How do I Order a Custom Cake?

THE PROCESS....

Ordering a custom design cake should be quite easy, however, it can seem quite daunting to someone who has never done it before. Unlike walking into a grocery store where they have ready made cakes in a show case and all you have to do is get them a pipe on a message or even a retail specialty bakery that may have cakes for same day pickup, all our cakes are strictly custom, and made to order.

So how does it work? It really isn't that complicated.

1) RESEARCH

Before giving us a call do a little research first to see what kind of cake you would like. What kind of style are you looking for, elegant, vintage, retro, etc?  Do you want flowers, modeled figurines, stripes, polka dots, etc? Check out our GALLERY or look on the Internet for some pictures of cakes you might like.

2) CONTACT US, CHECK AVAILABILITY AND PROVIDE DETAILS

The next thing you need to do is contact us. You can do that 3 ways 1) use the ORDER form on our website, 2) email us directly or 3) give us call. We do not accept text messages or messages via Facebook.

You need to establish whether there is availability for your cake. Here, at Just Like Gram's, everything is made to order and decorated by hand. Plus, I am the only staff member at Just Like Gram's so I do EVERYTHING from shopping for ingredients, baking, decorating, washing the dishes, paperwork and delivery.  There are limited places per week for cakes and we do book up regularly. We typically require two - three weeks notice for a custom cake. All our cakes are baked fresh the week they are ordered for, so often last minute cakes are hard to squeeze in. Especially during wedding season, when wedding season is in full swing, wedding cakes are often booked 9 months in advance. To avoid disappointment, it's best to book well in advance. For example, we are usually booked up by April for the months of June - August.

Some of the details I will need in order to provide you with a quote are:

• the date of your event
• the occasion/nature of your event (i.e. wedding, birthday, baby shower)
• delivery or pickup
• how many people you will need to feed
• a phone number in which we can contact you
• what flavour of cake you would like
• an idea of what kind of design you are looking for

3) QUOTES, RETAINER FEES, AND PAYMENTS 

Once we have established availability and know the design and number of servings, we can then provide you with a quote.  To book your cake and reserve your date with us , we require a 50% non-refundable retainer fee via cash, cheque, credit card or email transfer. This again confirms your order and holds the date for you. Without the retainer fee, your order is not confirmed and the date is still available for other clients. The remaining balance is due at the time of pickup. Wedding cake order balances are due two weeks prior to the event. 

4) SHORT NOTICE ORDERS

A lot of planning, organization and time goes into creating a custom cake. Quotes and designs need to be arranged, plus special materials and equipment may need to be ordered in. Also, we need to factor in the time for communication between us and client in planning a cake, plus there might be changes made to the design due to budgets and payments need to be cleared before ANY work can begin on any cake. AND then there's the actual cake making!!! For this reason, any cake ordered  within two weeks of an event is regarded as a short notice order and may incur a rush order fee. 

Happy New Year...2015 Revisited!

Looking back over the year 2015 and I must say it was an busy year. We continued to design numerous wedding and celebration cakes.  Many exciting things happened this year. 

First, probably the most exciting thing to happen this year, was that my husband and I opened up an office in Fort St John for both our environmental consulting business and my cake design business.  When we were stetting up the office, I took one of the office spaces inside for my cake business. I wanted to have a place in town for clients to pick up their orders and also a place to hold client meetings. I wanted to move that aspect of my business away from my home. Even though I still have my commercial kitchen attached to my home, I just didn`t want clients coming to our residence. I wanted to restore a sense of  privacy. 

2015 was another busy year in the cake business. I always get asked,  "What is my favorite cake design?" That's hard to say because I do so many cool cakes during the year. However, looking back there were definitely some cakes that stood out. Here are just a few of my favorites...

On the non-business side of things, it was a busy year for our family. This year, we took a family vacation to the Yukon. It was amazing! I love the Yukon so much .. it is one of the most beautiful places in Canada. We are already planning a second trip.

