Adventures in Candy Land!

So Friday was my first candy buffet order for a baby shower in Hallam Township,PA. I went and got everything for it; the candy, the table decor and jars all decorated in pink and brown color scheme. So I was so excited to set up to see everyone's reactions, but when I got there they didn't have a table ready. So they had to make room for me so I wasn't able to set up everything which was kind of disappointing because I wanted to take a picture to show everyone. So I guess I have to wait for the next one. In other news business has been great lately! I am getting more and more calls weekly for orders and it makes me feel so good when people are happy with their product. So let's see I had an order for a sympathy basket which I felt so sorry for the woman receiving it, she lost her husband and they had been together for a very long time. You just don't see that anymore. Any way she asked me if I could possibly but together a veggie and cheese platter with some light sandwiches for her husband's memorial service in April. Now I don't do those things.. stick to konfections, but I couldn't tell her no when she was standing there in front me and just had hip surgery. Call me a sucker for people in need.
So other than the sympathy basket, I had a order for a Princess Tiana cake plus a "smash" cake for her daughter. For those of you who don't have children or don't know what a smash cake is, it is a small cake made specially for the child for them to eat.. normally they smash the cake to eat it especially the little ones so that's why we call them smash cakes. I also had a cake tasting today for another birthday cake, this time for a one year old. Since her birthday is right after St. Patrick's day the mom wanted the cake to have a St. Patrick's mixed with girly theme. So we came up with a really cute idea for her cake. Also the York bridal show was rescheduled to April 18th so I have more time to get ready for it. I guess that's the a good thing but I was just so excited about participating in one. Hopefully, god willing I will able to attend another one this year. Got another phone call yesterday for a sweet sixteen birthday cake to be delivered on Tuesday, so pictures for that will be posted then. The birthday girl is a little on the funky side so it  is going to be dark purple and green with geometric shapes on it. Not to many cupcake orders lately.. I guess they aren't that popular out here. I have another cake tasting tomorrow for a wedding cake :) So I will be posting tomorrow about how that went. If it goes well, I will have my second wedding booked for July.

Princess Tiana Sheet Cake- 1/2 vanilla bean and 1/2 chocolate (all done in buttercream)

I have finally been able to get a hold of my brother's girlfriend for her baby shower. She has had two other children (this one makes three) and this will be the first time someone has given her a shower. I think that's a bit sad, so I am going to do it nice. I have already come up with a color scheme (brown and blue) and have a cake in mind. I am deciding on whether I want to do cupcakes or not, I think I might just go with cake balls as favors. I am also catering the shower as well, so I think I might enlist my cousin to help me since I will staying at my aunt's house with Jayden :) That weekend will be a very jammed back weekend and will be so happy and probably tired once it is over and done with. So back to the shower.. I have started getting decorations. Since she is having a boy, she will be getting all of Jayden's old clothes (imagine he has old clothes already lol) which are not really old because he grows so fast that he is only wearing things a couple of times before they get too small. It also doesn't help that I am the typical first time mom and buys him everything. So she will be set between baby clothes, bottles and a bassinet. I am also doing a really cute diaper cake. I saw it online and the new thing to do for showers. It is a "cake" made from rolled up diapers and ribbon. I even seen some with other things in the cake like little toys and onesies. I am still figuring out what I want that to look like. Well that's it for now.

 

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

Blueberry Muffins 

Carrot Cake Pops 

Who said websites don't pay off...

