Christmas 2026 Plum Cake Pre-Orders: A Week-by-Week Plan for Pune Bakers
A week-by-week plan for Pune bakers taking Christmas plum cake pre-orders in 2026: when to open, how to cap orders, deposits, and pickups.
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Christmas falls on a Friday this year, 25 December 2026. That gives families a long weekend and gives you a very busy week before it.
Every December we hear the same story from bakers. Orders start trickling in on WhatsApp in early December, then turn into a flood around the 20th. Someone wants 2 kg with extra rum, someone wants eggless, an office in Kharadi wants 40 small cakes with their logo on the box. By the 23rd, the baker is up at 3 a.m. trying to remember who paid.
Pre-orders fix most of that. Here's how to run them this year.
Why pre-orders work so well for plum cake
Plum cake is one of the few cakes you can plan weeks ahead. It keeps well and the fruit benefits from early soaking. Unlike a cream cake, you don't have to bake every one on the day.
That makes it perfect for a fixed menu, a booking window, and a cut-off date. You know how much fruit, flour and butter to buy. Customers know exactly when to collect.
The timeline
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| By 1 November | Fix your menu: sizes, eggless or not, alcohol or alcohol-free, prices |
| Early to mid November | Soak your fruit if you use a long soak |
| 15 November | Open pre-orders. Post on Instagram, WhatsApp status, your society groups |
| 1 December | Send a reminder to everyone who ordered last year |
| 15 December | Corporate and bulk orders close |
| 18 December | All pre-orders close |
| 19 to 22 December | Bake in batches, label each cake with the customer's name |
| 22 to 24 December | Pickups and deliveries, in fixed time slots |
Move the dates if you need to. The point is to have dates at all, and to tell customers about them.
Keep the menu short
The biggest time-waster in December is custom requests. Offer three or four options and stop there:
- Classic plum cake (500 g and 1 kg)
- Eggless plum cake (500 g and 1 kg)
- Alcohol-free version for families who prefer it
- A gift box of two small cakes for corporate orders
Price each one clearly. If someone asks for something off the menu, you can say yes, but quote it as a custom order with a higher price.
Cap your numbers
Work out how many cakes your oven can actually handle between 19 and 22 December. Be honest. If it's 80, sell 70. Leave room for a failed batch, a power cut, or a relative who turns up and needs feeding.
When you hit the cap, close orders and say so publicly. "Sold out for Christmas" on your Instagram story does more for next year's orders than squeezing in ten more.
Take a deposit
Ask for at least 50% when the order is placed, through UPI. Christmas no-shows hurt more than usual because you've already bought dry fruit and butter at December prices.
Write down who paid what. If you're doing this on WhatsApp, a simple sheet with name, phone, cake, size, amount paid, balance and pickup slot is the minimum.
Bulk and office orders
Pune's IT offices in Hinjewadi, Kharadi and Viman Nagar often send cakes or hampers to staff and clients in December. These orders are great, but they come with extra asks:
- A proper invoice, and sometimes GST details
- Branded stickers or a card in each box
- Delivery to an office address on a specific date
- Payment after delivery, sometimes 30 days later
Decide before November what you'll accept. If you can't wait 30 days for payment, say so upfront and ask for an advance.
Pickup slots save your sanity
Give each customer a 30-minute pickup slot on 22, 23 or 24 December. It stops twenty people arriving at your gate at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
If you deliver, group deliveries by area. Kondhwa, Wanowrie and NIBM on one run; Aundh, Baner and Pashan on another. Your delivery partner will thank you.
After Christmas: collect the list
Everyone who ordered a plum cake this year is a warm lead for New Year, Valentine's Day and their family's birthdays. Save their numbers with a note of what they ordered. In January, send one short message, not ten.
Pertanyaan yang sering diajukan
When should I start taking Christmas cake orders in Pune?
Mid-November is a good time to open. It's early enough for planning and late enough that customers are thinking about Christmas.
How much advance should I take for plum cake pre-orders?
At least half the order value. For large or corporate orders, many bakers take the full amount upfront.
How long does plum cake stay fresh?
A well-made plum cake stored in an airtight box at room temperature usually keeps for one to two weeks, and longer in the fridge. Tell customers how to store it on the label.
If running pre-orders through WhatsApp sounds exhausting, it is. With Frostique you can put your Christmas menu online with lead times, a cut-off date and blackout days, so customers can only book slots you can actually bake for. Every pre-order lands on one board with its date. Eight products on the free plan is plenty for a Christmas menu.
