question for quintess
Okay, so i'm asking you because I know you have written your own cookbooks and stuff and feel that you would be a useful resource.
So I think my long term career goals involve possibly opening a vegan bakery/coffee shop.
1st place I need to start: building a recipe repertoire/baking lots of good yummy foods.
My question is where to start? I mean... I know how to follow a recipe (and I rarely ever follow it as written) but how do I go about making my own? I mean I have a lot of ideas for different cakes/muffins/cookies etc. but how do I know if it's something that hasn't been written somewhere else already? does that matter? And is it okay to follow a basic recipe for the skeleton of the baked good and then make it my own according to what I do with it?
I guess I just don't want to accidentally end up passing off someone else's work as my own. I was wondering how you get through all of this when writing your cook books.
Thanks a bunch ~^_^~
i think u might be okay using recipes off this site (don't take my word) because i don't believe they r copyrighted... i know this was not asked to me... i'm curious to know too :)
Yeah, I don't think there are laws against using a cookbook recipe in a restaurant. People do it all the time. I mean, you couldn't write a restaurant cookbook and publish it, but I think you are OK to cook them.
If I remember correctly, if you want to publish a recipe based on another, you need to modify at least 3 ingredients/steps.
On a restaurant stance, as long as you don't publicize it as your own, it is fine.
eta: This info is remembered from my restaurant law class.
Sorry I didn't see this until now!
So here's my take on your questions:
I would suggest doing a lot of research before opening a bakery or restaurant--I once had this researched & found out that I would have to invest like 70 hrs minimum per week. So, I have written off doing it ever since. But if you do decide to do it, I would just make sure you LOVE it and don't mind making it 80% of your life.
As far as recipes, I was told by another famous cookbook author that the standard industry practice is to make sure at least 3 ingredients are different from the original recipe. However, that seems a bit too close for me. The recipes in my book that are even 5 ingredients off or close to the original are credited as "inspired by" that author. I have a few of them in my book and all the authors were really nice about it--John McDougall, Jennifer Cornbleet, & Marilyn Diamond are all credited in my book & agreed to it. If you are basing a recipe on someone else's, I would just ask that author if it's ok.
But that is all for cookbook stuff. If you're just using it in a restaurant, I don't know if you have to credit the author. However, I have had people ask me if they can use my recipes in their catering or restaurant. They label them as recipes from my book & I'm happy with that. I appreciate them giving me credit and it also helps promote my book. So, I think it's nice to do it that way--I can't imagine an author not wanting you to use their recipe as long as you weren't giving away the ingredients or recipe w/o them purchasing the book!
But there are so many recipes that are similar to each other that you can't get TOO worried about it. In general, I get ideas from other recipes occasionally, but that's pretty typical. It's hard to draw an exact line on it, but again, just ask the author if what you're using is close to theirs & inspired by theirs.
Hope that helps! :)
Oooh this is so interesting. Thanks for sharing, Tess! :)
This is a very helpful thread. Thank you so much for all the sound advice.
On this note, I was wondering if anyone had advice on selling your own baked goods. Not open my own restaurant or bakery or anything. I mean taking small orders on the side, doing gift baskets and possibly dropping off cookies for a local coffeehouse to sell.
I don't have a major time commitment because of my current job, but had thought about doing small orders on the side every now and then.
A thought ... if I dropped them off at a coffeehouse to sell, at say $2 a cookie, how much should be my cut and the coffeehouse's cut?
Do I need to get a business license, or is this not necessary since it's not a major amount of baking I will do?
Anything else I should be aware of when selling my bakery?
I appreciate any help and advice.
I'm not too sure about CA health codes....but I know anything up here sold commercially is to be prepared in a commercial kitchen.
When it comes to selling them at a coffee house, you should first determine how much you want to make, and then suggest an amount for them to price the cookies out. @ $2 for consumer price, I'd say $1.60 - $1.75 should go to you, making the coffee house's cut 13-20%
I'm not too sure about CA health codes....but I know anything up here sold commercially is to be prepared in a commercial kitchen.
When it comes to selling them at a coffee house, you should first determine how much you want to make, and then suggest an amount for them to price the cookies out. @ $2 for consumer price, I'd say $1.60 - $1.75 should go to you, making the coffee house's cut 13-20%
That's really good advice, Hanashi. Thank you for helping me. :)