So.. my website has definitely earned the price that I had to pay to get it done. So this week has been a great week for me! I have gotten not one, not two, but three local calls this week for orders.. even though they were are last minute they still were local. My biggest concern in starting my business was that it would take forever for me to get some local business and that most of my business would be internet based, but I have been pleasantly surprised. One call was for a granddaughter wanting a cake her for grandmother's 80th birthday. This is order I had to make the same day, but it was only a 6" cake so I told her yeah. My hubby was even so nice as to deliver it for me. The second call was for a sympathy basket... although I don't have sympathy baskets on my site, but hey... for a family who lost a loved one. The woman who wanted to order the basket was so nice and funny, I just couldn't tell her no. So tomorrow I will be delivering a sympathy basket at 12 noon. And the last call is one that I most excited about, a woman wanted a candy buffet for a sister's baby shower in York. Now I normally tell people that the minimum for a candy buffet is 40 people, but I made an exception in this case because the woman was calling from Georgia and she needed something that could be favors as well. She was running out of time and didn't see anything local until she came upon my site :) So of course I told her I would do it since it was in York and I don't have to drive far. The color scheme is pink, chocolate brown and white because the mother to be is having a girl. So pictures will be coming of my set up. This is my second candy buffet order (the other one is in May). I also got a call today for another cake tasting for a wedding in May.. can you say GOD is GOOD! So they are scheduled to come on Sunday ( yes, I said sunday) because they are doing everything last minute.. I'm talking haven't decided on anything yet not even a caterer... so I told them I wasn't free until next week but she really wanted to come in earlier and I know they would love the cake flavors I offer so I told her Sunday please the chance to do another wedding cake is just tooo much to pass on. I also have a cake tasting for a birthday party on Saturday and a delivery for a Princess Tiana cake. This cake will be all buttercream so this is different for me because most of my cakes are covered in fondant. But I know it will come out nice.. A friend of mine also wants a quote for a cake as well so I will be working on that tomorrow. I am getting busier and therefore am tired between baking, decorating and Jayden but I wouldn't have it any other way. When there are thousands upon thousands of people not working, I am blessed to have a talent that I can make money off of.

So Many Cakes, So Little Time....

Like the last post, it has been a while since I posted something. I have been ridiculously busy with Jayden (getting bigger and more active every week) and Valentine's Day. Now that V-day is over, I can relax a little bit. My website is finally up and running! I am so excited because I am starting to get local business from it. Also I secured my first wedding this week. I had a cake tasting for a very cute, modern couple. They want a topsy turvy cake with each layer having a different design. I can't wait to do this cake! Back to Valentine's Day, which was crazy non-stop baking for a week and a half. I have also learned that trying to ship overnight on Fridays and Saturdays just does not work it is way to expensive. I ended up making 4 cakes, lots of cupcakes in a variety of flavors, chocolate covered brownies/pretzels, cake pops. By the time Monday rolled around after Valentine's Day I was sooo tired. I then had to make a birthday cake for a three year, Tinkerbell themed. Its so cute how children have their favorite cartoon characters. And then earlier today I delivered a Hollywood themed Engagement cake. I loved doing the Hollywood cake because the client who ordered the cake gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted, which I loved. I ended making one tier purple and the other blue. I also had stars and some film reels on he side of the cake. Next week, I have an order for a Princess Tiana cake in buttercream so I will be definitely posting that picture. All pictures will below from my latest orders.

York is having a bridal show that I can afford to be a vendor at! I am so excited and will be talking about it with my hubby tomorrow to come up with a plan of action for my table. I want to be able to have samples and some dummy cakes to take along as well as a miniature candy buffet scape but I don't know if I can get all of that on the table. I also have to think about linens to decorate the cake and promotional items. It is so much but I am so excited to be able to attend a bridal show, it was on my business to do list for this year. I am still on the hunt for a closer commercial kitchen so I don't have to drive all the way to Lancaster. I also obtained my first candy buffet order this week as well. My client is giving a birthday party for her daughter and the theme is Abby Cadabby, now I was like who is that? Then I found out she is one of the newest Sesame Street characters. So I will be making a cake and doing a candy buffet in Abby Cadabby colors. I have also decided to give my brother's girlfriend a baby shower, they are having a boy. So the color scheme for that is going to be blue and brown so I will also be taking pictures to post from that event. I have to get on the ball with that this up coming week to get the invites out. I also have a few orders for March and a very special dessert buffet. God has been really good to me in that my business has really taken off I am hoping by July I will have established myself in York to be able to get consistent local business.

More Business!

I know its been a little while since I last blogged, but I have been busy. Not to mention that Jayden is a handful all in his self. He is steadily getting bigger and bigger, he is 13 pounds now! I can't believe that he is three months as well, it feels like it was just yesterday that i had him. But these days he is keeping me busy. He always wants my attention and wants me to hold him so I have to try juggle my time between baking and him. 