It was also this year that I discovered a hidden passion... horses. I always sorta liked horses... FROM A DISTANCE. They were nice to look at, but that was IT! Nothing more. Well, my daughter has been taking riding lessons for some time and really wanted to get a horse. We live on an acreage so we had the room, but were waiting for just the right time. AN opportunity came up this past summer and my daughter acquired her first horse ASH. 

I was thrown in the deep end then. I had to start learning about horses REALLY fast. Not only did I start to learn how to care for them, I actually started to like them and wanted to be around them. The next thing I knew I was purchasing a horse for my self... EARL. I love spending time with him and have already signed up for my first Natural Horsemanship class. Wow...t's amazing how things change! I am excited to see what 2016 brings. 

"I wanna start a cake business...."

When I was at the CKNL trade show last month, someone came up to me and said they knew someone who wanted started to their own cake/cupcake business and what kind of advice I could give them.  I have been in business for 8 years now as of this month (we opened our doors May 2007) and I am CONSTANTLY learning the business. I can give some pointers though...

1) RESEARCH... 
Do your research first. Go to your local city hall and health officials and find out what you need to do to start your own business. From start to finish, it took me about a year to open up for business, I had to get the necessary licensing, permits, and insurance. PLUS, I had to submit a menu to the health unit to get the okay. I also had to submit building plans to the city and the health unit before I started construction on my second kitchen. Once construction was completed, I then went through a final inspection. Another thing,... I have to get water inspections too. Even though we are on city water, I have my water trucked in, so I have to get my water inspected.
Now is also the time to set your policies.. in regards to delivery, pickup, forms of payment, deposits, hours of operation, discounts (if any or to who), etc.

2) RECIPES
In addition to research... take the time to get your recipes down pat. Once you are in business, it is NOT THE TIME to start looking for a vanilla cake recipes. Sorry, you should have done that BEFORE you got into business. How many times I hear people in the cake business requesting a recipe for a vanilla cake or a lemon cake. Now, it's still OKAY to try new recipes on the side and if you find one that happens to be better than the one you have, than OK ditch the old one and go with a new one.

3) PRICING, PRICING, PRICING.... 
Most importantly is your pricing... take the time to establish your pricing structure. Cost out  your INGREDIENTS, OVERHEAD (power/fuel/licenses/materials/water/marketing/permits/ office supplies etc), TIME (this includes not just baking, but shopping, cleaning up, delivery, design time and discussion time with the client) and PROFIT.
Part of your research includes checking out what your competitors prices are. This is very important... DO NOT UNDERCUT YOUR COMPETITION. Not only does it hurt you, it hurts your competition and hurts the industry. It will put your competition out of business too.  There`s not enough  work to go around. Any market can only bear so much competition before it is over saturated. When the competition is over saturating the market and charging ridiculously low prices just to get business, it devalues the market. So, for example if your competitors are selling cupcakes for $3.00-$4.00/ea, then you should price yourself somewhere  in that area too. If cakes are priced between $4.50 - $6.00/serving, then again price within that area. Bottom line... price accordingly!

4) MARKETING
Get your self a website. No... a FACEBOOK page is not a WEBSITE. A professionally built website gives yourself a professional appearance and level of credibility. Besides.. these days I  find most people head to the internet in their search for a baker.
For myself, I have a website, a FACEBOOK page, BLOG, newsletter, twitter, and Instagram. I use each one differently for different purposes.  The more you market yourself... the better.
Another thing about marketing... is deciding on what kind of image you want for your business and what kind of customer you want.  For me, I promote to those clients who want a high-end quality cake using the finest ingredients, up-to-date with the latest decorating techniques and attention to detail with supreme taste. I do not do grocery style sheet cakes or the Wilton style star tipped cakes.With that in mind, I do not advertise on local buy and sell Facebook pages. Those sites are for those clients looking for a deal and that`s not my market plus it cheapens my image. You don`t see Mercedes or Porsche  advertising on buy and sell Facebook Pages...need I say more.

