hygiene certificate and be registered as a business!

Gosh!

Do you ever cover your outlay and time spent with homemade things .... I doubt it but surely the pleasure in the making counts for a lot. Otherwise as you say a straight donation may be a better idea!

In 2021 these mini Xmas cakes cooked in individual baked bean tins were costed out by Nancy Birtwhistle at £1 each.
I bet they’d be double now…
10-hr slow cooker Xmas cakes

but even with the COL increase you could sell them for £5 and make a good profit.
Or just give them as presents.

:) if that's to me – I don’t sell my baking, I just donate to charity events. My take is that my time and the ingredients are a donation from me. I am guessing the brownies were sold at maybe £1.50-£2 a go (people are generous at my work) so x 20 that's more than if I had just donated £10.

I once made some cornflake Easter nest cakes for a nursery fair and was horrified to see the staff member selling them for 10p each (20 years ago but still). And some other really beautifully made cakes (not mine!) also at 10p. I queried it and the staff member said "well they are selling quickly!" I mean they would eh? 10p a cake even in 2005 didn't come close to covering the cost. I probs spent about £3-4 and they were sold for £1.20 in total. I was annoyed about that and since then if I am on a stall or donating to one have always priced donated homemade cakes at a decent price. People are happy to give a couple of quid to charity in exchange for a nice cake.

Every year I have lots of mixture left over and usually end up making a mountain of Christmas cake buns that we just eat throughout the season, so I thought this year I'd use the left over mixture to make three or four extra small cakes and see how they sell.

I don't get this.

The ingredients for Christmas cakes are expensive. How come you are estimating so badly that you end up with so much spare mixture?

Yes all mine is given and for charity too. Also grow bedding plants and have made £2000 for charities this year.

I just won't buy edibles from a car boot sale.