Covering each other with terms and conditions

I haven't had these all written down before - but you know the drill, they basically say that we'll respect one another, communicate clearly and pay on time.  I have been blessed to have been really rather busy baking for all you wonderful people this last year or three, and this was suggested to protect us both.  Although to be fair, we have never had an issue - fingers crossed we continue to do business well into the future.  Thank you all so much for supporting my small business, I really appreciate you :)

Becca Bakes - Dundee


Standard Terms and Conditions of Trading

These terms form the basis of the contract between our customer and Becca Bakes. These Terms, your Order and your Order confirmation are considered by us to set out the whole agreement between you and us for the sale of cakes. It is your responsibility to check all details in the order confirmation are complete and accurate as this is the document we work to when completing your order.

Basis of Sale

Any samples, drawings, or descriptions we issue, and any descriptions or illustrations contained on our website and social media are issued solely to provide you with an approximate idea of the cakes they describe and remain the property of Becca Bakes.

Quotations are valid for a period of 30 calendar days from the day of issue. Cake sizes quoted are in inches and are based on the diameter of the cake. Cakes are around 3 1/2 to 4 inches deep as standard.

No contract is made with you until we have received your booking fee. Once your booking fee has been received you are in a legally binding contract with Becca Bakes.

The Cakes (cupcakes, traybakes)

We warrant that on delivery or collection the Cakes shall conform to their description as set out in the Order Confirmation, be of satisfactory quality and comply with all food safety, statutory and regulatory requirements in the UK. We will not be held responsible for customer disappointment of the design or the interpretation of the cake as long as it is made in line with the customer’s pre agreed requirements set out in the order confirmation and will face no consequent liability. It is the customers responsibility to ensure all details within the order confirmation and sketch are correct and meet their exact requirements.

The warranty does not apply to any defect in the Cakes arising from wilful damage, accident, negligence by you or any third party, if you use the cake in a way we do not recommend, your failure to follow our instructions or any alterations you carry out.

Our cakes are made in an environment where nuts, egg, milk, gluten and other allergens are present. We cannot guarantee that any cake is entirely nut free although we make every effort to ensure that allergies are accommodated.

We cannot guarantee an exact replica of any cake, but we will do our best to make it so. Where colour swatches are provided, we will do our best to match as close as we deem possible. Exact colour matches are not guaranteed.

From time to time certain materials for our cakes may become obsolete. This is totally out of our control; however, we will do our best to select replacement products to reflect the original design as closely as possible. We reserve the right to replace items with component parts of equal or better quality without consultation.

The cake is a fresh product containing no additives or preservatives and it is our right to assume consumption on the day requested. Cakes should be stored in a dry place, at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and sources of heat in the box provided. They should NOT be refrigerated.

Becca Bakes and the customer expressly agree that the cakes and all goods purchased from Becca Bakes remain the property of Becca Bakes until paid for in full.

Delivery and Collection

All orders may be collected free of charge from Becca Bakes by prior arrangement. We accept no responsibility for any damage sustained to the cake once it has left the premises.

 

If delivery has been requested, we will deliver the cake on the day set out in the order confirmation to the address provided. Becca Bakes will always do the best it can to ensure delivery dates and times agreed are achieved for the provision of the goods or services however the Company cannot accept liability for delays and time shall not be of the essence.

If the delivery address changes after the order has been confirmed additional charges may be added to cover extra mileage.

Once the cake has been delivered, we are unable to accept and liability for any damage sustained to the cake thereafter nor any failure to follow the instructions provided.

Price and Payment

 

The price of your cake/cupcakes will be as set out in your order confirmation. No Vat is payable on the cakes. A minimum 40% booking fee is required if payment cannot be made in full at time of order, for all cakes. No further payment reminders will be sent, and it is the responsibility of the client to ensure payment is on time.

Please note all booking fees are non-refundable.

The balance must be paid in cleared monies no later than the date set out in the order confirmation by bank transfer to the account specified, or Paypal. Late payments will incur a £5 charge.

If payment is not received by the date specified this shall be constituted as breach of contract by the client. We reserve the right to hold the order until payment is made in full. When payment is late, we accept no responsibility should we be unable to purchase the required stock or equipment to make the cake as laid out in the order confirmation. In these circumstances the cake will be made as close to the order confirmation as possible with no redress or liability on Becca Bakes.

Cancellation, postponement and alterations

In the event of a cancellation by yourselves, charges are as follows;

7 to 14 days prior to the date = booking fee.

Less than one calendar week prior to the date = full amount

Any booking fees previously paid are non-refundable.