I will be posting lots of pictures that I have taken of cakes and cupcakes I have made in the past two weeks. More will be coming next week due to Valentine's Day.  I finished my first cake decorating class and it was all about the basics. Most of which I knew about already but there was some new tips that I learned which has been a great help. I start my second class this Tuesday and I will be learning more about borders and flowers which I what I am lacking right now. Once I get that down I will be able to offer more decorating techniques to my customers. There are two more classes after this one and by the time I am done, I will have learned so much! My website is finally done and it looks great! I have gotten traffic already, as a matter of fact the cake that I completed today was from a customer who saw my site and called me. 

On more a business front. I have finally registered my business with the government so it is official now! I am still working out the whole commercial kitchen thing because going to Lancaster a couple of times a week with Jayden will get old fast. Also having to transport stuff to and from and then bring everything back to be shipped will be alot. I am also working on marketing and my business plan because at some point I want to be able to get the funding for a real "location" preferably downtown York since it gets so much traffic. I think I am going to contact some local churches (they have commercial kitchens) and see if I can rent or provide goodies in exchange for the use of their kitchen. This month so far has been really good in terms of orders and I pray that as I continue that I will start to get more local orders. Enough of that stuff.. time for pictures! 

 

I made this cake today. It is a 2 tiered cake. The top tier is lemon and the bottom tier is vanilla bean both tiers have vanilla bean cream cheese filling. Yum! This is a local order and I was so happy to do this cake because the customer went on my site and saw another circle birthday cake that I did. I also made matching cupcakes. See below.

These little beauties are lemon cupcakes with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. The fondant discs on top are the same color as the birthday cake. 

One of my husband's co-workers ordered a cake that I had made for them. It is brownie cake with chocolate buttercream, chocolate cookie wafers and chocolate shavings on top. 

My godfather ordered cupcakes for his Superbowl party tomorrow. So they are vanilla bean and dark chocolate cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream. The buttercream is dyed gold and blue for the Saints and Colts. Topped with little candy footballs.

  

These two are for a customer for her birthday. She wanted red velvet cupcakes with pink and green tinted cream cheese frosting. I think they came out quite cute. 

Cake Decorating Class

So yesterday I started a series of cake decorating classes by Wilton. Unfortunately in order to take the class that I really wanted to take, they are making me take the basic class :( Now if anyone has seen some of my cakes, I don't need to take the basic class but I figured I might as well since it is a prerequiste. So I get to class and there are about 6 other women in the class and none of them have any prior decorating experience. It was kind of fun to see the other women trying to figure out how to level a cake or put on a crumb coat. It took me back to when I made my first cake. Those days are long gone, but the teacher did manage to surprise with some new techniques. I also found out there is a cake decorating supply store in York that I didn't even know was there. So now I don't have to order so much stuff on the internet. The teacher also taught us how to make buttercream smooth like glass which I was always afraid (why I always use fondant)of using buttercream cause it can look bumpy if you don't know what you are doing.So now I am officially no longer afraid of using buttercream on the outside of my cakes! In other baking news, I am making a cake tomorrow for my aunt's best friend daughter who just came back from Afghanistan. It is going to be great! I am dying the cake turquoise and brown which are the colors she asked for. I am also putting some bows and other things on it. Pictures will be up tomorrow.

BIG NEWS! I have to decided to become an event planner! It seemed to me like a natural progression from what I do now. Plus I will be able to offer my clients more: I can help them plan their wedding and make their cake.

More to come.....

New Discount Programs!

I am excited! I am rolling out some discount programs... I know everyone would like to have custom baked goods,but not everyone can afford them so hopefully these new programs will help out a little bit. I will listing on here as well as on my Facebook group page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=62269169327 

 I will also be starting an email listing where I will place all of my new konfections and monthly specials. I also thinking about starting a monthly newsletter in which I will place all of this stuff in, but still thinking about it. I am starting to get more word of mouth business which is great! I LOVE IT! It's nice to see when what you put so much work into starts to blossom. God is mostly definitely good to me! 

Monthly Treat Specials

Kima’s Konfections now offers special treats and cakes each month correlating with the months holiday or season. Each month an e-mail will be sent to you, to tell you about the monthly treat specials you can order. Pictures of each monthly treat will be posted to view and then order. By ordering the monthly treat specials you receive tasty treats at a discounted price. To order please call 862-215-2636 or e-mail at kima0920@gmail.com Please have all orders in by the posted due date. Delivery will be available in the Pennsylvania area and shipping for everywhere else. For any questions or if you would like to be on the Monthly Treat Special e-mail list please call 862-215-2636 or e-mail at kima0920@gmail.com.

