I have been blessed with the start of my business: cody cakes and my very first order from a client that needed cake pops for a trade show. They asked that I use a recipe they provided using a product that they had just introduced and asked for
450 cake pops! I had
TWO WEEKS to prepare!! WHOA was this exciting stuff!!
Needless to say I'm stubborn, a control freak and perfectionist- which somehow didn't work in my favor for this project. I wanted each hand-rolled cake pop to be uniform, packed to a certain pressure of my hand, weighing all the same weight (0.9 oz), as round as round could be; quite simply, as perfect as a hand-rolled cake pop would be. I have learned that my perfectionist and control attributes could quite possibly be my greatest weakness. However, I was 110% pleased with the outcome of my perfectly rolled cake pops- but it took me MUCH longer than I thought...Maybe I should have... YES, I should have accepted the help that was offered!! *note to self, accept help when offered. Thank you, Eric, for the last minute help!!
As much as I thought I had prepared for this, there was still more I could have done to have been more efficient. I probably should have ordered my supplies in excess, because I ended up needing more of some things and had to buy them last minute (thank goodness the baking supply store had what I needed!). I should have planned out my days making a timeline of where I should be at a certain point in the day- so I have a bench-mark to base my progress. I should have better prepared the little things in advance, such as prepping the cupcake liners. There are so many "should have, could have" moments that I have learned from this experience, I am positive I'll be much more prepared for my next order. (I'm also very hard on myself, if you haven't noticed!).
I wish I had snapped more photos of my cake pops- so I could have shared them with you all. But the time constraints left me with no option to do so, until the car was packed and we were on our way. I did get to use all of these fun colored sprinkles which were perfect accents to the cake pops!!
With all of that said and done, I was able to get the delivery out on time and in perfect condition, despite the desert heat! This was the best learning experience I could have asked for. It has made me realize that baking IS my TRUE passion. For the days that I spent in the kitchen, no matter how high the stress level was, I was in a happy place, in my own little bubble, so content and at peace with my work. Each and every cake pop was made with so much passion and love- and I hope the attendees of the trade show enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed making them.
A special thank you to my client who gave me this wonderful opportunity to introduce cody cakes to the world, for giving me credit at their trade show and allowing me to have business cards on the table. I will never forget who jump started cody cakes and will be forever grateful to you.
Here's to many more opportunities!