5) Get the whole picture... 
Before you get in business, think about your life and how much you value your free time. Plan for long late nights with little sleep with few weekends off, especially from May until September. If you have kids or family, you won`t see them very much.   Trust me... I know. I see my kids more during the school year when I am ferrying them around to all their after school activities  then in the summer months during their vacation. The key is to be super organized. I break each cake project into a series of steps doing a little bit each day. Plus, I try to work during the day while they are in school leaving me the evenings free to be with my family. A lot of it is trial and error, working out a plan that works best for you.  Also, learn to plan your life and holiday time a year in advance. I already have brides looking to book for 2016 and we have just started the 2015 wedding season. After 8 years in business, I am starting to finally be a little bit selfish and take some time off for my family. I booked off at least one weekend a month so I could relax and do something with them.

So there.. just a little something to ponder. Now, you might say.. I only want to sell a cake here or there a make a few bucks, not to get into business. SORRY.. once you accept any form of payment for cake or cupcakes, YOU ARE IN BUSINESS.  Pretty simple...

So there you have it.. just a few tips.  Over the past 8 years, I have learned soo much (and a lot the hard way)  and I am still learning more and more every day.

It`s TRADE SHOW time again...

Well, it `s that time of year again. This past month we attended the 43rd annual CKNL trade show here in Fort St John. It`is one of THE BIGGEST trade shows in the Peace area boosting up to 16000 people in a weekend.  This year we were SUPER excited to be attending the  show since we decided a CHANGE was needed in our booth design. In the past, we have decorated our booth to go with a more elegant design.. black curt tans, table skirts and lavender tablecloths... you know a more elegant, poshy look.

Since the CKNL trade show is a more a relaxed, family oriented event, we decided to go with a more  homey look.  In came the burlap and lace..We wanted to go with a original storefront look, however I couldn't`t figure out how to create, build and transport a wooden counter  so I went with burlap. To make it more vintage, I added lace. LOTS and LOTS of lace.  My late grandmother had  crocheted me many lace table cloths and doilies, so I have a HUGE collection which came in handy. I also purchased wooden crates, picture frames and little knick-knacks  to complete the overall look.

I am SOOOO happy with the overall look. It was amazing,. Plus, the feedback I had from those attending the show was phenomenal. Every person who stopped by our booth said they loved the look commenting it was one of the nicest looking booths at the trade show.

We were super busy that weekend selling cupcakes, cookies and talking to all those who stopped by our booth to look at our `cake designs and answer questions.  At the end, we sold over 460 cupcakes, over 120 mini cupcakes, and over 120 cookies. I can`t wait until next year... got my thinking cap on already!

The "IN BETWEEN" Stage...

I call the time  between Christmas and Wedding Season, the "IN BETWEEN" stage. This is typically the time (for most cake designers) when it is a bit slower in terms of cake and cupcake sales, but this is also a VERY BUSY time for me.  During this time,

1)  I hold all my wedding cake consultations, starting from October -November, and then once again from January to March. I really, really enjoy this part of my business. I enjoy meeting with couples and seeing their  ideas and drafting up designs for their wedding cake. Every cake I create, I try to bring a personal element of the client into the design.  Plus, the bridal couples enjoy eating cake.. that's the FUN part.

2) Inventory... this is when I go through my kitchen and all my wedding cake orders and see what I need to order for the upcoming busy wedding season. Sometimes, if I need a special cutter or mold, I need to order it at least 6-8 weeks in advance to make sure I get it on time. Sometimes a special piece of equipment comes as far as the UK.

3) This period is also the time when I typically attend bridal or trade shows. Right now, I am busy prepping for the upcoming CKNL trade show in April. It usually draws in around 16-20,000 people in a weekend. I sell on average around 600-800  cupcakes in one weekend. Last year, I had a smaller booth and I was tripping over stuff all the time. So this year, I rented a much larger booth, plus totally revamped my booth design. Sorry, no hints, I will post pics of my booth after the show.

