What are your top tips for the school cake sale? Tell Flora for the chance to win a £200 John Lewis voucher. NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

With school starting up again and cake sales coming up, Flora would love to hear about Mumsnetters' tips for the school cake sale.

Here's what Flora have to say: “We know that the school cake sale can sometimes be a battleground but Flora is here to offer a helping hand. Baking with Flora Buttery couldn’t be simpler- just 5 ingredients and 15 minutes is all it takes. All it takes is a bowl and spoon! You can even get the kids to help for easy peasy baking fun and tasty sell out cakes every time!”

So, what are your top tips for the school cake sale? Do you have any simple fail-safe cake recipes which you know will sell well? Do you like to bake with your DCs? Perhaps you prefer to buy cakes? Are there any cake sale favourites which have surprised you?

Do you have any tips for navigating cake stand politics? What are the pricing policies in place at your DCs' school? What tips do you have for getting as many parents involved as possible?

Whatever your top tips are, Flora would love to hear about it.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £200 John Lewis voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Flora's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[funkyfreks]

Buy one of the supermarket value range ones for a few quid, chuck a load of new icing on it and some different toppings and transfer it onto your own plate....... TaDa!

[SaltySeaBird]

Cupcakes with a giant mount of butter icing. Preferably chocolate. Covered in more chocolate!

Individual slices of cakes or whole cakes never are as popular and nobody can resist something well decorated and children will go for the chocolate first every time! The linger you whisk the butter icing the lighter and fluffier it gets!

[Rummikub]

Yes definitely chocolate crispy cakes too

[thewomaninwhite]

Another one who goes for minimal effort due to low selling prices. Fairy cakes with lots of sparkle, colour and buttons!

[Hopezibah]

I think cake sales are a great way for schools to raise money for either the PTA or other charities and good causes and it gets all the kids, parents and teachers involved too.

A great tip to remember that a friend told me and it has revolutionised my cake making, is that 1 egg is around 2oz. Once you know that it makes it so much easier to either double up recipe quantities or reduce them when baking cakes.

If you're looking to make the cakes a little bit healthier, using a bit of honey instead of sugar works well. You actually need less honey than you think as it is sweeter.

[JulesJules]

I do non cook tray bake type things, make in a foil container - don't send in a tin you are going to want back.

Eg melt butter/Flora and mix in digestive biscuit crumbs with some sultanas, splodge of golden syrup. Melt a bar each of value milk or dark choc and a bar of white choc. Top with the dark choc and swirl the white choc over. Squiggle with a skewer.

You can throw on 100s and 1000s or smarties, maltesers, (edible) glitter etc if you want.

Allow to set and cut into squares. Send in the foil container you made it in with cling film over the top.

[teddygirlonce]

Afraid to say that after more than a decade of making cakes for the school cake sale, my top tip is 'don't bother making cakes, just buy ready-made ones from the supermarket'. There are all too many parents who won't touch home-made cakes with a barge-pole and it's really very disheartening/demoralising to see some gorgeous home-made cakes ignored and then sold off/given away at the end because no-one is prepared to sample their delights . Seen it happen too many times AND have had to buy back my own cakes just to ensure they don't meet such a fate!

[starlight36]

Definitely individual cakes. Easier to transport, serve and to eat. Chocolate fairy cakes or decorated biscuits usually go down well.

[MothershipG]

Make cakes Fairy cake sized, no bigger, don't make something that needs slicing, but if you must at least pre-slice and preferably wrap.

Don't spend oodles on top quality ingredients, do not use your single estate cocoa had picked by virgins, pearls before swine, I'm afraid.

Do cover with garish icing and as many sprinkles, jellies or sweets that you can fit for guaranteed sales. No, less is not more when it comes to bake sales!

[Kathderoet]

Yup chocolate crispies here too sprinkled with sugar strands - The kids love them! I've been caught in the trap of spending ages on lovely cakes only for them to be overlooked. If I've ahem forgotten I send a box of Mr Kipling's in. I mean it's the thought that counts, right?

[CointreauVersial]

I'm not very good at cakes! My top tip is to get the DDs to do the baking, then I just go along and buy everyone else's yummy creations.

