Q: What type of sweetener does Ketolicious Eats use in its baked goods?
A: KE uses non-GMO monk fruit blend sweetener, which is diabetic friendly. The first ingredient is erythritol, the one sugar alcohol that seems to be tolerated well by most, followed by monk fruit extract.
Q: Does Ketolicious Eats do decorated cakes?
A: Unfortunately, Ketolicious Eats does not sell decorated cakes at this time. The baking of cakes (and decorating them) takes much longer than the smaller baked goods (ie., cupcakes) and requires hiring a cake decorator.
Q: Can I just drop by and pick up ready-made baked goods?
A: Unfortunately, no. Due to the way the bake shop is structured as a “Class A” Cottage Food Operation (aka, home-based bakery registered in San Diego County), all baked goods are made per order. Orders are baked in up to two shifts, in the mornings and/or afternoons/evenings, as needed. Cookies are baked in the mornings and cupcakes are piped with frosting and receive toppings, prior to making weekday deliveries between noon and 2 pm, as needed, and pickups being made between 3:30 and 6:30 pm during the week. Each process of the order is personally managed by the owner/baker.
More about the process… The owner/baker manages all processes of the baking business, which includes: inquiries via email or text; inventory and local and online shopping of ingredients; ingredient prep; baking; cooling; cupcake coring; softening of refrigerated butter for each cupcake order (this takes 3 hours); glazing donuts and frosting of cupcakes the mornings deliveries go out, as needed; serving customers with pickups orders; label creation and printing; packaging; refrigeration; cleanup; delivery; bookkeeping; and all promotion, photography, social media, and editing for the website (usually on Mondays and/or Tuesdays). That said, prioritizing tasks can become hectic organizing the various processes for multiple orders.
Q: How do I order?
A: Orders can be placed online for local San Diego residents who wish to pickup or arrange weekday delivery, if available, in Ketolicious Eats’ deliverable areas. Or, they may be made via text by 8 am, at the latest, the day prior to delivery or arranged “curbside” pickup. It is also preferred to have additional notice for Saturday am pickup orders, due to the shorter day. (Butter for frosting is often left out of the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours to soften prior to making and piping frosting on the day of pickup.) This helps to properly organize, prepare, and batch orders together when baking.
Orders are typically baked on Wednesdays and Thursdays for next-day arranged “curbside” pickup between the hours of 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm (so any deliveries can be made before pickup orders). Orders may also be placed via text, with sufficient notice, for a limited number of Saturday am arranged “curbside” pickup, between 9 am and noon. Saturday am pickup orders are made on Fridays.
Q: What forms of payment does KE take, if I want to place an order?
A: Ketolicious Eats takes payment via credit card for online orders. However, orders taken via text is often taken through Venmo, as all other typical forms of online business forms of payment via Square, Stripe, or PayPal charge a transaction fee for the total cost of goods sold to each customer, which is roughly between 2.5% to 3% of the cost of the order, plus up to $.30 for each transaction. Cash is also accepted for orders by text, but Venmo is preferred. Choose the payment method that works best for you.
Q: Are you open on the weekends?
A: The KE bake shop is open until noon on Saturdays for a limited number of arranged “curbside” pick-up orders that are arranged via text message. Cupcakes can be arranged for pickup between 11 am and 11:45, as the time it takes to soften refrigerated butter and manage the piping and added toppings takes some time to do without frosting for each type of flavor to melt too quickly prior to pickup.
Q: Does KE sell prepared ketogenic meals?
A: Unfortunately, under the registration with the County of San Diego, meals (and items that require immediate refrigeration) cannot be sold under this type of registration. A different type of permitting must be obtained by the county, and the owner is not pursuing that category at this time.
You are, however, more than welcome to try Ketolicious Eats’ recipes for some quick meals that can be prepared in as little time as 30 to 40 minutes. See also the Ketolicious Eats profile on Instagram @ketoliciouseats for recipes not included on the website. Or, if you prefer a keto or paleo meal-prep service, check out Green Chef with this coupon for $55 off.
Q: Does Ketolicious Eats do custom orders?
A: At this time, Ketolicious Eats cannot fulfill custom orders, such as that for selling just two cupcakes. Due to the limited days the baker/operator works, custom orders require more time (and the creation of new product/ingredient labels and potentially box sizes that are not typically stocked).
Q: Can baked goods be shipped outside of San Diego?
A: Unfortunately, the popularly used e-commerce plugin for the website, Woo Commerce, uses standard “template” language (ie., “shipping”) that the owner cannot change without the added use of another plugin that requires downloading, installing, and a bit of research and re-programming to change the current language “shipping” to “pickup” in the cart/payment operation of the website. Additionally, as part of the owner’s registration with the county as a home-based baker, shipping products is simply not allowed.
Q: Does KE do any other types of cookies, cupcakes or desserts?
A: At this time, the only other keto sweets the bake shop offers that are not currently on the website are dairy-free cupcakes and seasonal items. Dairy-free cupcakes contain the same dairy-free batter as our other cupcake and muffin batters, but contains organic, vegan butter in the frosting, which is largely coconut oil and cashew based. There is a small upcharge for additional ingredients and associated costs to make this type of frosting. These items have been left off the website to monitor the day-to-day workflow of baking operations, but these items can be ordered. And, because all the baked goods are made from a personal residence, there is limited space on hand to store additional ingredients.
Q: Does KE do cream cheese frosting on cupcakes?
A: Unfortunately, as a requirement of CFOs (aka, home-based bakeries), cream cheese and other ingredients that require refrigeration as a part of storage cannot be sold. Buttercream frosting is standard and does not require immediate refrigeration; however, in the warmer months or heated temperatures inside the home, it is recommended that customers store their cupcakes in the refrigerator so that the butter, especially vegan butter in dairy-free frosting, does not melt and the frosting keeps its shape. Otherwise, storage of your baked goods does not require refrigeration, especially since our coconut (milk and oil)-based products like to solidify or harden in cooler temperatures.
Have Additional Questions?
Please feel free to email the owner/baker, Jacqueline.
