Cake

Generally, if a state allows sweet breads, like zucchini or banana bread, then there are a lot of things you can bake into your bread or cake. Most fruit or vegetables can be baked in, and most store-bought candies could definitely be added.

Keep in mind, though, that you should talk to your health/ag dept about whether or not they’ll allow a certain item. The actual determination gets down to specific proportion requirements needing to be met… for instance, pumpkin bread is allowed but pumpkin pie definitely isn’t.

Sherry, it looks like you’re from Texas and they do allow sweet breads, so all of the above would apply to you.

Using alcohol in baked goods is completely dependent on where you live. A few states specifically allow it, and even in the ones that do, special licensing is often necessary for selling a product with significant amounts of alcohol in it. Even though rum cake is baked, it usually still has an alcoholic content remaining, especially if it’s moist. Typically these alcoholic amounts are insignificant, but it is good to be aware of and do research about. Your health dept will most likely be the one to regulate sales of goods with alcohol.

Doris, it depends on your state, but most likely you cannot sell homemade cheesecakes. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Ashley, it’s both possible and common to make an IMB frosting in a safe way, without it requiring refrigeration. The problem is that if someone doesn’t do it correctly and doesn’t have the proper training, then it could turn into a potentially hazardous item. It is a more risky item in that it can potentially fail more easily than the rest of the items on the allowed foods list, and that’s why it’s not allowed.

Barry, it’s very likely that as long as it doesn’t require refrigeration, using commercially-produced frosting would be allowed. But ultimately it’s up to your health or ag dept to determine what’s permitted.