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How many cupcakes can YOU make with $400?
- Aug 16, 2008 at 2:04 PM
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- Comments (7) Total Views (114) Everyone can see this journal post.
So, reading Bloomberg today, I got a good chuckle out of this:
Wall Street's Jobless Try Cupcakes, Cheap Haircuts, Maybe Omaha
By Caroline Salas and Pierre Paulden
Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Jessica Walter didn't go to Harvard University to study cupcakes, but they're what she does since losing her job as a vice president in credit strategy at Bear Stearns Cos.
``I want to teach kids to cook,'' said Walter, 27, who founded Cupcake Kids! in New York to provide birthday parties and cooking classes for children. ``The goal is to have this be my full-time job and make enough to live.''
Wall Street professionals are trying new careers, and fetching smaller salaries, amid the elimination of 76,670 investment jobs in the Americas following the global credit crunch that started a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a6h1pur72rok&refer=home
So, I took a look at the Cupcake Kids! website.
Welcome!
Cooking events just for kids! Our events are designed to teach the fundamentals of cooking in a safe, hands-on and creative environment. Chefs-in-training learn to measure, sift, mix, whip, knead, zest, decorate and do so much more. Kids have so much fun that they don't realize how much their math, science, reading and social skills are improving along the way. By encouraging future foodies to pursue their interests with passion and education, we help to foster a lifelong appreciation for food and nutrition, not to mention a good cupcake!
Workshops
During workshops, students mix, measure, roll and decorate the treat of the day and design a creative container in which to transport their treat home! Treats include cupcakes, pizza, cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, tarts, cobblers, soufflés and so much more. All recipes are provided so kids can make these treats at home again and again. Kids have a blast--your chefs will be so pleased to show you what they've made!
Want to host a workshop in your home?
We'll come to you!
A great idea for a play date! Email your friends and invite them over for some cooking fun. We'll bring all of the ingredients and supplies; all you need to provide is the space. Being in New York City, we are very creative with space limitations so don't worry about your kitchen or table being too small. The cost is $65-70 per student with a minimum of 6 to 8 kids.
http://www.cupcakekidsnyc.com/index.html
And here's another fun blurb, painting a cupcake baking service as a "family activity":
The verdict is in: Everybody loves a good cupcake. And even more fun than buying some yummy cupcakes is making them as a family. Cupcake Kids! offers a service that takes the mess and stress out of baking with customized workshops and parties that have an edge. Young pastry chefs learn baking 101 when they step into the kitchen and whip, knead, roll and measure the ingredients for a fun day. The brainchild of a Harvard graduate and former Wall Street mogul, Cupcake Kids! classes (such as Gingerbread Workshop and Sugar Cookies) are a labor of love meant to hand kids the tools they need to turn cooking into an exciting family event. Plus, the measuring, counting and overall patience inherent to baking is 100-percent usable in countless other areas of everyday life. E-mail info@cupcakekidsnyc.com for information on party types, workshops, prices and all other inquiries.
http://www.dancingmeatballs.com/new_york/cupcakes_take_cake
$65 times 6 kids is about $400, and this company relies on its customers to provide a space? Is anyone else floored by this? I want to know how many baked goods each kid ends up with after their workshop. If it's 2 dozen or less, that's absolutely insane. If I invite 5 kids over and spend $400 on cupcake making materials, how many cupcakes will we bake? Quickly tabulating the cost of one dozen from-scratch blueberry muffins made with pretty much highest quality ingredients a person can buy:
2 eggs ($5 an organic doz -- $0.83)
1 cup sugar (organic fair trade sucanat, 2 lb package $6, 1 cup = 1/2 lb -- $1.50)
1/2 cup shortening (organic butter, 1 lb = $6, 1/2 cup = 1/4 lb -- $1.50)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (organic 2 oz = $5, 6 tsp per fluid oz -- $0.21)
2 cups flour (organic 5 lbs = $5, 4.5 cups/lb -- $0.44)
1/2 tsp salt (organic unrefined celtic sea salt 6 oz = $10, 4.5 tsp/oz -- $0.37)
1/2 tsp baking soda (Arm & Hammer- best quality available? 16 oz = $3, 4.5 tsp/oz -- $0.02)
1 cup sour cream (Organic Valley 2 cups = $4 -- $2.00)
1 cup blueberries (organic, $3)
Frosting:
1/3 cup butter (as above, $1.00)
1/4 tsp salt (as above, $0.18)
1 tsp vanilla extract (as above, $0.41)
3.5 cups confectioner's sugar (organic 1 lb = 3.75 cups -- $5)
3 tbsp milk (organic, 1/2 gallon = $4.50, 256 tbsp/half gallon -- $0.05)
Decorations - sprinkles etc - let's go high end and say $1 per cupcake (and if you look at the picture at the last link above which shows <10 sprinkles per cupcake you'll see I'm being extremely generous).
