Business Time // Southern Crafters Market

Yes...this post title does sound familiar!! I have just attended another Southern Crafters market here in Invercargill. It wasn't as busy as the first one but it was still pretty good!!

I thought I'd share some photos of my stall. I was really proud of it this time, I put a lot of thought into my display and  think it paid off! I ordered a banner off Vsitaprint and am stoked with how it came out - its huge! I got lots of nice comments so that was cool.

I made 8 flavours of cupcakes (lemon blossom, candy floss, double choc, carrot cake, malty milkshake, rainbow vanilla, peachy bellini and cherry bomb) a chocolate raspberry brownie & gluten free blueberry & lemon friands. Yum!

I made all my business cards myself, as well as the price lists and the cupcake menu's (I'm so pleased with the menu's! They work really well!)

Another exciting thing - my lovely friend Laura made me a website!! So check out Sequin Corner Cakes on the web - www.sequincornercakes.com - she's added all my prices and photos which is pretty cool!

Do you guys have any little businesses on the side? Do you have a stall at a local market?

Business Time // Southern Crafters Market

A couple of weeks ago I had a stall at one of the biggest markets down South - The Southern Crafters Market. It was held in the Velodrome which was pretty cool! I spent the 2 weeks before the market getting everything ready - planning my cupcake flavours, practising my stall set up and buying all the little bits and pieces I needed for the weekend. 

I was up the Friday night before the market until 4am baking and decorating cupcakes and then 2am the Saturday night! It was well worth it though, I managed to sell everything I made and I ran out of business cards and price lists to give to people. I got some awesome feedback about my stall set up too, so even though I was a bit of a Zombie by the end of it I was feeling pretty happy!!

I'm loving the community feel of the markets down here, everyone is so friendly and helpful (I'm always running out of change and asking people to swap me all their coins!)

I hope you've all been having a good month or so, I'm hoping to be able to fit some outfit posts in soon now that it's almost spring and the days are getting longer!

Business Time! // Sequin Corner Market Stall

I mentioned a little while ago I was taking part in some local markets selling cupcakes. So far I've had a stall at 3 monthly markets and it's going pretty good!! (please ignore the unironed table cloth!!)

I thought I would share some photos from the market I had a stall at today. It was a quiet day, although with the temperature still at -3C at 12pm I can understand why people didn't want to venture out! I had 7 cupcake flavours today - Candy Floss, Pumpkin Spice, Double Choc, Orange Sherbet, Banoffee and Peanut Butter, plus a chocolate raspberry brownie. Yum!

The hardest part of having a stall has been figuring out how to display everything nicely. I love stalls that are dotted with different cake stands, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on them plus drive them around all over the place. From my days as a Chef at a cafe I know how the Health Officials like all food to be covered so when I found these plastic stands I thought they would be perfect! Add in some cheap plastic food trays and I'm good to go.

I designed all my packaging labels and used my home printer to print them all out. One day when I'm rolling in dough (heh) I'll probably get stickers made but these will do for now!

I hope you enjoyed this little sneak-peak into my cupcake venture. I have a couple more markets this month, including a big 2 day one which should be interesting! In 2 weeks I'll be going road tripping to Lumsden (about an hour from Invercargill) to have a stall at a market there, then again in august to Arrowtown (near Queenstown) so I'll be all over the place!

The Cupcake Files // Candy Floss Cupcakes

Since I moved to Invercargill I had been thinking about having a cupcake stall at a local market. At least once a week for the last few months I've been coming up with & trialling new cupcake flavours. I thought I would share some of them on my blog, because it is a big part of my life now and this blog is a little slice of my life, right?

I have decided not to share my exact cupcake recipe. I know that seems kind of mean, but I have adapted one I found & turned it into my own recipe which produces the type of cupcake I want to be known for. I've learnt some tips though that I'll share;

1. Don't over mix! It's the same idea as muffins, if you over mix they will be dry & tough.

2. You don't have to bake a filling into the cupcake. Cook it, scoop out the centre & fill with jam, frosting, curd or cream - yum!

3. An ice cream scoop is your friend - you will end up with evenly sized cupcakes - uniform is good!

So these are my candy floss cupcakes. All you have to do is...

a) Make up a basic vanilla cupcake mix. 

b) Before baking add approx 2 cups of candy floss - pulled into small tufts. Gently fold through -  don't mix until whole batter is pink, just until you have swirls of pink through it.

c) Bake cupcakes as per recipe.

d) Frost with candy floss frosting detailed below.

Candy Floss Frosting

115g Butter, softened

1 t Vanilla

60ml Milk

500g Icing Sugar
1 C Candy Floss

Add butter, vanilla & half of icing sugar to a bowl. Place candy floss in a separate bowl & pour milk over - this will melt it. Add candy floss milk to other frosting ingredients & beat until fluffy. Add remaining icing sugar & beat through. Fill a piping bag with frosting & pipe onto cupcakes. I used a 2D tip for these cupcakes.

I recently made some of these for a 7 year olds birthday party! I sprinkled them with a little edible glitter to give them some sparkle. What do you think?

 

Life Lately // Plans for November

Advertising for the Cake Decorating Conference in Blenheim - iPhone/Instagram

 Hello everyone! It's been a while. It wasn't a deliberate break, but more of an unfortunate situation involving Telecom and their inability to sort out a faulty phone jack point for an entire week!! No internet for work or play!