4) VACATION... need I say more. With my husband working in the oil patch, the spring break up tends to be around April, which happens to land before wedding season. As a result, our family tends to take a family vacation at that time. Gives me time to recoup after standing on my feet for 3 long days at the trade show and relax just before the wedding season. Sleep and days off are not an option from May until September. Last year, we went to Punta Cana...

Our Business Philosophy...

At Just Like Gram's, we are really "picky" about our cakes. We use only the finest ingredients in everything we make. It is our philosophy that...

• Our cakes are made from scratch using fresh, high quality ingredients. I use 100% butter, flour, sugar, fresh eggs, Dutch cocoa, buttermilk, no artificial flavorings ( I use Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bean paste for my cakes).

• We do not use box mixes and our desserts contain no artificial ingredients or artificial flavorings.

• All our cakes are baked fresh just for your event. We do not pre-bake, ice and freeze our cakes in advance.

• We offer 2 types of buttercream: Italian Meringue Buttercream and Traditional Buttercream.. both made from sweet creamy butter and premium Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. 

• Our fruit fillings are made from real pureed fruit. All my fillings are made fresh from scratch. We do not use sleeve fillings. These are pre-cooked fillings found in a sleeve that you just squeeze out. All our fruit is locally grown, and we handpick our raspberries from our own garden. 
  

• We cover all our cakes with a thick layer of creamy butercream before the fondant is applied. This serves several purposes. First, it tastes delicious. Second, it protects the cake and keeps it moist and fresh. Third, it makes for a perfectly smooth presentation so that your cake will look as beautiful as it is delicious.

• We DO NOT BELIEVE in the heavy use of  food coloring in both our cakes and buttercreams. Therefore, we do not believe in making tie-dye cakes or vibrant colored buttercreams. We feel heavy use of colors in our products is artificial and unhealthy causing staining of skin and teeth. Therefore, we cover our cakes in colored fondant (which does not cause staining) which can be easily peeled off if desired.

• We believe in supporting our community and we purchase our ingredients locally whenever possible. 
  

Why do we do this? Well... we think real ingredients just plain taste better? Plus, it's better for you and better for the environment.

2015... A NEW YEAR!

It's 2015... and thought I would start a fresh new year with making it a weekly goal of BLOGGING. I can dream and set goals, RIGHT?  It's was an EXTREMELY tough year last year filled with family illness and deaths, thus the lack of BLOGGING. So, let's start off the new year with a fresh face.

This year, we started off January with several cakes and the first wedding cake of the year. 

Tartan and Sugarpaste Thistle Birthday Cake

FROZEN theme cake created as a birthday gift for my niece.

Pretty Pink Rosette Cake with purple sugarpaste butterflies.

First wedding cake of 2015. Small wedding cake with matching cupcakes adorned with black sugarpaste blossoms.

It's a Bittersweet Affair...

Last week, I headed to Edmonton for another "pick up supplies and get ready for fall" trip. I also spent some time visiting my sister and her family, before we headed all together for a trip to Medicine Hat, Alberta to visit my uncle and grandmother. 

This was a difficult trip... you see, my grandmother, who is 87, is suffering from dementia. It has been hard to see her health declining over the past 5 years. I am EXTREMELY close to my grandmother. She is the ONE who shared her love of baking with me and taught me over the years all her secrets and knowledge. She was not only my mentor, but my best friend, confidant, baking "soul mate", and second "mother". She was there for ALL the important times of my life from infant up until now. It was finally during this visit, that I realized the Gram I knew was "gone", she had failed to recognize me. We can no longer talk recipes or baking or just chit chat in general. THAT IS GONE!!! The best I can do is to sit beside her in silence and support her.

