Blog
Social Media Marketing for Cottage Food Businesses: What Actually Works on Instagram and TikTok
You don't really need or want to be a content creator. You need to sell cookies (or cakes, or candy, it all applies!). And that's the thing most advice about social media for cottage bakers gets wrong. Influencers wrote it to build a personal brand. You're trying to...
Cottage Food Farmstand: How to Start Selling This Weekend
There's a sales channel many cottage bakers overlook, and it's sitting at the end of their own driveway. There's no booth fee, no 6 a.m. market application, and no waiting list. Just a table, a sign, and the stuff you already make. A farmstand, whether it's a roadside...
Ingredient Labels & Equipment 101
If you've ever spent a Sunday night hand-writing ingredient labels for 4 dozen cookies, you know exactly why we're writing this post. Labels are one of those unglamorous cottage food requirements that eat up way more time than they should — until you find the right...
CookieCon Recap!
It's hard to believe it's been over a month since CookieCon wrapped up! Now that the sugar rush has worn off (mostly) and I've had time to unpack, catch up on orders, and reflect, I wanted to share a full recap of what CookieCon is all about — for anyone who's curious...
Where to Market Your Cottage Bakery (And Exactly How to Do It)
You've nailed the baking. The packaging looks great. You know your state's cottage food law. Now comes the part most home bakers dread: actually finding customers. The good news? You don't need a marketing budget. You don't need a massive Instagram following. And you...
How to Market Your Cottage Food Business: Strategies That Actually Work
Whether you're just launching or trying to grow past your friend group, here's how to get your products in front of the right people — without burning out. Heads up: some links in this post are affiliate or referral links. We only recommend tools we actually use and...
Cottage Bakery Delivery: Should You Offer It?
At some point, almost every home baker gets the question: "Do you deliver?" Maybe it starts with a loyal customer who can't easily get to you. Maybe you're watching other bakers in your area offer it and wondering if you're leaving sales on the table. Or maybe you've...
CottageFoodieCon 2026 Recap
By Jessica, My Custom Bakes | Toadily Baked Desserts If you've been following along with My Custom Bakes, you may have seen us mention CottageFoodieCon a time or two leading up to this year's event. Now that the dust has settled and I'm back home with my family, I...
Release Notes 4/1/2026
What's New at My Custom Bakes: Fresh Features & Fixes 🚨 We've been busy behind the scenes, and we're excited to share some updates that we think you're really going to love. From a long-requested checkout feature to a handy behind-the-scenes tool, here's what's...
Cottage Food Labeling Requirements & Laws: The Complete 50-State Guide (March 2026)
Last updated: March 2026 · All 50 states + D.C. · Reviewed against primary sources What Changed in 2025–2026 — Read This First Texas raised its annual cap to $150,000 (SB 541, effective Sept 2025) with inflation indexing, address privacy via registration number,...
Release Notes 3/12/2026-Image Plugin Upgrade
We wanted to share a quick update on some of the improvements happening behind the scenes at MCB. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been committed to releasing biweekly system updates—and sometimes even weekly ones. Many of these updates have been focused on site...
UPDATED-MCB Subscription Billing Policy: What Happens If a Payment Fails
We heard your feedback about the renewal failure timeline, and we've updated our MCB subscription billing policy to make the process clearer. Subscription Billing Policy 💳 If a Payment Fails: Immediate Lockout + 30-Day Window until deletion ⚠️ If your membership...
MCB Known Issues & Fixes — Updated February 2026
Image Upload Issues We are seeing an increase in "Something Went Wrong" error messages when uploading photos. We are looking into a new system or to update our current photo processing system. Here are some troubleshooting tips to help: Double check your file size....
Need to Step Away? Meet the MCB Hold Account Option 🧁
Running a business can be a lot — and sometimes, you don't want to fully walk away. You just need a break, without losing your account data. That's why we're introducing the MCB Hold Account option: a simple, affordable way to step back while keeping all of your shop...
