indianapolis wedding professionals -

Posted by: Debi Brim

Many bridal publications frequently list “10 Questions You Should Ask Your Caterer/Baker”. Though this list varies from one magazine to another, one question that almost always appears is “Are you licensed by the Health Department”?

To some people, this would be unimportant since most folks know some nice lady who makes pretty wedding cakes in her home. So why should this be a concern?

First of all, in our state of Indiana it is not permitted for cakes or other foods to be sold from a home kitchen. Though there is an extremely limited exception for certain homemade items that are sold at farmer’s markets and roadside stands only, no one can operate any type of food service business from their home. Therefore, the nice lady who sells cakes out of her home is operating in violation of state law.

Even in states that do have some form of Cottage Food Law (which would allow the sale of homemade cakes); these laws generally do not allow the sale of perishable foods. So if a bride wanted a perishable filling like mousse in her cake, the home baker could not legally sell that.
 

So I find it even MORE amazing that reputable wedding magazines and websites will advise a bride to find a home baker for their cake, with no regard to the legality of what they are suggesting.

Buying a cake from a non-licensed source can limit your choice of reception sites. Many venues require copies of the baker’s health department permit and Certificate of Liability insurance before allowing that baker’s food products on the premises. The reason for this is liability. The reception venue can be sued if there is a problem with food, even though they did not provide the food. And they make no exception for cakes that come from mom, aunt, grandma or any other relative or friend of the family!

Also, if you don’t find out what your venue’s requirements are, you could wind up with no cake at all at your reception! True Story: A baker friend of mine told me of a bride who used a non-licensed baker. The home baker arrived at the reception site and was refused entry because she could not produce the required health department and insurance documentation. The end result was there was no wedding cake at the reception. The bride was devastated.

Bakers who have health department approved facilities operate to a higher level of sanitation then a home baker. Every home baker will insist that their kitchen is clean, but that assertion is based on what “their” opinion of “clean” is. Health department standards remove personal opinion from cleanliness and handling practices. While home kitchens are designed to be attractive, commercial kitchens are designed to be sanitary. I’ve observed that hobby bakers confuse “surface clean” with “health dept clean”. There’s a BIG difference.

I cannot even BEGIN to regale you with stories I’ve heard of pets in the kitchen during baking. Or worse, are those who assure us that their dog/cat doesn’t enter the kitchen while baking. I’ve owned pets and I know their dander that floats in the air doesn’t stop at my kitchen door if the oven is on.

I’m always amazed at how many cat owners just swear that they have the one cat in the whole world that doesnt’ jump on the counters (with their nasty feet that have been roaming around in a litter box!). Oh sure …. I’m willing to chance THAT cake for my grandson’s birthday!

I’ve had bakers tell of catching their cats licking cake pans and worse. More than once, a home/hobby baker has told how their pet (cat or dog) had taken a big lick off of a finished cake, so they just re-iced that part of the cake before delivering it to their customer.

Yeah …. I sure want THAT cake served at my daughter’s wedding!

There is also an implied assurance of product quality from a commercial kitchen. For the legal baker, this is their business. They have significant overhead and they are dependent on satisfied customers and repeat business. The home (unlicensed) baker is essentially operating as a hobbyist and is not as reliant on satisfied customers. (There will be another blog coming soon on this aspect of this topic.)

When you book your reception site, you need to find out the policies regarding outside food/cakes and be sure your baker/caterer can comply with these policies. Health department requirements are in place for the protection of you and your guests. The licensed caterer/baker is committed to the protection of you and your guests as well – and they’ve put their money where their mouth is!

One Brides Horror Story with an Unlicensed Baker

The following story is true, as shared with me by a local (Indianapolis) bride who shared her cake disaster story with me, along with photos of the cake.

The home baker showed the bride beautiful photos of finished cakes. The bride ordered her cake from the home baker and said, “I felt that the cake was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.”

When the bride picked up the cake from the home baker, the boxes were sealed. Admittedly, the bride’s mistake was in not opening the boxes anyway to check the cakes, but as she explained it, “there was no flag to indicate I should have checked them.”

When the cakes were revealed, the bride was devastated. The fondant was lumpy and appeared to be falling down the sides of the cake. The gumpaste flowers were sprayed (airbrushed) with color and the overspray was all over the cake. (Why the decorator didn’t airbrush them away from the cake is beyond me.)

The bride tells me the fondant was “painted on”. It was streaked and had white spots showing thru. This bride had a little experience with decorating cakes and was aware that fondant can be purchased already colored or the color can be kneaded into the fondant. Either of these techniques would have been a better effect than streaked brush strokes on her cake.

The bride had gotten a very good price for the cake … $125 for 3 tiers. But she ended up spending, in addition to the $25 in gas to pick up the cake, over $40 (total $65 ….. 50% of the price of her cake) for large silk flowers to replace the poor quality gumpaste (and it’s questionable whether these were actually gumpaste or not) roses and to try to cover the overspray that mottled her cakes. She tells me her guests were appalled at the quality of the cake and she spent the day being embarrassed about serving such a cake to her guests.

This story is not to paint all home bakers with one brush and it is not to imply that every home baker does shoddy work and will refuse to make it right if there’s a problem. I have many friends who bake for a hobby and they do beautiful work! And it does not imply that a bakery cake is always perfect. The odds of them sending such a shoddy cake out to a wedding are very slim. (Remember, I saw the photos of the cake …. when I call it “shoddy”, I’m being very nice.)

But as was mentioned in the previous blog, a legal licensed baker has much more at stake, financially, than the lady-down-the-road who makes cakes “under the radar”. The legal, licensed baker has gone thru the Food Safety courses and knows how to handle perishable icings and fillings, knows how to properly sanitize their decorating tools (no, just washing them in your sink is NOT sufficient!), has been inspected (and is surprise-inspected) by the health department frequently, has obtained all of the proper licenses and insurance, has paid a small fortune for the very expensive equipment required to operate a commercial kitchen ….. and all of this investment is risked on their decorating and baking skill.

The bride asked the home baker for a refund and the baker just refused to discuss it. The bride is now questioning whether the photos she saw were actually made by the baker, because those photos were very nice … a complete contrast to the cake she received.

I guess the baker doesn’t have a vested interest in making this right for the bride.

Debi Brim can be reached via email at info@cateritsimple.com

Our websites:

www.cateritsimple.com / www.bannascookies.com / http://www.flickr.com/photos/55969028@N00/