If you read my first blog post, you know already that I’m being encouraged to offer the cakes I bake to more people than just to my family, friends, and coworkers, coworkers of my husband and friends of my children, and their coworkers. Taking inventory like this, just made me smile. I did not realize until now how many people are eating my cakes already and are even looking forward to getting some again. But being this encouraged about selling my treats did not come over night to me.

‘Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Most of those people, who I spoil (or if you ask my family, bother) with my bakes goods, encouraged me strongly and repeatedly and here I am trying to convince strangers to trust me enough to buy my cakes without knowing what to expect. Back in October 2023 I had no clue on how to sell them, but as always when I made up my mind and narrowed in on a goal, I simply take one step after the other.

One of my own first steps was taking an online college class about business plan writing. Very helpful! I learned so much and was provided with many additional book suggestions. Like the staircase in the quote, I took one step at the time, and one would lead me to the next. While I figured everything out about what permits I need in order to sell, I still was pretty much in the dark on how I would pull it off. I think I’m still not 100% sure. Maybe those cake drop sales are only another step and next month already will be different, we will see.

When I saw on Instagram how great the micro bakeries with their sourdough breads manage their sales, I decided to give it a try. The only problem, I had, was that I’m not an influencer nor a blogger, I just liked to bake. Until Fall 2023 I never created a Reel and I had no idea what the difference between a Reel and a Story is. But I know from myself that it is very important to effortlessly find places and goods online. So, if I would like to sell cakes and to make it possible for prospective customers to find me, my treats must come up in Goggle searches. Easier said than done.

Another hurdle is the item I try to sell, my cakes themselves. Sourdough bread is pretty self-explanatory, Gugelhupf is not for many people. Besides having to explain my products, and learning more about the channels through how I would reach my customers, I did face yet another problem. I don’t have sufficient experience with US cakes, their taste and texture to give my cakes and US American name, in such a way that people get an idea of what they can buy from me. But I would not be myself if I wouldn’t find a way. Things always work out for me.

http://www.treatsfromomasoven.com

The fact that I grew up in a different country comes in as disadvantage but also helped me on the other hand to see the need to explain, because not everything is as it seems. Not just US cakes but also many customs have been unknown to me. For instance, to what occasions do US Americans eat cakes? Why did the bundt-cake tradition at family gatherings change to muffins, donuts, and cupcakes on the go? Why is the angel cake made without egg yolks? I don’t really know. While I used to live in Germany it was normal for many families to bake a cake on Saturdays to enjoy it together with a cup of coffee in the afternoons and again on Sunday. The leftovers had been eaten for breakfast or after lunch as dessert the following days. When I told that people, here in Chicago, they looked at me with disbelief. For breakfast? Really? Yes! I know German Cakes are not healthy, they are made with butter, sugar, and flour, but they are by far not as rich or sweet as some of their US relatives. My recipes are all free of high-fructose corn sirup, and conservatives, I also try to avoid food colorings and artificial sweeteners. I do this because I’m convinced that when I use quality ingredients the result must be scrumptious, there is no way around it.

I think I still need to explain some more to give everyone an idea what they are in for when they get one of my cakes, because I endured some surprises myself when I moved to the US, many things look like items I know but taste completely different. For instance, green candys taste in Germany to 95% more likely like woodruff instead like peppermint. European candy canes don’t taste like peppermint either and when a German orders its first hot chocolate with a candy cane and marshmallows they are up for a surprise. Before trying a red velvet cupcake for the first time, I asked about the flavor and the person had a hard time explaining, I purchased and tried one and decided that it tastes for me not much different than any other cupcake. Some Vanilla, very sweet, moist, and sticky. Later, I baked a red velvet cake myself and I also tried other red velvet cupcakes, I even had a red velvet cheesecake, and I give you that, red velvet really can be delicious. I still could use some adjectives to describe the taste though. To explain how Woodruff (Waldmeister) tastes like is equally difficult for me.

Why Gugelhupf and not cakes typical for the US

There are many places here in the US where people can buy delicious cupcakes, beautifully decorated cakes for weddings, birthdays, or any other special occasions. There are bakeries specialized in pies, muffins, or donuts, and there are patisserie bakeries who sell those little artwork-like glazed mini cakes and pastries like croissants or variations of it, and I love this vast variety. I decided to bake and sell what I’m good at, and because of this wide variety I think there will be room for my niche product as well.

People who liked the taste and texture of my cakes all phrase very similar things, no matter where in the world they were born. (There is only a hand full of individuals who were not as thrilled as most consumers.) Here what they say:

1. This is so good!
2. This is the best cake I ever had!
3. This tastes like my grandma had made it!

The third is my favorite compliment. Not because I had such a grandmother, I hadn’t, but because I gave them a moment with childhood memories back, a blissful moment of feeling embraced, loved, and happy.

What convinced me eventually, to believe what those people keep saying, was their diversity and the fact that even though I’m not able to find similar food items on the US American marked, US Americans do love what I bake too. Many times, people told me that they too had someone in their families who used to bake cakes, at some point back in the days, and the memory of that person and those cakes comes alive when they eat my cakes. Sometimes a coffee store offers a lemon loaf or a marble cake, but this is nothing that US American people have at home when they have guests. So, how can I convince the people around me, here in the US, to become my customers, if my cakes are different to what is commonly eaten for dessert or with their coffee? I need to make more people aware that my cakes exist, that I sell them, and proof that my cakes indeed are delicious.