You may, prior to 4 days for celebration cup/cakes, amend your order by providing us with written notice. In the case of alterations, a new order confirmation will be issued detailing the changes and the new cost. Alterations are not confirmed until a new order confirmation has been issued. Should you make any changes after the time scale stipulated above there will be no reduction in the price you pay, even if your new design is cheaper than the original booking.

If for any reason you fail to collect your cake order, we reserve the right to take action to recover any balances outstanding.

Becca Bakes reserves the right to cancel, vary or suspend the operation of this contract if events occur which are in the nature of force majeure including (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing): fire, floods, storm, plant breakdown, strike, lock outs, riot, hostilities, non-availability of materials or supplies or any other event outside the control of Becca Bakes, and Becca Bakes shall not be liable for any breach of contract resulting from such an event. In this situation we will provide you with written notice and any booking fees paid are non-refundable and we refer to our cancellation policy. 

Becca Bakes’ liability (both in contract and tort) in respect of defects in goods or services shall be limited to the issue of a credit note in respect thereof or granting a refund or other such compensatory measures as Becca Bakes, at its discretion, considers appropriate in the circumstances and shall be limited to the to the value of the goods or services giving rise to the claim.

Becca Bakes shall not under any circumstances be liable for the customer respect of indirect consequential loss or damage or loss of profits, provided always that these conditions do not exclude or restrict Becca Bakes’ statutory liability for death or personal injury arising from any negligence on Becca Bakes’ part or liability imposed by statutory implied terms in Consumer Contracts.

Complaints –

 

Complaints are very rare and due to the amount of work put into each individual cake we take them very seriously. Any issues must be brought to our attention within 48 hours of collection or delivery to give fair opportunity to assess the nature of the complaint.

Both Parties agree to not post any negative information about the other arising out of this Contract or Event on any online forum or website without providing advance written notice of the intended content thereof and providing the other party with a prior opportunity to resolve any issues between the parties amicably.

Complaints regarding the decoration of celebration cup/cake can be easily repaired so errors of this nature must be pointed out upon delivery/collection so as to give us the opportunity to correct them. Once payment has been handed over this confirms that decoration is as requested, and no further claims can be made

Where the complaint is in regard to the quality of the cake/cupcakes then the cake, or remainder of the order, must be returned to us as soon as possible after cutting and within 48 hours of collection/delivery to ensure that we are able to fairly assess the nature of the complaint.

Please note we can only deal with the client who placed the original order.

General Terms

 

All designs and intellectual property rights remain the property of Becca Bakes.

We reserve the right to use images of your cake for any form of advertising including web-based promotions, brochures, galleries and competitions. It is advisable that you make a copy of all documentation received from Becca Bakes for your own benefit.

This Agreement together with Order Confirmation documents provided constitute the entire agreement and understanding between the parties relating to the order. Except as may be expressly stated in this Agreement, it supersedes and cancels all prior agreements, statements, representations, understandings, negotiations and discussions, whether oral or written, between the parties. Each of the parties acknowledges and agrees that in entering into this Agreement it does not rely on any statement, representation, warranty or understanding made prior to this Agreement save to the extent that such statement, representation, warranty or understanding is incorporated into this Agreement. Each of the parties acknowledges and agrees that in entering into this Agreement it has not relied on (or has been induced to enter into this Agreement by) any statement, representation, warranty or understanding made prior to this Agreement. Nothing in this paragraph excludes any liability for fraudulent misrepresentation.

In the event that any one or more such provisions of this Agreement should be deemed to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining valid and enforceable provisions thereof which shall be construed as if such invalid or unenforceable provisions had not been inserted.

The parties agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English and Scottish courts. Any headings utilised in this Agreement have been inserted for the convenience of reference only and should in no way restrict or otherwise affect the construction of the terms and conditions hereof.

27.12.2021

I've been baking for years, and the council approve

I've noticed a lot of new home bakeries have opened up locally over this Covid-19 lockdown period.  You've probably seen them on Facebook too, offering delicious looking cupcakes, celebrations cakes, cheesecakes and cookies, sometimes with prices that are really good.  But do you know what you're buying, really?  Does the baker know about food hygiene and safety?  Has their business been registered with HMRC, and inspected and approved by the Environmental Health department of the local council?

When buying from us, an item such as this Rocky Road tray bake, you can rest assured that we are both registed and approved by the relevant bodies and have had all the necessary food hygiene and safety training, with certificates to prove it.  Plus we've been approved by the city council.  So you can enjoy your delicious looking and tasty treats and feel good :)

Cupcakes for covid heroes

When Scotland went into lockdown on March 23 2020, who knew it would last over 100 days?  We had no idea who would play such an important role in keeping the country running, and keeping public services ticking over.  

