Twitter logo and link Facebook logo and link to the Bake a Change facebook page
Giving some clarity to baking for charity

Cake it better

Charity cake stalls need a good variety of cakes. That might sound obvious, but I can remember two bakers looking crestfallen as they dropped off cakes for a charity cake stall we did in August 2013. The first delivered a plate of Gingerbread Men that she told me looked 'scary' (and to be fair they did and we quickly named them the G'Adams Family), and another whose little chocolate fairy cakes were dwarfed by the swirly, shiny cupcakes next to them. The G'Adams Family and those fairy cakes were some of the first to sell that day, so don't feel you have do something that's worthy of placing at the feet of Paul Hollywood to be able to contribute.

picture of a girl selling cakes on a stall

If you are thinking of baking, and if you want to, you could ask the cake stall organiser if there is anything specific they would particularly like. Remember, though, whoever is organising the stall will be very grateful for ANYTHING you donate.

From an organisers point of view, you will never please all the people all the time. However, the wider the range you have, the more likely you will have something that most people will want to buy. It's worth having something:

If you are the stall organiser you will probably get donations covering most of these.

Baking tips

Leave in the tin to cool for five minutes and then put on a wire rack, you must let it cool completely before decorating.

Buttercream can still melt at fairly low temperatures, to avoid this I beat in 100g of melted cooled white chocolate to the finished recipe, you have to work a little quicker with it when piping but it's much more stable at room temperature, white chocolate tastes great in most things too, even the cheap bars.

Food Hygiene

If you are going to make the effort to bake something it's worth making sure that you won't make anyone ill, that's the last thing anyone would want.

BUPA do a good guide. If you want to go a step further, there are basic Food Hygiene Certificates you can do on line.

pictures of Fiona Frost baking and cakes and friends