Inflation taking a bite out of Islanders' holiday baking

Inflation is hitting home kitchens across the Island, and it's icing some people out from baking what they love this holiday season. The higher cost of ingredients is forcing some bakers to alter their recipes.

Shianne Wright said the cost of baking is on the rise. She has been baking cookies, cake pops and other goods ahead of a bake sale for The Real Us, an organization in Summerside dedicated to teaching those with intellectual disabilities independent life skills.

"We've been keeping an eye on all the sales every week to get the best bang for your buck," she said. "But it has been still quite difficult. Everything is still quite costly — we've had to change what we are baking and what we're going to sell and make and how we're going to package it."

And while Wright said the group will try to keep the cost of baked goods to a minimum, some prices will have to go up.

"I think that we are going to have to not be as cheap as the other bake sales usually were. Because when I was younger, when I was in high school, it was 25 cents, 50 cents for whatever. Now we are looking at the $1, $2, $3 mark."

Packing smaller portions

Wright worries some people might not be able to afford to spend money on bake sale treats the way they might have in the past, which would mean less money raised for the group.

"Not only are we trying to raise money for the company, for the members here," she said. "But the members bake with us and [we] teach them everyday life skills and how to cook at home, how to be sanitary in the kitchen, safety around the kitchen tools and the oven."

To help people combat the increased prices, Wright said she's packaging some baked goods in smaller portions.

"We did individual items instead of doing like two or three to a pack," she said. "So that if somebody does want two or they're just looking for a couple of things and they have a couple of dollars that they are still able to get things."

The rising cost of ingredients is also affecting Wright's home baking plans this holiday season.

"One of the biggest shocks to me was chocolate chips," she said. "So like I remember when I could buy a bag of chocolate chips for $1.50 when they would go on sale, sometimes less than, or $1.99, and now sometimes a single bag in the stores is $7.99, which is not doable."

'It's kind of like a yo-yo'

A baking blogger in P.E.I. said costs are burning her, too.

Barbara Mayhew runs the My Island Bistro Kitchen blog. She said she tries to use local ingredients, but that's getting harder and harder to do.

"There's fewer butter sales these days, you know, if butter is $7.49 to $8 a pound.... It certainly increases the cost of that. You have to kind of watch and see if you can find sales or, you know, find alternatives or substitutions if you can."

Mayhew said she's been watching sales closely as well to get things at the lowest price.

"It's kind of like a yo-yo," she said. "You have to kind of watch the flyers and try and get some items on hand before you really need them, because the day you might really need them, they could be priced at $18 and three or four days later they could be down to $12."

The baking blogger said it also could help to buy no-name items, shop around, or even make things yourself.

"I think people are doing like I'm doing, they're making their own vanilla now if they can," Mayhew said. "It's still costly to make because of … the two ingredients that go into it, but you make much more than 125ml."

Other home bakers CBC spoke with said the rising cost of supplies mean changes to their baking plans too, with some opting for pre-mixed ingredients.

And it means Islanders may find some staples missing from dessert plates this year. But Mayhew said others are still dishing out for their holiday favourites.

"I'm seeing a lot of interest in my holiday recipes this year," she said. "Particularly fruit cakes, which is kind of surprising because they're one of the most expensive holiday foods that you can make because they take so many pricey glazed fruits and raisins."