So when I had the chance to bake, decorate and gift some thank you cupcakes to some of our local keyworkers, I was happy to be able to spread joy.  These were loved by the pharmacy team back in May, and the happy spring colours of the personalised toppers made me smile.  What do you think, do happy colours make the food taste better?

Three best rated award

What a treat it was to receive this information :) They tell me it's due to web information clarity, customer feedback and reviews received, so thank you all so much. If you've eaten one of our cakes or treats, feel free to leave us a review whereever you can, Facebook, Google or similar. Thank you. You can check out the listing here on the Three Best Rated site showing the analytics they used, and see our food hygiene pass here

I'm still baking, just not blogging regularly

Hey everyone, long time no chat. I'm still here, and still baking as often as time allows.  But my job hours increased 3 or so years ago and I moved location 2 years ago, and that means less time for baking.  And the kids are growing at an alarming rate (actually, at the same rate as everyone else's children, it's just that the weeks and months seem to rush past in a blur of activity these days) and have multiple extra-curricular activities, and homework and social lives and well, you know how that season goes.

It's way faster to pop a quick photo and a few lines on Facebook than it is to write up a blog entry, so my page is up to date with the last few years activity - all neatly in albums for you to peruse at your leisure.

So thank you for your continued interest, it's very much appreciated.  Come see me over on Facebook if you have a moment, you know you want to see what I've been doing.

Anzac Slice with chocolate chips

I have been taking part in the super fun Fat Mum Slim 365 photo a day challenge for nearly 1.5 years now, where you post a photo to your Instagram account according to the theme set out for that day. You attach the relevant hashtag so other participants can find you and then you enjoy seeing everyone else's interpretation of the prompt.

You may be wondering what this has to do with my baking, but bear with me.  The lady who is Fat Mum Slim is Australian, and she recently was pleased to take part in something or other to commemorate Anzac Day today, and she also posted a recipe for and Anzac Slice with chocolate chips that sounded both tasty and easy.  So I made it.

The recipe was really easy and straightforward to follow, and before long I was at the stage of putting the slice in the oven.

As you can see from the before photos, I may not have waited quite the full 15 minutes she recommended, because some of my chocolate chips are glistening from starting to melt.  But I got it straight into the oven after this, just to be sure.

And took it out 27 minutes later - wow Becca Towers smelt great!!!   They tasted amazing straight from the oven, warm and comforting and just the right mix between crunch and chewiness.  But I left them to cool overnight, planning to take them in to colleagues the next day and by morning they had hardened up.  The Team and I had to taste test them (again) obviously, and they were still fabulous but with a more solid and thus harder to initially bite into texture.  

So next time I shall try them for only 24 minutes.  Happy Anzac Day one and all.  Lest we forget.

Mmm melting moments

We caught up with friends we hadn't seen in a while over these spring break school holidays.  I have been a little less hectic with the baking, not baking so frequently as I used to because I'd been pulling longer shifts at work, and the kids are just as busy as ever with after-school clubs and activities.  But these particular friends that were coming - well, their 13 year old was really getting into baking and I felt that I had to offer them something fresh and new as it was quite likely they'd bring along one of her treats.

I decided to keep things simple and fun, and go for small individual servings rather than a large cake that may not get fully devoured when at its best.  I chose Melting Moments - a sandwich biscuit well-loved but not often enjoyed from my youth - and even used an Australian recipe.  Well, it had to be, didn't it?!  

These beauties needed to have a particular consistency that melted in your mouth and crumbled slightly when you bit into them, but not so much that you lost all your biscuit at the first bite.  So I was a little apprehensive as I started.

Following the recipe to the letter, they rolled into what looked like small cute balls of dough.  I then flattened them with a glass and made indents with a fork.

So far, so good - they looked correct, or should I say, as I remembered.  Once out of the oven, they still looked pretty darn good but had spread a bit bigger.  I hadn't bargained on that, so made a note on the recipe for the next time.  Some were a cute 4.5cm in diameter but others were up to a centimetre larger.  So I took note to choose similar sized ones to sandwich together.

I had some classic vanilla buttercream and also some rich, decadent chocolate buttercream waiting ready to fill them.  Then I thought lemon would taste nice, so chose a lush lemon curd to add to some of the vanilla buttercream - mmm, great idea.

All the taste-testers were impressed, and I am pleased to say that this recipe tastes just like the ones I remember from cafes of my youth.  And all 3 flavours worked really well - a definite recipe to keep.

Double chocolate chip cookies - afternoon tea winner!

