Hi CC,
I have a potential client that I can not help and told her I'd refer another decorator in the area-She was going to pay me well, I just have a conflicting schedule and am not licensed- Wedding is Oct11(sunday evening) in Dallas, for a bridal cake for 75 and a grooms cake for 25ppl-
Please respond if you are legally licensed and interested- Let me know your web address as well so I can pass it on to her-Thanks!

Cannot go wrong with Bronwen if you have the budget.

Just curious, why is it necessary to be a licensed decorator in Dallas to do a wedding cake? I've done many wedding cakes for receptions, etc. but never had to be licensed for it. You mentioned you were not a licensed decorator I assume because you work from your home and in Texas they do not license decorators out of their homes? I've never had that to be a problem doing wedding cakes for clients. That said, if she feels more comfortable going to a "bakery", I would highly recommend Panini's Bakery in Preston Center. Their cakes are absolutely beautiful and great tasting and reasonably priced, compared to what Bronwen Weber would charge. Check out Panini's!

Oh, no. Here it comes again.

I have a front row seat. hehehe

I'll make the popcorn!

Dalar, I'd check your local regs if I were you. Of course your clients have no problem, but nearly every Texan I know of in here are not allowed to do cakes out of their homes.

Very true, you have to be licensed to sell cakes in Texas!!!!! I know very well and am in the process of becoming so.

Actually I think you have to be licensed in every state, but in Texas it is very difficult with all of the hoops.

YOU CAN NOT LEGALLY SELL CAKES FROM YOUR HOME KITCHEN IN TEXAS

If you are just don't get caught.

Okay I thought the lead-in comments were funny. I guess I have been pretty lucky because I have been sellling cakes, cookies, fudge, etc. for 15 years and have had no problem with any legalities. I believe that in order to be licensed in Texas you need to have a separate space or retail/commercial space to work out of, but I have not gotten any license to do so. I know lot of cake decorators who sell cakes out of their homes and because they produce so little revenue, I was told from a Texas health inspector that they very rarely, if at all, check on whether they are licensed or not. But those who advertise on websites, yellow pages, newspapers, etc. they notice those and investigate their licensing. I have no problem getting licensed, but if it requires a retail/commercial space to do so, then I would not be able to do that, and I am glad it doesn't make any difference to my clients. Thanks for the advice. I'll continue to check Texas regulations to see if they make it any easier to get licensed. Thanks again!

I'm not in Texas, so I shouldn't even bother, but I wouldn't exactly broadcast all the things you just confessed to what I would assume to be most of the cake decorators in Texas. The illegal ones couldn't care less I would assume, but the gals trying to do the right thing and not blatantly thumbing their noses at the laws they are so desperately trying to change.....well, I'd get ready for a hailstorm. Duck!

I have no problem broadcasting that I do cakes from my home and I am not blatantly thumbing my nose at the law. Like I said, there are lot of cake decorators out there who do the same, not for a blatant disregard for the regulations, but who can't afford to get a commercial retail space or get small business loan, or qualify in some way, etc. to get a license in Texas. If you live in New York and some other places you are able to get licensed out of your apartment or home, but not in Texas. If there are decorators out there desperately trying to change the regulations, I'd be right there with them, but I haven't heard of anyone rallying to change the regulations in Texas. I don't put down any cake decorator that has a passion and creative ability to create beautiful cakes, cookies, etc. and have clients who love their work just because they cannot get a license to do so because of stricter regulations than in other states. If it were easy to get a license in Texas, we would all be glad to do so. I'm not going to judge any cake decorator for selling from their home to make ends meet or whatever their reason is, whether they have a license or not. Maybe someday the Texas regulations will make it easier to get a license to sell cakes from the home. Let's hope so!

Keep on trucking.

http://www.texascottagefoodlaw.com/

Here ya go. They have put a lot of work into this bill. And continue to do so.

Thanks for the information about the Texas Cottage Food Law bill! What a shame the legislators only got to page 8 before the deadline and forced all the other bills to fail, including this one. I'll definitely send a message to Texas State Representative Dan Gattis to show support for this bill when it is presented again in the next session.

Thanks, Jamie....I was getting steamed and then you posted the link and saved my day! My opinion...if you don't care enough about your craft to read or even LURK the forums I...NO I refuse. Will not get into a caps fight. OP...please visit our site, thank KM for all her hard work and take some baked goods to your rep. If it happens to be Gattis then you are within driving distance of the other Austin cakers. Go visit, introduce yourself and help make a difference.

All I can say is Good Luck Texan bakers!

OP, I'm sorry your post was hijacked and I really hope you have found someone who can help you.



In regards to the comments about licensing, I truly believe the only way you would not know 'cakers' are trying to pass different laws would be that you are not actually looking. Meaning that you do not care about it at all and have not done your research in this business. Which is why it has been so hard to get anything done here in Texas, most people either don't care or don't bother to look.

I think it is great to have to be licensed to sell food, otherwise someone could bake a cake in their dirty roach infested kitchen with their cat sitting on the counter licking the icing (which was posted before) and then serve said cake to the public.

There are probably hundreds of topics just about getting licensed in the state of Texas alone, not to mention the other states and countries. Texas, like many others are very strict and for good reason. Yes it is a pain in the a$$, but it is the law and to simply dismiss it because your clients don't seem to care, doesn't mean it is right.

Do your research and then actually help to change certain things so that you are not "breaking the law". I am not big on the you might get sued "if" thing, but people have been sued for alot less so if you are willing to take the chance.

Heck, you can get a cake from a fully licensed, roach infested bakery too!

Oh believe me I know. A kitchen or any place that has food in it is a potential breeding ground for all kinds of creepy crawlers and rodents. We had a resturant that was shut down for having bugs in the food they were serving. Yack!!

The difference being the HD regularly inspects (supposed to anyway) licensed places, and they can and have been shut down.