The saying goes if you love your job you’ll never work a day in your life. For home bakers who have moved their talents from hobby to business that couldn’t be more true. There’s a rising number of home chefs who have turned their passion for baking into a money-making business.
And they couldn’t be happier. One of Sacchetti's specialties in macarons. “I love this,” says Lisette Sacchetti, owner and baker of Sugared Lei, a baking business she runs out of her Galloway Township home.
“I love making cookies for people for their events. I love knowing that I’m a part of somebody’s event. That it makes everyone excited and happy.
If it didn’t make me happy I wouldn’t be doing it.” New rules in New Jersey creating a cottage food operator (home baker) permit became effective Oct. 4, 2021, according to the NJ Department of Health.
Historically, the sale of home baked goods was prohibited in the state, which has now joined other states in allowing cottage food operators. In fact, New Jersey was the last state to permit home baking for profit and the number of operators is closing in on 1,500 as of this writing, and increasing almost daily. A love and passion for baking seems paramount for home bakers we interviewed.
And the money’s not bad either. If you focus on custom work in your bakery, such as cakes for big events, you can make about $1,000 or more per month, according to Whisk Warrior, a website dedicated to assisting home bakers. If you simply do a few.