It's the second-last day of the spring school holidays here, and we've been busy with play dates (so much fun for me too, as it's too long between catch-ups for us Mums too), sports camp/classes, walks, arts and crafts, general outdoor play and so on.  This week's gymnastics sports camp is getting them pretty tired, so when they asked to go out for afternoon tea today, I didn't really fancy it.  Instead we went home and whipped up some super delicious double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.

But that will take ages, you might think.  Well, kinda but not really, and it was much more fun and we knew exactly what we were eating.  Mini-1 retired to the couch with her tablet computer and Mini-2 and I got started.

She's keen to be as grown-up and independent as possible, and has listened well on other baking projects, so enjoyed using the hand-mixer - but not cracking the egg.  Why, you ask?  Well, she didn't fancy washing her hands yet again, ha ha.

Two different types of chocolate chips were added - the recipe calls for peanut butter chips but a) we've used up all that we received from the USA a year or so ago, and b) we're kinda over them. Sorry to all our American friends out there.  We'd love to try any other fancy chips you do, not butterscotch though please as we've had them too, but not pb any longer.  No hurt feelings, right?
Anyway, back to the cookies...

We chose to do just small cookies, with a spoon and knife for skill and cleanliness.  We managed to get 40 small mounds of dough out of our mix and popped them in the oven.  A scant 12 minutes later we had hot cookie heaven!!

I couldn't resist and tasted one just moments later - oh my!!  So so good, crisp and crunchy, just the way I like them.  When the kids came through, one had the great idea of sandwiching them with cookies and cream ice-cream to make a Choc Chip cookie Ice-cream Sandwich - oh yes please!  

Nutella banana bread is to die for

The girls love that I bake, and sometimes like to join in.  So this Nutella Banana Bread was a special request for one of them.  She remembered it from a few months back, and was sure it was to die for so wanted to have some more.

Personally I didn't remember it that way, but I'm not so keen on bananas as the kids are - though I am coming around to them slowly - but I do love chocolate, and Nutella.  We always have some bananas in the house (and Nutella for that matter) because they're such a nutritious, healthy and handy snack to have, so this cake may well have been made with some slightly overripe bananas - it doesn't affect the taste or texture of the final bake so I think it's a great way to use them up.

I like chocolate (did I mention that?) so I added in some totally unnecessary chocolate chips to the mix.

Then drizzled over lots of melted Nutella, in the middle and on top.

And baked it.

And shared it round.  Mmmm, that didn't last long (but it stayed deliciously moist while we had it). 

Finishing a cake with buttercream petal icing

Although I work in a school, I'm not a teacher.  I teach cupcake decorating as a paid hobby, and really enjoy it - so was thrilled to be asked to demostrate a finishing technique to a senior class of Cake Decorating pupils in the Home Economics Department.

I thought I may as well make the cake fun to eat, so coloured the dough and attempted the zebra interior again, this time in pink and white.  I wasn't sure who exactly would eat it, but they may as well enjoy it, right?

I took the cake into school baked and cooled and with just the crumb coating on, to allow the pupils to see how I filled the piping bag and did the technique right from the start.  I was a little bit nervous, as though I recognised some of the students from previous years, I was in a different class with a different teacher - and very aware that my method of information delivery was not a qualified-by-the-general-teaching-council one...

Nonetheless, the pupils seemed eager to have a go themselves, as with the amount of practice I've had at this particular finish, it probably didn't look that difficult to them.  Until it was time to do it themselves - and didn't they do a great job?  These are 16-17 year olds who have had a term or two of cake decorating and were becoming more and more confident with their skills.  

We talked about how well they did, and if they didn't feel that they'd done as well, how they could fix that problem.

And when photographed from certain angles, no customer would notice the piping work that troubled them.

Hubby took the cake in to work the next day and by all reports it was demolished at morning tea and lunchtime!  So success all round I would say, wouldn't you?

Hubby remembered to take a photo of the interior for me, so I could see if the zebra pattern worked - I don't know, what do you think?  It's kinda hard to tell...  :)

Courgettes in a cake for Dundee Baking Club

I have baked cakes with vegetables in them before, most notably carrot cake, and a beetroot chocolate cake, and they have been delicious.  I even bought a book a few years ago, all about cakes with vegetables and less sugar (I was going to name and give a link to that book, but for the life of me can't think what it's called.  If I remember, I'll be sure to include it here), but don't think I've even cracked the spine on that one - perhaps don't tell Mr Becca.

