Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cakes
Blue Ivy Cakery Wedding Cakes

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Answering The Tasting Question

It's difficult turning your beloved hobby into a business. Since it is not easy separating doing the things that feels good from the more practical thing which makes a business operates profitable and become prosperous. For me one of the challenge is answering the tasting question when potential clients call. There is a big difference between a custom cake shop and a bakery...I bake cakes to order, therefore I consider my business a custom cake shop. Cakes are not bake daily and placed in a glass case awaiting customers. My service is customized and personalized for my clients.
 
Being the owner of a very small custom cake shop I receive call and emails daily requesting quotes for cake and cake tasting. It's exciting getting calls and emails with the potential of getting new business, but the cost of cake tasting, when I was doing it FREE was killing my bottom line. I found I was baking more tasting cakes than I was baking cake for serious business. I was offering a delicious cake at a price reflecting the work that goes into my product, however, those requesting tasting would rather pay less for good work. When I have done that I found I was working twice as hard for far less doing more work which was not appreciated, not even with a "thank you" email later. For a while it was a turnoff because there was no way I could justify to my husband that I could make my business profitable if I ran it the way I was doing it. After getting tips from other decorators and planners I changed my operations.

First I realize I was not competing with the local supermarkets for cake business because my cakes are made from scratch. Next, I am offering my services to those wanting a special type of cake at their event because they have certain preferences, relishes the fine taste of a cake baked from scratch with their own personalized decorations. Plus they are willing to pay the cost for this type of service. In the process of marketing my business, it became clear to me last December that I was really under valuing my work. I took my album with pictures of some of my cakes to an event planner and he was very impress with my work (especially the sculptured cakes) and asked what my prices were. He was shocked when compared with cakes other baker created for some of his events how I was giving mine away!

Now I'm charging for tasting appointments and offering the purchase of tasting cakes if they want a specific flavor. The result, serious clients who are not wasting my time wanting five different flavors, sketches and loads of other stuff then later gives the business to someone else. I am getting more clients who book their weddings and parties after the tasting and consultation because they love what they tasted and would love to have more. That's how I see it.

In essence it is looking at the value I place on my work and less about the cost of tasting. What are your thoughts?

Inserted from: Dreamers Into Doers--Martha Stewart.com

Copyright by Jeanette Jackson of Blue Ivy, LLC. If you would like to post any of my photographs, please contact me. Thank you!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Jordan Is Two!

 

Happy Birthday JordanHappy Birthday Jordan! This was a cake made for a very sweet young man called Jordan who celebrated his 2nd birthday on Saturday. He celebrated it at Chucky Cheese in Pembroke Pines, FL with his family and friends. White chocolate cake with American buttercream and fondant decorations.

Until next time, happy caking and baking. Walk good.

Baking Jeannie

Monday, March 14, 2011

A Big Heart for Baby Christian

This weekend I had this greatest pleasure of doing a baby shower cake for a baby who has a remarkable story. The short story is, he has been adopted into a family far larger than is mommy and daddy. It’s into the heart of all those who hears the miraculous way God placed him into the arm of a loving couple and into our hearts.

Big Heart For Christian

After I had setup the cake and took two other pictures that I noticed this huge heart over the cake table. Celia said she had it from a wedding and thought how appropriate it would be to have it hanging over the cake table. It was like one of those ‘aaawwwe’ moments (seeing the Big W in the movie, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963).)

Hope your weekend was filled with the grace and love of God in the same way we embraced baby Christian in our lives.

Happy caking and baking. Walk good ‘till next time…

Baking Jeannie

Friday, March 4, 2011

Bumpy Delivery–Red Roses Wedding Cake

For those days delivering cake when you don’t feel like a Cake Boss!

No matter how you try to deliver a cake in the best condition possible, some times the ride can get really bumpy for delicate cakes.

Last month I worked hard on over two dozen red roses and buds for a wedding cake which was delivered to the quaint Redlands Golf and Country Club down in Homestead, Florida. If you are familiar with South Florida and South Miami-Dade the Redlands is considered “rural” since the area has a number of farms and livestock. Travelling from Broward County we took the turnpike, then west on Kendall Drive and south on Krome Avenue. During our drive I believe I counted us going over three set of railroad tracks! That can’t be good for a stacked three tiered buttercream cake even if I was driving a Cadillac.

About three blocks from the club, the unthinkable happened…one of the dowel skidded on the greaseproof cake board that the bottom cake was on causing the two top tiers to collapse onto the bottom tier. When I asked Rena, my able assistant with this cake delivery, to check on the cake in the back, I went into shock when she shouted: “Oh my! Jeanette…the cake!!!!!” That was enough to cause me to take my eyes off the road and look behind to see the nightmare any cake decorator dreaded happening to them. The smell of sweet buttercream and the aroma of fresh cake mingled with my panicking “Ooohh nnnooooo!!!!” was enough to make me pull the vehicle over, yes on very rough swale, that was . You maybe wondering if I took pictures of the catastrophe…no, I didn’t that was the furthest thing from my mind. All I was thinking about was, how am I going to fix it in time for the wedding. Thank God I usually plug a bit of extra time in the event something like this happens. However, I do have pictures of the cake before the collapse and what I actually displayed. The chef at the club humored me when I was busy patching the two damaged tiers by saying that he felt like he was watching Cake Boss. At that time I did not feel like Buddy but I asked he for two aspirins for the headache (LOL).

This is the cake before we started the drive (below). Notice there are four tiers…

Blue Ivy Cakery Red Rose Wedding Cake

This is the cake we displayed (below). Ooops! We only have three tiers where did the other go? Left in the kitchen to be cut and server. Yes, I know it’s an expensive bad habit I have, but I always make more than enough cake, for this very same reason (LOL).

Red Roses Wedding Cake Since this delivery I am no longer takes cakes stacked before setup unless I am travelling in a hovercraft or we are in the real space age.

Happy caking and baking ‘till next time so walk good…

Jeanette “Baking Jeannie” Jackson