Paper liners, 1 dozen (75 good quality Wilton liners =$2.00 -- $0.32)
Total for the dozen = approx. $17.50
Bear in mind that these ingredients were NOT bought in bulk, which this company is most certainly doing, which probably erases a third of the price.
How many $17.50 dozens of organic cupcakes can we get out of $400? About 23 dozen cupcakes. And if we use bulk ingredients, what do you think? Let's be conservative and say that buying in bulk removes 20% of the price. $14 a dozen = 28.5 dozen. But here's the best part! The website says nothing, nothing about the quality of the ingredients - no claims of using organic whatsoever! What, I can probably spend $7 on conventional ingredients above and get twice the cupcakes! 9 dozen cupcakes per child!
I just can't believe that this company exists and there is demand for "cupcake service"!!! Does anyone else think this is completely absurd???
Comments:
Yes, it is completely outrageous. You have to factor in the marketing expenses and the salary of the woman doing the instructing. It is amazing what parents will pay to make sure their tots get the birthday or other special event that'll be the "next hot thing" to brag about to their other playdate mamas. Silly, really, when you consider that moms used to bake cookies and cupcakes with their kids all the time -- now they pay some woman big bucks to do this for them? Lazy parenting, and parents trying to impress their friends. That's what I think this is.
Yes, I know that part of the expense is for salaries, advertising, and the equipment that they're probably bringing to whatever house they're going to... I just like to apply the dollar amount of the service to what most people can do themselves in their own house with 5 invited kids without requiring any specialized training, skill, or unusual, expensive equipment. And honestly, if it were claiming to be organic that would make a difference, too. So would providing their own room!
Is it really a stretch from this to hiring an expensive service to come to your home and teach your kid how to to peel and core an apple, shuck some corn, or hard boil an egg? People can spend money on whatever they want; I just can't believe that enough families demand this sort of service to make it a successful business venture.
That is nuts. She is having to do something equal to her Harvard education...she says while gagging.
I am with you. No way would I have another person do this as a party. I would do it myself. Actually, I did a cake decorating workshop for my son's first grade class. I brought the cup cakes pre cooked. The kids frosted and decorated them with decorator bags. I showed them how to decorate bigger cakes and how to use rice paper transfers. We discussed the math, art, etc. involved. They loved it.
She must be marketing to the moms with $2000 handbags and $400 haircuts... I bet moms are not even the ones letting her into the massive kitchen where the playdate is located... hell, I bet those moms are unsure of where anything is in those kitchens! (Can ya tell I read The Nanny Diaries?)
It's a clever gimmick--just not one that the average mom is going to fall for.
It is absolutely absurd. Cupcakes are like the easiest thing ever to make, it's just another over-priced service with a very limited customer base. Like pp above said, "$2000 handbags and $400 haircuts..." that's the customer base.
There's this place in Raleigh called "Entree Vous", I stopped by one day when I was by myself shopping for some office work clothes because I was hungry and looking for somewhere with good food and vegeterian options and I figured the name was a good indication of what I was looking for, but come to find out they sell over-priced entrees, sides, and desserts that are only prepared and frozen, not cooked. I sampled a harvest corn casserole and it was so good that I bought one ($10 for an aluminum container the size of a dinner plate), then I had to go home and cook it in the oven for an hour and a half. Their marketing strategy is to market to busy professionals that don't have time to do the shopping and preparing of meals but want good quality food. What is the point of buying entrees (serve about 4) for $20 and sides for $10 if I get off work at 5, get my kids and get home around 6, then have to bake something in the oven for an hour and a half and we wouldn't eat until 7:30 and my kids bedtime is at 8pm. They also offer sessions where you can go in there and assemble the dish, so they have the recipe right there, I took a good hard look at the recipe and memorized it and now I make that harvest corn casserole for about 1/10th of that price, make it in large batches and freeze them myself. ;-)
"Party In A Box
Our Do-It-Yourself Pizza & Cupcake Party package is the perfect way to host your own cooking party. We include aprons or chef's hats for each child, personalized recipe cards, cupcake sprinkles and wrappers, party favors and a suggested timeline for cooking activities so you don't burn the masterpieces. With this, you'll be on your way to a successful party guaranteed!
$300 for 10 kids. Extra supplies available for larger parties.
Shipping available."
Look, you can get all that stuff for $300! If I were going to get a party in a box, why wouldn't I just go to the grocery store and buy the stuff myself instead of paying a ridiculous markup? Duh.
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While I think $65 is to much you have to think that the price isn't just for the cupcakes. Its either done as a party or as a workshop. So while the price seems like a lot (I would probably expect to pay about half that per child for the class where I live) it is in New York and everything is more expensive there.
- mom_of_3_angels
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