Cake Tasting Parties

A Cake Tasting Party is a great way to receive that special cake for a discounted price. Your party can even get you a free cake! To book a party please call Hakima @ 862-215-2636 or e-mail at kima0920@gmail.com. I will need at least a 7 to 10 days notice before we can have your party. I also will want to go over flavors of cake, filling, frosting, and other treats according to your palate a week before your party. I try to have 3 to 5 cakes, fillings, and frostings to taste.

Hostess Rewards

When you book a party, you will receive a free Mini Cake or 10% off a specialty cake of your choice and design. You also will receive 5% off for every $50.00 in paid orders for your specialty cake. I do ask your guests to pay their orders in-full. I do this to ensure that you can receive your full discount on your cake. Also you have one week after your party for your guests to place cake orders at the discounted price. Enough cake orders can add up to a free specialty cake for you!

Hostess Rewards Chart

$0.00 - $50.00 = 5%
$51.00 - 100.00 = 10%
$101.00 - $150.00 = 15%
$151.00 - $200.00 = 20%

Cake Tasting Party Prices

Round Cakes
4 in. $ 7.00 Serves 4-6
6 in. $13.00 Serves 9-12
8 in. $25.00 Serves 15-20

Square Cakes
6 in. $22.00 Severs 10-15
8 in. $32.00 Serves 20-25
10 in. $40.00 Serves 25-35

Mini cake prices will depend on how much cake and materials are used. Only specific designs are available for cake party prices. Other cake designs will need a consultation.

All cakes and cupcakes come with butter cream or cream cheese frosting. Decorations are simple roses, flowers and borders. Price may be increased depending on design.

Fondant may be added for $5.00 a single tier and $10.00 for a two tier cake. This price includes fondant decorations. Price may be increased depending on the design of the cake.

Fondant may be added to cupcakes for $2.00 a dozen. Price may be increased depending on the design.

All cakes must be paid in full by check or cash. All cake orders must be ordered and paid for with in one week of the cake party. Wedding cakes, larger round and square cakes are not available at listed prices.

New Ideas & Protesting Baby

Hello once again. So I had a customer order a birthday cake for herself about a week and half ago. I shipped it out yesterday. I think it came out cute though there was some things I wanted to change about it but didn't have the time. The cake was yellow cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream with strawberry and banana filling. I thought it was a nice pairing and my client loved it! I am confident that she will be a repeat customer. It was a modern design of circles in pink, black and white. Below is a picture of it. I also signed up for more cake decorating classes this week so I can get better and learn new techniques. In order to stay on top of your game, you have to constantly learn new things to be able to compete with the other cake decorators out there. I also made a brownie cake today for my husband's co-workers. I always use them as sounding board for new ideas and projects. So it is a brownie cake covered in chocolate buttercream and surrounded by chocolate creme wafer and milk chocolate shavings. I call it Brownie Chocolate Paradise Cake because anyone who loves chocolate will love this cake.

 

I am working on making my boards better for cakes like this. I am want to be unique in what I offer so I think I am going to work on more cakes like this. I also I like the way chocolate cigarellos look on a cake so I will be learning how to make those as well. I also saw on an UK website ( they offer some of the best stuff, but its so damn expensive!) chocolate roses made from modeling chocolate so I will be learning how to make those as well.

On to baby woos. Today with Jayden was a good day until it is time for him to go to bed. Now my husband works during the day so he doesn't get a chance to see  him until he gets home from work, sometimes later if he has something to do after work. So I encourage him to interact with him as much as possible in order to make their bond stronger because right now Jayden likes to cling to me. So I gave Jayden to my husband after dinner to put him to sleep so I can get some school work done and work on my newest creation (see above). Well Jayden didn't want none of it, he cried and screamed until I picked him back up. He then calmed down so I tried to give him back to my husband, the kid did the same thing again! Now my husband already feels some type of way because of the way Jayden acts towards him sometimes, this newest episode doesn't help. I ended up having to take Jayden back and putting him in the sling to get anything done. I don't know what to do, I think I will just have to keep at it by handing him over when my husband comes home and try not to get involved. I think that is the only way things will get better between the two of them.

More goodies to come!