The Baker's Dozen: 13 Ways to Boost Your Bakery Business
Boost Your Bakery Business With Our Take on the Baker's Dozen
by Lyndsey Hall
04 August 2023
Have you ever wondered why the number thirteen is referred to as a ‘baker’s dozen’? Us too!
It actually dates back to medieval times, when the law said that any baker overcharging customers for undersized loaves could be fined or flogged. Without the benefit of weighing scales, it was difficult to guarantee the consistency of rise in each loaf. So, as a result, most bakers started making extra, rather than risk punishment. Sometimes a baker’s dozen was even fourteen!
Luckily, the rules around baked goods aren’t quite as strict today, so you can really let your creativity shine with an array of eye-catching, mouth-watering baked goods that’ll keep your customers coming back.
Here are a few ideas that could help you to attract customers, drive sales and boost profits in your bakery business. Thirteen may be unlucky for some, but we’re confident you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this baker’s dozen!
Chocolate Coatings for Bakers
Of course, we had to start with chocolate! But rather than chocolate couverture, which requires tempering and can be a time consuming and demanding ingredient, compound coatings are a baker’s dream!
Made from cocoa powder and vegetable oils, rather than cocoa butter and mass, these brilliant coatings don’t need to be tempered, are easy to use, and look and taste just like chocolate. They’re perfect for coating bakery products like flapjacks and Millionaire’s shortbread with a chocolatey topping that your customers will love to sink their teeth into.
Cocoa Powders
A staple in every baker’s kitchen, the Cacao Barry cacao powder collection has elevated the humble cocoa powder to something more multi-faceted and versatile than even we could have imagined!
With both natural and Dutch-processed options, a 1% fat cocoa powder, a deep-black cookie flavoured powder, and the first hydrophobic (water-resistant, to you and me) cocoa powder, plus many more, there’s a cacao powder for all your baking needs.
Toffee, Caramel, Nougat & Fudge
When you’re baking and decorating hundreds of sweet treats a day, you haven’t got time to make all of the fillings and décor from scratch too. Luckily, you don’t have to! Our range of finest quality fudge, caramel, toffee and nougat is ready-to-use, just scoop, stir or sprinkle in or on your baked goods and confections, and they’ll fly off the shelves!
Crystallised Flowers
These world-famous, sugar-coated flower petals are a classic bakery decoration, seen in every Parisian patisserie window, and even enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth II! They’re elegant and sweet, with a slightly perfumed taste, and they look exquisite on top of delicately iced buns and cakes. Our range comes from Candiflor, the well-known crystallised flower producer from Toulouse, where sugar violets are a popular delicacy.
Candied Fruit
Candied fruit makes a fantastic decoration on top of cakes and cupcakes. Pop a few candied lemon slices on top of your lemon drizzle cake, or dip candied orange peel in melted chocolate coating for a delicious decoration on a chocolate orange muffin, or a mug of orange hot chocolate!
Freeze-Dried Fruit
Similar to candied fruit, but without the sugar coating. These tasty, fruity inclusions and decorations are freeze or spray dried soon after being picked, helping them to retain much of their natural goodness, flavour and visual appeal. Which makes them perfect for topping cakes and muffins, as well as stirring through your mixtures or sprinkling on top of buttercream icing. As they’re much lower in water-content than their fresh counterparts, they won’t stain your bakes or wilt, giving you an eye-catching display cabinet that lasts longer!
Cacao Nibs
These crunchy, intensely chocolatey roasted nibs are considered a superfood, making them good for your tastebuds and your health! Use them in place of chocolate chips in cookies and cakes for a rich cocoa taste with none of the added fat or sugar.
Nuts & Nut Pastes
With a range that includes the finest quality nut pastes, whole and nibbed nuts, and ready-made giandujas (using Callebaut chocolate!), as well as nut flavouring pastes and topping sauces, you’re bound to find the nut—based product of your dreams. Whether you prefer almonds, peanuts, pecans, hazelnuts, coconut or cashew, you’d be nuts not to try them!
Marzipan
We’re not talking about the too-sweet, artificially-flavoured marzipans of your youth. No, Lubeca has a reputation for producing the highest quality marzipan for hundreds of years. Only marzipans made in the Lubeck region of Germany are allowed to call themselves ‘Lubeck marzipan’ – much like Champagne! With a high almond content and an incredibly finely ground texture, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been using Lubeca’s superior products for years!
Popping Candy
This fizzy, crackly sugar crumble is a fun addition to any sweet treat – stir popping candy into buttercream and top cupcakes for a sparkling surprise, or sprinkle over your brownies and rocky road to give them an added burst of joy!
The popping effect comes from tiny, pressurised carbon dioxide bubbles that burst as the crystallised sugar dissolves on your tongue. Our range of popping candy includes both cocoa butter coated, and chocolate coated, and even a vegan popping candy, so there’s something for every application.
Colours & Flavours for Baking
Whether you’re colouring chocolate, cakes, icing or savoury bakes, there’s a perfect food colouring option for you. From coloured cocoa butters in a kaleidoscope of hues, to the Power Flower colouring system, which allows you to create custom shades using the handy chart or mobile app, you can stay on top of each season’s colour trends with very little effort or expense!
And flavouring your baked goods is just as simple with our range of flavouring oils and extracts, flavour pastes, liquid flavourings and ambient fruit purées.
Cocoa Mass & Cocoa Butter
Created during the cacao pod-to-chocolate process, cocoa mass and cocoa butter are both fantastic ingredients that can be used to complement any chocolate or culinary creation. Cocoa butter, whether in powdered or solid form, can be used in either chocolate-making or savoury cooking, in place of other fats.
Cocoa mass, on the other hand, is 100% cocoa, offering an intense chocolate flavour that allows you to carefully control the sweetness of your desserts and confections.
Packaging for Bakery Products
Looking for baking cases? Look no further. Cupcake boxes? You’ve come to the right place. Bags, bows, ribbons and twist ties? We’ve got ‘em.
Our packaging range is designed to offer choice and quality to chocolatiers, chefs and bakers, so whatever delicious treat you’re hoping to display, package, or even post, we can help. From postal brownies to elegant hampers, Easter eggs to Christmas gingerbread biscuits, there’s a perfect packaging solution just waiting for you.
And that’s not all! Keylink stocks many more products that would be fantastic for bakery applications, from delicious, ready-to-use fillings to fabulous decorations and presentation boxes. Browse our full range of products to find exactly what your bakery business needs, or chat to our friendly team to see if we have the perfect solution to suit your requirements!
Looking for inspiration? Visit our Resources Hub to find recipes for baked goods, desserts, chocolates, and even hot and cold drinks that your customers will love!
Lyndsey is a marketing executive, writer and lover of books and chocolate from Sheffield.
Her favourite chocolate is Cacao Barry Lactee Superieure.
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