The End Result

When you order a cake or cupcakes with a special icing and a vision in mind, your baker can make that happen. I can make most things happen! The end result is a delicious dessert, full tummies, and smiles from your partygoers. But that is just the end result. That is the finish line at the end of countless hours of shopping, prepping, cutting, mixing, baking, cooling, decorating, probably more shopping, and dishes…OH THE DISHES! Don’t get me wrong, I love baking enough to do the dishes, but it is my least favorite responsibility of being a custom baker. You may think my pricing is high or that you can find it cheaper elsewhere. And I’m okay with that. I’m okay with it because my time and talent are worth it.

So, because most people don’t know or aren’t aware I wanted break down the time put into my most requested item. The 3-layer, 8” round cake. I’ll even go with simple icing, no fancy stuff.

---

Shopping for necessary items: 30 minutes - 1 hour - These are not only the ingredients but also the colors, the toppings, the decor. This can take less time if I have most ingredients but could also take more time.

Prepping to bake: 30 minutes - I’m gathering my ingredients, measuring cups, whisks, spatulas, flavoring, bowls, pans, etc.

Mixing and Baking: 1 hour - Clearly this is where I’m mixing ingredients, pouring it into the bowls, and baking the rounds. During this time I might also do dishes, prep for the next step, or work on my calendar for future events.

Cooling: 12 - 24 hours - Now…let’s be real. I’m not actively working during this time but my fridge is. I prefer to let my cake rounds cool for 12 - 24 hours before decorating. This costs time and money. What you may think happens in 1 night, takes me at least 2 nights to complete. (This is primarily because I also work full-time during the day, so my baking happens at night. This may also explain why I sometimes have to decline orders, because my schedule is already full. Honestly, it’s probably overbooked because I hate saying no and am still trying to build this dream.)

Prepping to decorate: 1 hour - Because I take pride in my cakes being baked fresh days before the event, my icing is prepped days before your event as well. This requires more mixing, adding coloring, and filling piping bags before I can begin to decorate.

Assembly: 1 hour - I add my icing and/or fillings between the rounds and add 1 crumb coat to chill before I add another layer of icing to prep it for decoration.

Decorating: 1 - 3 hours - It takes time and precision to get super clean lines. Love the look of flowers? Time. Like how fondant looks? Takes time and more money.

Dishes: 1 - 2 hours - In order to keep baking, I need my dishes cleaned and sanitized before and after all of this starts over again for the next customer.

---

In total I’m spending between 6 hours - 9.5 hours to make a 3-layer, 8” round cake. I currently, as of June 5, 2023, charge $60.00 for this size cake in it’s simplest form. So, to break that down, I’m being paid $6.32 - $10.00/hour for my time. This doesn’t even include the cost of materials like the ingredients, decorating, and packaging, etc.

I AM NOT COMPLAINING. I love what I do and I’m sure at some point in the future my prices will increase and with that will come the loss of customers. I am merely informing you of what goes into those special treats you, your friends, and family enjoy! Remember, you get what you pay for.

Thank you to everyone who has ordered from me and continues to order from me! I look forward to being an external part of your family as I create birthday cakes, wedding cupcakes, graduation treats, and 1st birthday smash cakes. I appreciate your support more than I can even express.

“New Year”

I work full time for a human services company. I am a mother to two energetic kiddos. I am a wife to the best man I know who also happens to cultivate the land around us and is busy all the time.

Sara’s Sweeties was something born from a hobby and a love of art. Combining the two made sense to me. Baking and edible art. While this is not my “full time gig,” it is something that consumes a lot of time.

While the new year generally brings with it the sense to make resolutions, we often times see those resolutions dissolve over a short period of time. Our human instinct and habitual behavior makes it difficult to make lasting change.

To be resolute one needs to embrace the “admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering” actions to actually maintain change in life.

My life has changed in the past year with family health, the growth of Sara’s Sweeties, new friendships, and so much more. It is not my job to know what is coming but I can prepare myself and work for what I feel led to do.

This year I have goals for Sara’s Sweeties. I have short-term goals and long-term goals. I have made a plan that I can follow, but also understand that life happens and sometimes my plan is not what God has planned.

I’m excited for what 2023 will bring to this little business of mine but more-so for what I will learn as a business owner and for what I will learn about myself.

Here’s to 2023!

Birthdays!

I love birthdays! I have always loved birthdays!

I love my birthday. I love my family’s birthdays.

It is a day to celebrate loved ones, to celebrate their life, and all the things about that person. Today is my daughter’s 5th birthday. We have had the pleasure of watching her change and grow from a baby to a toddler into a little girl. I can’t believe how fast time has passed and how much she has changed from the day we brought her home from the hospital. She is feisty and determined, sensitive and strong. She is smart and funny, strong-willed and tough. She keeps us on our toes, but our family wouldn’t be complete without her.

Of course, she got to pick everything from what we ate for dinner, what we did together as a family, what her cake would be. She chose vanilla cake and vanilla icing with LOTS of sprinkles. Watching her light up at the sound of us singing “Happy Birthday,” the light of the candles in her sweet, blue eyes, and the joy of licking the icing from her slice of cake, melted my heart.

I love that I get the opportunity to help others celebrate their loved ones with edible art! Got a birthday coming up? Let me know if I can bring your vision to life and help you complete that celebration.

Favorites

What is your favorite dessert?

What is your favorite flavor?

Topping?

I am a cheesecake girl. GIVE ME ALL THE CHEESECAKE! My husband is a marble cake fan, although if you asked him what his favorite dessert was, he would probably say, “pie.” My son will eat the whole cupcake, while my daughter will only lick the icing off of the top.

Making someone’s “favorite” flavor may seem easy to most but really, everyone’s tastes are different. A chocolate cake is not just a chocolate cake. Chocolate can be sweet. Chocolate can be bitter. Depending on the filling, if it has any, and the icing you select, the flavor of chocolate could cross each palate differently.

The secret to hitting the right flavor of a “favorite” is to listen to the customer. Listen to what they like about the flavor. Don’t just accept that they like a certain flavor. I find out why it is their favorite and then I zero in on that detail to truly customize the dessert to each person. Sometimes I have failed and others I have exceeded expectations.

But I really am curious…

What is your favorite? And why?

Day 1

It all began with boredom.

Baking and edible design was always a hobby. It was a way to share a piece of myself with my friends and family. It was a stress reliever.

Then Covid hit. I was stuck in my house with the same routine, day in, day out. Until I was asked to make a birthday cake for a friend’s son. You see she and I had something in common. Our sons had severe peanut allergies and finding safe and delicious desserts in the box stores were hard to come by. She gave me the ideas but ultimately the creative freedom was in my hands. I baked and iced and molded and had fun. After that cake I was asked to make another, then I had another request followed by another. Soon my hobby turned into a full-fledged, part-time job, with very little pay I might add. But it brought me the most immense joy. To somehow be a part of so many celebrations over the years, has made the late hours worth it.

Now, this hobby may be something more.

This hobby has become more than baking, more than eating. It has become art. It has become joy. It has become all the beauty I see in the world.

I present to you, Sara’s Sweeties!