I would generally do small cakes rather than a large one, and stay away from anything sticky or creamy which wouldn't transport well.

[pickynoo]

I would keep it simple :-)) little fairy cakes, accompanied by little cake pops they always go down a treat . Make it something the children can get involved in as they will feel special when selling there cakes to friends and parents. Bright and colourful sprinkles and keep the cost down no more than 20p per cake :-))) and always use flora and it's keeps your cakes soft and moist x

[campocaro]

Cupcakes for kids : go for a quirky or original theme just use a few colours/sprinkles etc .
Pack them well so no disappointments and crushed icing
Whole cakes go down well for parents to buy and freeze and bring out as home made when they have unexpected visitors

[BloodFlower]

I'm terrible at cakes. Make biscuits.

[Rigbyroo]

Chocolate crispy cakes all the way!

[Keepcalmanddrinkwine]

You could always not bother with the cakes and fill cases with butter icing. I know my kids wouldn't complain.

I don't know why they offer me the cake after they've licked the icing off though.

[Laymizzrarb]

Pile on as much decoration as you can. Smarties, broken up chocolate flakes, m and m's.
The most lurid, highly decorated will always sell first :-)

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

I like to make my favourite oaty cookies because they're so easy to make & taste great, even if they don't have 'wow' looks. Otherwise a chocolate cake decorated with lots of smarties (DD1's favourite).
I buy some of my own creations (someone's got to) and avoid hanging around too long so I'm blissfully unaware if they all end up in the bin at the end.

[zipzap]

Agree that chocolate crispy cakes with either cornflakes or rice crispies go down very well. As do the non-chocolate versions made with marshmallows melted down.

Popcorn does very well - and can be cheap to produce. Sugar salt flavour is a particular favourite.

Lots of people take in beautiful carefully iced cupcakes with big swirls of buttercream icing on top but forget that people have to get the cakes home which is fairly impossible when you are also trying to juggle a couple of lunch bags, a couple of book bags (both of which have short handles and can't be slung over your shoulder), find the money in the bottom of your handbag --or depth of your coat pocket as you've left your handbag in the car knowing you only have 2 hands to juggle everything else in) and keep a 2 year old from either running off or sticking her finger into every cupcake to see how deep the icing is.

So something that transports easily is also desirable. Plastic bags rather than paper bags are probably best thing to use as anything greasy won't leach through the paper and leave big grease marks all over the reading book and homework book when the biscuit bag gets shoved into the book bag due to lack of hands to hold the biscuit bag...

[Cherryjellybean]

The ones obviously made by parents seemed to go first - maybe as other parents knew that they probably hadn't had other children's fingers in it or they looked better.
After that ones with sweets/ chocolate on top do well. :)

[nicename]

I make loaf cakes and cut them up, pop them into cake bags (cellophane at the front, greaseproof paper on the back) and print off labels with the ingredients on.

Best recipes: chocolate fudge cake, banana tea loaf, parkins.

I also keep a big bag of cheapo serviettes on hand.

[17leftfeet]

My polar bear buns always sell well

Chocolate buns covered in marshmallow frosting with a face made out of chocolate drops

I find if its a themed bake sale that cakes matching the theme sell well

Biscuits and gingerbread men are always left at the end

[mrsseed]

Tray bakes of chocolate cake, choc icing and sprinkles. I do one of these that always goes quickly. But then cause I love experimenting with baking I use the sale as an excuse to try something new and usually send in a dozen fancy things too-from practising sugarcraft/piping icing.
Make sure cost is less than sale cost, but may spend quite a bit of time, but put it down to 'practise time' so I can perfect techniques for when it matters!

I often run cake stall, (I can see how mine sell!) But always annoys me when someone sends in cake with nuts in....its a school, they are not allowed in lunches, why would you put in in a cake for a cake sale?

[cheekyezme]

I buy iceing paper from ebay with pics of frozen or doc mcstuffins on! Little bit of frosting an one of those is always a winner :)

[serendipity1980]

I really like making chocolate chip biscuits - everyone likes them and they are less messy than cake. They are quick and easy to make. I don't know what the pricing is like off the top of my head but similar to other people's comments. Our school often sends a letter out asking for cake donations.