MCB Known Issues & Product Roadmap
Thank you all for being here. If you're new, please take a moment to read about us — MCB is maintained by a very small, tight team of cottage bakers. We have no financial backing whatsoever aside from our PRO membership, so we operate differently from similar...
Membership Updates (Free Tier Removal + Billing +New Procedures)
To our MCB community, First—thank you. 💛 This platform is growing in ways we’ve never experienced before, and we’re grateful for the patience, feedback, and support you’ve shared as we strengthen MCB for the long haul. This update is a big step toward making MCB more...
Free Tier Removal Announcement
UPDATE 8/14/2025 A quick update from the MCB team: After our latest development meeting, we've run into a few snags that require more time to resolve. We're now targeting a release in late August or early September. While we can't give an exact date just yet, we'll...
Known Issues List Feb 2025 and Future Enhancement Updates
Last Updated February 20, 2025 First off, thank you all for being here. If you're new, please take a moment read about us HERE - MCB is maintained by a very small, tight team of cottage bakers. We have no financial backing whatsoever aside from our PRO membership, so...
MCB Update: Free Tier is Phasing Out
A Message from the MCB Team, after careful consideration over the past year: Since MCB’s inception in 2019, this platform has been a labor of love, a grassroots movement powered by community support and a deep commitment to serving cottage bakers like you and the...
The Importance of Building an Email List for Your Baking Business + Tips to Keep Your Emails Out of Junk Folders
In the world of cottage baking businesses, an email list is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your marketing arsenal. Social media algorithms are unpredictable, and relying solely on platforms like Instagram or Facebook to reach your customers can be...
What You Need to Know About the FDA’s Ban on Red No. 3
On Jan 15, 2025 the FDA issued an order to revoke the authorization for the use of Red No. 3 (erythrosine) in foods and ingested drugs. This decision marks a major regulatory shift in the food and beverage industry, directly impacting manufacturers, bakers, and...
A Guide to Cottage Food Labeling Requirements and Essential Labeling Equipment
(before we begin, how funny is our AI generated cover image for this blog post, with "cattage food?" - laugh with us, please!) If you're a cottage food producer, you know that labeling your products correctly isn't just a good practice—it's a legal requirement....
A Beginner’s Guide to Applying for a Cottage Food Permit
You've been whipping up delicious treats in your kitchen, and your friends, family and co-workers have started to see you as "the baker" in your group...and now you're ready to take your passion for baking to the next level by selling your goodies. But hold on, before...
Release Notes 24-April 2024
We just recently pushed a large update with the following: Ability to delete Products (this action slocks quotes, orders, chats). More info HERE. Presale reporting update: separate gross vs. collected revenue Ability to hide presale location pickups Free Tier...
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Announcements, Known Issues & Monetization updated 13 Oct 2023
We’re upgrading MCB on Oct. 12, 2023 from 11:59pm PST to 6am PST Oct. 13, 2023! (You can log in starting on Oct 13 6am PST to pay for your subscription) Expect a 4-6 hour downtime as we run this huge update which will allow us to monetize our platform. Here’s what you...
Release Notes 17-June-2022
We're pushing out a big release today with the following changes: New Features & Enhancements: Ability to issue refunds Ability to request additional payment A link to the Shop’s terms & conditions in the footer of the customer’s quote and order status screens...
Understanding Quote and Order Workflows
In this post, we'll discuss how Quotes and Orders work in My Custom Bakes. If you have a Product in your shop that's Variable in pricing and a client adds that to their cart, they trigger our Quote workflow. To summarize, Variable priced products are products that do...
Presale Module Release & Enhancements
Our Presale Module just launched, which means the next time you log in to your dashboard (or refresh your page, maybe log out and back in), the Presale area will be available. YAY! Setting up a presale is very simple. Essentially, you create a Presale ‘event’ (click...
Introducing: My Custom Bakes
Hi there! Lisa here, owner of Borderlands Bakery. In my ten years of cookie decorating, I spent 5 of them taking on custom orders for decorated sugar cookies and french macarons. Having lived that custom-order life and after talking with thousands of other bakers, we...