Yes, I may be almost a week late with the postings of these pictures from the Chocolate Bake Sale, but here they are 🙂
This was our table setup, brown and turquoise. Cute, right? I loved it!
Cake push pops! I used Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake plus my go-to swiss meringue frosting recipe.
Triple chocolate cake pops, which I just posted about here.
Guilt-free cake bites, which used the same recipe as my Skinny Chocolate Cake.
Delicious mocha almond fudge cookies, recipe from How Sweet It Is.
Rice Krispie treats dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles...
... and chocolate-frosted chocolate cupcakes with molded blue chocolate decorations, both made by Michelle! (Who is on Twitter @LostOnTheHorizn) 🙂
And, chocolate cowgirl cookies, also by Mary Jo! You can find my recipe here.
The chocolate bake sale was pretty successful overall, we didn't do too hot the first day, but extending it another day helped immensely! I'm not quite sure how much we made this time, although I know it was less than at our first Easter Bake Sale. My guess is more than $100 but probably less than $200. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. 🙂
Now, here is what I learned just through two bake sales:
1. People love things they know. Think decorated sugar cookies, Rice Krispies, traditional bar cookies. If things are too creative or unusual, most people just won't go for them because they are unfamiliar.
2. Do not double or triple a recipe, unless the portion is very small. Your aim is to bake to sellout, not bake to have leftovers. Having less quantity but more variety is better than having just a lot of a couple of things. For small treats, like mini muffins, it's usually a good idea to put several in each baggie.
3. Start early. The later in the day, the hotter it gets. And besides, once kids are out of school, usually moms don't go out to stores, etc. as much. Sell while you can!
4. Plan your bake sale way ahead of time. WAY ahead. But, don't start advertising it too early, or by the time it rolls around, people will have forgotten about it...
5. And, last but not least, pick your time and place carefully. Having your bake sale shortly before a holiday (like Easter) will ensure more sales, as people are buying treats to serve and to give away. Also, try to pick a spot which will have lots of traffic flow. Now, not necessarily car traffic, that's probably not optimal, but people traffic. In front of churches, at farmer's markets, garage sales, etc., where there are lots of people with money walking around!
Tia says
Oh my gosh the table is so cute, Valetina!!! Love it. Following you on Twitter, too (one of your newbies).
You obviously put a lot of heart into baking. The funny thing is that all of the little things - like the packaging - matters just as much as the taste sometimes! You did a great job.
Tia says
Whoops- meant to write Valentina!! 🙂 Sorry for the typo.
valentina says
Thank you so much Tia! You're too sweet 🙂
Keeping My Cents says
How did the cake pops sell? Those are adorable. I would have for sure bought one.
Maybe I will try these at my daughter's bake sale one day.
Valentina says
Thank you! The cake pops actually did not sell too well... I managed to sell them all but they were mostly to just one person! I am thinking its because people were not familiar with them. They are a good treat for parties and bake sales though because they are so easy to make and to personalize 🙂