This recipe was for the first meeting of the newly re-branded Dundee Baking Club and the theme was Autumnal Bakes.  As you may recall, about 4 years ago I founded the Dundee branch of the Clandestine Cake Club with Jac from Tinned Tomatoes.  We were very happy with our meetings and members and rolled happily along for quite some time.  Stuart of Cakeyboi joined us and together we ran it all enjoyably.  Then we felt we wanted to bake other than just large cakes, so respectfully broke away and this cake was for our inaugural meeting.  I like to bake big cakes, as our family has little appetite for them so baking for others means I get to taste a little but have the fun of  the bake.

Above we see the grated courgette (or zucchini if you prefer), eggs, brown sugar, flour and spices.

And above here we see the disappointingly thin slivers of cake  :(  I don't know how you would feel with these layers, but I was seriously unimpressed at how little they rose in the baking process.  I had double-checked the recipe quantities and method, in case I had done something wrong, but no.  And my raising agent wasn't out of date or anything like that either...

So I made sure I had plenty of cinnamon flavoured buttercream icing and got to work.  I dusted it all lightly with cinnamon and gold edible glitter spray, plus a dose of delicious walnuts and took it to the meeting.

Where I am pleased to report that it was gobbled up and no-one noticed that the layers were a little on the thin side.  

Getting healthy with homemade granola bars

We are still trying to get to grips with the busier, or rather shorter, weekday mornings (and by we, I don't mean me).  In an attempt to help The Team eat as well as they can in the short time available, I have been researching nutritious and delicious breakfast options, that aren't too time-consuming for me.  And when I came across the Lisa of 100 Days of Real Food, I was pleased. Although the premise is wonderful, I didn't feel like it was something I could easily slot into our lives.  But this granola recipe?  For sure.

As it happens, we pretty much always have all those ingredients in the house at any given time, so it was really easy to get started.

A large bowl full of oats, coconut, seeds, raw cashews, raw brazil nuts, pine nuts, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg - mmm...

Here we can see the seeds were a mix of pumpkin and sunflower, and somewhere in there are the pine nuts, because I didn't have enough cashews and walnuts as per the recipe.

 The melted butter and honey soaked in really quickly, so I had to get mixing fast!

There was so much mixture (the Americans seem to like making huge amounts of desserts at once) that I had to use my usual brownie tray (approx 20 x 30cm) plus an additional 20cm square tin. Although to be fair, the square tray had a thinner layer of mixture than the rectangular one.

And for future bakings, I would lower the recommended temperature and the time involved, as this seems a little dry and overdone to us.  The honey seems to have made it an extra specially golden colour.

However, despite the slight dryness to taste, it's deliciously cripsy, smells wonderfully of honey and tastes great with all the different seeds and nuts in each mouthful!  And it's lasting well in an airtight container, just perfect for afternoon tea or a quick bite in the mornings.

Double chocolate chip brownies, just because she wanted to

Now that school is in full-swing, and my hours at work have moved forward so that I start earlier, we are finding weekday mornings kinda tough.  We all still wake at the same time as before, but now there's no leeway or spare time whatsoever, and we've had to learn to love the clock, not.  If you aren't at the kitchen table and done with breakfast by 7.25am you miss out.  Seriously.  I've had to get creative with what can nourish the kids on the hop...

And the afternoons aren't much better - between homework, chill time, swimming lessons, Brownies, Girl Guides, dancing class and gymnastics, there's little leeway there either.  And we want to add ski lessons in to the mix, crazy!
So when one of the kids expressed a desire to bake brownies, well, we had to look at the schedule!  I felt bad about that, that we couldn't be a bit spontaneous, but I suppose that teaching them about commitments and responsibility will always be valuable.  So when today dawned wet, and resolutely stayed that way all day - we knew it was time to indulge.

As with any good teaching opportunity, we got out the recipe and all our ingredients.  Then started to prepare everything, so we would be ready to just toss them into the mixture at the appropriate time. White chocolate was chopped, eggs were cracked and mixed with vanilla extract, flour was sifted and so on.

As she is young and less experienced than myself, a lot of the white chocolate chunks melted when added to the brownie batter, so we quickly chopped some milk chocolate and sprinkled it over the top.  Time was of the essence, so the next photo is of the tray in the oven (hence the darkness - also it's quite rich and chocolatey).

It was quite wobbly when the timer went off, so I left it another couple of minutes before I removed it to cool.  We had started making it just before afternoon tea-time, so The Team were itching to try it! I cut it up straight away, and we all sampled it warm.  We were impressed, but also confused because it seemed more cake-like than our fudgy brownie usually is.  

But after we'd had our warm fill, it got more brownie-like as it cooled, and by the time the photos were taken, it was perfect!  Yummy, and the perfect rainy day activity treat.