Just before I left, I was given her coveted bread pan and  prized collection of cookbooks. I have tried to look at them, but I CAN NOT... it is just too painful. You see, I have NEVER looked at those cookbooks ALONE, it was always in the company of my grandmother. I am just not ready yet to look at them by myself. Perhaps.. one day. Below is one of my favorite photos of both my grandmother and I, on my wedding day 15 years ago.

Onto more cheery things, we created this beautiful rustic country theme wedding this past weekend. Wedding cake was rusic iced, and adorned with burlap flowers, lavender and baby's breath.

Here is another view of the cake table. I ABSOLUTELY love this the cake display. The bride chose this antique cupboard to display her wedding cake along with a burlap and lace table runner. A big shout out to Flowers by Charene for the gorgeous work decorating the venue.

Blue & White Skull 'n Crossbones Baby Shower cupcakes for a baby boy.

Just a  few of the cupcakes we delivered to The Canadian Grind this week. Below are Triple Chocolate Cupcakes and Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes.

A Sculpting We Will Go...

Well... it's been ANOTHER busy week here. With the usual cupcakes, we also created some wedding cupcakes and two sculpted cakes. On ANOTHER note, remember last week when I was discussing the idea of a storefront. Well.... there has been a slight development. My husband and I decided that in fact we will ONE day, (and I mean ONE day) we will have a storefront that will house both our business'.  One half will be devoted to our environmental business, and the other half will be my cake shop. NOW, when will this be? Not for a while.. we have to find the right location, or maybe even build a place. Right now, it's just been in the "planning" stages, but will keep you posted on any new developments.

Here are the cupcakes and cakes of the week...

Created this 21 window VW bus for a couple celebrating their 10th wedding aniversary.  Cake was all hand sculpted and the figurines were modeled from sugarpaste.

Another hand sculpted Toronto Maple Leaf Corset cake created for a client's husband's birthday.

Carrot Cupcakes and Vanilla Cupcakes with White Chocolate Seashells.

 Red Velvet Cupcakes topped with sugarpaste flowers and Lemon Zest cupcakes topped with candy lemon wedges.

Here we go.. doing it again!

Here we go again, blogging for the second time.. think if I set aside a time each week i.e. Sunday mornings when it is quiet, I can get this done. Anyway, this week we were busy completing cupcakes for The Canadian Grind (a local coffee/craft shop) in Fort St John. We also had a large 60th birthday cupcake order (no pics.. sorry), plus a wedding cake. 

As I said in my last post last weekend, business has been REALLY busy this past year.. which is GREAT, but it can have it's downside. Even though I have been super busy, I have been in a bit of a rut (business rut, that is). I need to make some decisions, but don't know which direction to go. Since I have become sooo busy lately, it has been harder and harder to keep up with orders and unfortunately I have had to turn away sooo many people (which I really hate doing!!!)  People keep on telling me to hire help (easy, right???). Well, NO! I tried that, but since we are located 25 minutes north of Fort St John, people seem to think that is too far to travel. AND, I don't need someone full time, just a couple of hours 3x a week. Unfortunately NO ONE will travel and work for that, so I am STUCK! 

Open a business in town????? Hmmm... that is nice idea, but right now I have kids at home, an acreage to maintain, my husband's environmental business to help run.. you see the pic? Plus, during the school year, my kids go to a rural school that is outside of town. They catch the bus at 7AM and then I have to drive and pick them up from the bus stop at 3:30PM. I would have to close up shop in the afternoon to pick them up. Sorry.., you can't run a business like that.

So what to do??? Move to town, relocate not ONE business, but TWO businesses (my husband's business needs a shop and large area for equipment and machinery), change schools for my kids AGAIN. HMMM....NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. A lot of people tell me, "Oh, just wait until the kids are out of school and  that go at it." Hmmm... I will be 50+ then and, I don't know about you,  but I don't really want to be start ramping up a business, that's when I want to start slowing down.

