I’m starting to think about my future in baking. Will it always be just a hobby? Or should I try to make something more out of it? I’d like to try for the latter, but then I get discouraged when I see what other people make. My decorated cookies/cakes start to look very amateur. So would I really be able to make a profit by selling my goodies?
Right now, I’m just baking for the fun of it. But I end up spending quite a bit of money on ingredients and either need to slow down or start charging. I made a cake earlier this month for a friend. Took it to karaoke and fed the bar. A few weeks later, I made a cake for a coworkers mother. He worked a couple days for me that I had needed off so I offered to make him a cake. More time and money.
The next few birthdays/events, I’ll just whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies instead. They’re a bit cheaper but mostly they’re quicker. Well, except the cookies I make for bands.
The Script is in town tonight. Of course I have to bring them cookies. So I made chocolate chip (with two different kinds of chocolate), snickerdoodles, and sugar cookie instruments. Combined time to make/decorate = 14 hours. I decided to make the sugar cookies into the band’s instruments that they use on stage. Danny’s and Glen’s, piece of cake. Mark’s and Ben’s . . . well, each cookie probably took about 15 minutes. Multiply that by 10. The reason they take so long, besides the fact that I hand painted them with food color, is because I frost them twice, first with a buttercream and then with an icing that hardens slightly and dries shiny. I’ve found that if I don’t do the coat of icing, the buttercream melts and the cookies stick together and lose their decoration. And I don’t skip the buttercream because it’s much tastier than the icing. I’m happy with the way the cookies turned out. I just hope they hold up in transport and also in the Arizona heat.
All Things Crafty 