Anyway, I'm back in action!! I just got back last night from the New Zealand Cake Decorators Guild (NZCDG) annual conference which was held up in Blenheim this year. It's held in the South Island one year and then the North Island the next year. It was a pretty cool experience - I was a Delegate for our local club (Dunedin Sugar Craft Guild) and attended the AGM meeting, I saw 3 demonstrations from Cake Decorators hailing from America, Australia and New Zealand and I picked up a bunch of cool cake decorating supplies. The next South Island one will be in Nelson in 2 years so I'm looking forward to it! I'll post some photos from the trip tomorrow!

This weekend coming I'm reviewing the Imperial Russian Ballet which is touring New Zealand at the moment. I'm so excited! The last time I saw the Russian Ballet was just after I graduated with my Architectural Draughting Diploma - I had started my first 'real' job and shouted my Grandma a trip to the ballet. The following weekend I'm reviewing Sleeping Beauty from the Royal New Zealand Ballet which I have been looking forward to since I heard about it almost 2 years ago! So I'll have a busy couple of weekends up in Dunedin over the next little while. 

To top it all off I'm about to be an Aunty soon! My sister is due on the 15th November so not long to go now!

What have you been up to lately? Do you have any exciting plans for November? Oh! For the guy in your life - get them involved in 'Movember' !! I used to work in an office where I was the only girl among 10 or so guys - they all grew beards until the 29th November, then shaved most of them off into funky beards or moustaches. There were prizes for the best design, least hair grown, etc. Great cause!! 

Wishing Well // Candy Thermometer

 Candy Thermometer - Picture credit here

This is what I need to get my hands on on pay day (not till next week! Boo!) I have dreams of making all kinds of tasty goodies...remember my Turkish delight? I want to attempt that again plus find the perfect fudge recipe and perhaps make some toffee...

Thanks so much for all of your support on my Cakey Business post last Monday! I was so excited I emailed the lady about the markets the middle of last week. They aren't taking any more food stall holders for this year, but may be for next year.

Unfortunately the rules are pretty tight when you're selling food to members of the public here in New Zealand and I would need to make my cupcakes in a certified commercial kitchen. I investigated if I would be able to certify my home kitchen, but according to the local council rules you must have a separate kitchen from your domestic kitchen, where you produce the food. *sigh* so it's all a bit complicated!! There is one other option, where I could find a Cafe/Bakery or Hall that would let me use their certified kitchen after hours, although I can imagine how much they might like to charge and I would have to factor that into my prices somehow...

 Anyway!! It's good to know there are options. In the mean time I'm going to practice at home and keep making cakes and cupcakes for friends and family.

Do you know what the rules are for selling food to the public in your city or country? 

Cake Day Monday // A Cakey Business

 Photo borrowed from here

Ah, the gateau - the beginning of my cake decorating journey! As a shy 17 year old working at a supermarket part-time during my first year of study, I was offered the opportunity to take up a position as a Shop Assistant at a French Bakery in Dunedin. 

As it was my first foray into the hospitality industry I was completely useless for a start, but after a while I figured it out and began to really enjoy it! I progressed from Shop Assistant, to Saturday Manager and Assistant Cake Decorator, churning out gateau's as fast as I could go on the weekends. I loved that job so much, but after the business changed hands the original staff were pushed out of their positions by the new owners so it was time to leave.

I mention all this as I am considering furthering my own little cake decorating adventure. There are monthly markets down here in Invercargill I'm thinking about signing up for, where I can sell cupcakes and have brochures and information on my cake decorating. I thought I could make some cake toppers and gumpaste flowers to have on my table as examples of what I can make as well.

What do you think? Do you have any advice for me? I've never sold anything at a market before, so what preparation should I do? Any thoughts on advertising, promotion, products to sell??

Cake Decorating - Heart Cupcakes

A friend ordered these cupcakes the other day as she was leaving her job to start in a new position with the same company. She wanted chocolate flavoured cupcakes with a pretty coloured icing and girly decorations. 

I used a cake mix I can get through the Sugarcraft Guild for the cupcakes and a basic frosting recipe for the icing. They came out pretty good! She loved them which was great! With the money she paid me for them I purchased an ice cream scoop so all my cupcakes are the same size and some tiny little cutters in a variety of shapes (one being the little hearts on these cupcakes) I have decided any money I make from cake decorating should go towards new equipment, so I can update my already large collection and make even cooler decorations and cakes in the future!

These pictures will also be up on my Sequin Corner Cakes blog in the next few days. I hope I get to do more orders soon, it's so fun and I love getting feedback!

What do you think of the cupcakes? What simple decoration would be your favourite for a cupcake?

 

Flowers for Me - Gumpaste of Course!

I made my first floral spray this weekend and here is how it turned out. I used the flowers I had made last year at class - my lavender roses, cream open roses, rose leaves and jasmine flowers and buds. I'm so happy with how it turned out!! Pop over to Sequin Corner Cakes to check out some more photos. There is also a link to the Sequin Corner Cakes facebook page - stop by, check out some cakes and 'Like' me!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to a day filled with presents, yummy food and family. I'll leave you with some photos of the cupcakes I made for a friend to give as a present for Christmas. I also made some mini ones with fondant money on them to give out to her workmates, along with some business cards - nothing like free marketing!!

Arrival -Business cards!!

A little package arrived in the post today, addressed to me!! Inside was a whole bunch of business cards I designed last week, I'm so happy they are here now!! Above is a few pictures of what they look like.