12 Tips for Baking on a Budget

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I love the Great British Bake Off and now the new season is well underway I spend my evenings drooling over the contestant’s latest baking creations and wishing I was a better baker. I’m an excellent cook but baking is definitely not my forte!

Baking can also be quite an expensive hobby – ingredients alone can cost a fortune and that’s without the setup costs, such as equipment, mixers, baking paper etc. While some people are prepared to stop at nothing to get the perfect bake for others baking on a budget is the only option!

12 Tips for Baking on a Budget

In this post I am going to explore ways you can get baking on a budget and still make super awesome tasty treats (and not a soggy bottom in site!)

1. Buy Budget Ingredients

Basic range ingredients often have much in common with their more expensive counterparts – don’t be afraid to try budget versions you might be surprised at how well they work.

2. Foraging For Free Ingredients

Foraging is a great way to keep baking costs down, especially in autumn when apples, pears and blackberries should be plentiful. Fruit can be expensive so this is a great way to save while still making delicious treats.

Tips For Foraging In Autumn

3. Shop For Yellow Sticker Fruit

Fresh fruit can often be one of the most expensive parts of baking, whether it’s for decoration or to make jam for the filling it’s never going to be cheap, especially when it comes to soft fruits such as strawberries and raspberries.

Try shopping in the early evening (or around 3 pm on a Sunday afternoon) to pick up fruit from the yellow sticker section when the price has been reduced and then preserve it by making jams, curds and coulis or freezing until needed.

4. Switch To Tinned and Frozen Fruit

One final fruit-related tip: switch to tinned or frozen fruit, especially if it’s for making jam or as an ingredient rather than a decoration.

5. Try Packet Mixes

Cake and biscuit mixes can save time and money spent on ingredients if you don’t bake often and don’t want to buy full packets of things that may only be needed once.

These packets usually need less butter too, which can often be an expensive ingredient (is it cheaper to make your own butter? I did the maths and most of the time it’s not!)

I often use these when baking with my daughter for convenience and because her concentration can sometimes only manage a few steaps.

See my budget packet mix peach cake recipe here.

6. Best Before Vs Use By

Knowing the difference between ‘use by’ and ‘best before ‘ should help prevent ingredients being unnecessarily wasted.

Best Before is just a guide for quality whereas eating food past the use-by date could make you ill.

Find more details in this post: The Difference Between Best Before End and Use By Dates

7. Keep Your Ingredients Fresh

Taking care of your ingredients means they will last longer, here are a few simple hacks for prolonging the life of your baking essentials

• Adding a marshmallow to brown sugar will stop it going hard.
• Whisked eggs, butter, nuts, dried fruit and fresh fruit can all be frozen.
• Cream that is about to be over can made into butter and then frozen.

Equipment

8. Buy Budget Equipment

While Kenwood and Kitchen Aid are the market leaders when it comes to kitchen mixers they cost upwards of £300 each. There are budget options available from as little as £63.99 including this one from Amazon.

How To Find Discounted Le Creuset Cookware

9. Buy From Poundland & B&M

For baking on a budget I love Poundland’s Jane Asher range which includes whisks, tongs, cake slices and flour shakers. Pastel colours make it a perfect addition to any kitchen and it includes other baking essentials such as pipping bags and even some cookery books.

Finishing touches

10. Shop Poundland & Home Bargains

Poundland has a fantastic range of cake decorations, from edible silver balls to writing icing and sugar paper daisies. The majority of these are 2 for £1 making them far cheaper than buying from the supermarket.

11. Try Budget Alternative Icings and Toppings

Some finishing touches can be the most expensive – such as cream for fillings and butter for buttercream icing. Try looking for cheaper alternatives such as using water icing. You could also look out for cream in the reduced section if you plan to eat a bake soon after making

12. Buy Cake Stands From Charity Shops

Cake stands don’t have to be crazy expensive – check out the local charity shops for these and other baking equipment such as large ceramic bowls and crystal glasses.

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