So you see.. that is where I am at! I have been pondering, pulling my hair out, losing sleep and wracking my brain out for a solution, and STILL haven't come to a solution. So while I STILL ponder a solution, here are some of the cupcakes/cakes of the week.

 Red Velvet and Lemon Tart Cupcakes for The Canadian Grind

 

Chocolate Cookies n Cream and Strawberry Cupcakes for The Canadian Grind

This summer has been nothing but RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN. Every weekend for the past month has been raining. Delivering wedding cakes in the rain is not the greatest, however,  I box all my cakes up so that way they don't get wet. This weekend was no exception... just prior to delivery, we were experiencing thunder and lightening. Up here in Fort St John, about 50% of the weddings are outdoor tent weddings.   Needless to say, with this year's weather conditions, tent weddings have been less than ideal.   During a heavy downpour we delivered this 3 tier fondant ruffled wedding cake to an outside country wedding north of Fort St John located in the local fair grounds. Fresh purple flowers were added to the cake upon delivery. The reception tent was beautifully decorated with log accents, wooden accents, white linens and additional purple flowers. It looked lovely! It had a definite "country" feel!

I'm BACK!!!!

Yes... after several months of MIA, I am back again. No, I did not stop making cakes, just stop blogging. Been SUPER, INSANELY BUSY since March and finding time to write in a BLOG seemed just ONE MORE THING to do. Right?  Pretty sad excuse, huh??? Well, lately I have been thinking that I HAVE TO MAKE TIME to blog again. Another reason, is that to me my life seems pretty boring and redundant. Really, all I do is make cakes, look after my kids and hubby's business and take care of an acreage. Week AFTER week AFTER week AFTER week.. you get the picture. So here we go again. I am hoping to BLOG at least 1-2x a week.

This has to be ON RECORD one of the MOST BUSIEST'S years on record for me. The demand for cupcakes have taken off and I seem to do more of them than cakes. Unfortunately, with increased business I have had to turn down sooo many orders.  THERE IS ONLY ONE OF ME!!! Can't do everything, right?  The month of July was no exception.. Here are just a "few" of the cakes and cupcakes we did this month.

We created this square cake and cupcakes with dark purple blossoms for a wedding in Rolla, just outside Dawson Creek.  

This 3 tier all white cake was adorned with artificial flowers provided by the bride. The wedding day was EXTREMELY hot, with even hotter temperatures inside the wedding tent. I was very worried that it would melt after setting it up, however, I later received an email from the bride saying the cake had survived and she loved how it turned out.  The bride wrote,

``I just wanted to say that the cake was absolutely, amazingly couldn't ask for a more delicious gorgeous cake. Job well done you are truly an artist :) thank you so much very appreciated.``

Created this 4 tier all white wedding cake wrapped in black ribbon topped with a sugarpaste hot pink bow and draping ribbon. The bride provided a bling brooch to decorate the bow. We received these comments:
The bride wrote me: "Thank you, it looked beautiful and was delicious :)" . One of the guests even commented, "Yes this cake was incredible!!!!! Beautiful and tasted great!!"

This was the biggest cupcake wedding I have created yet. We created  300 cupcakes and a small round wedding cake. Each cupcake was decorated with a small sugarpaste plaque featuring the bride and groom's initials. I was a bit worried I wouldn't have enough room for all the cupcakes. As you can see, the cupcakes covered every inch of the table.

Hunter Orange and Camo Colored Bridal Shower Cupcakes

Bridal Shower Cupcakes decorated with Hot Pink Sugarpaste Blossoms and sprinkled with Silver Dragees

 Baby Shower Cupcakes with Pink and Purple Polka Dots

Every year for the past 5 years I have been making birthday cakes and cupcakes for a regular client. He calls every year and orders treats for his girlfriend. This year I created these birthday cupcakes with Dark Purple Sugarpaste Blossoms and Miniature Daisies.