Make Money Selling Funnel Cakes and Elephant Ears at Fairs, Festivals and Carnivals

As a kid, one of the best aspects of going to local carnivals and fairs was the sweets. Elephant ears and funnel cakes were my favorite even more than those huge lollipops or cotton candy.

If you're a festival goer, then you know these tasty fried dough treats are still popular with kids and adults alike.  You also know that vendors charge up to $5 per piece and at busy fairs are likely making a killing. You can be that vendor.  After getting the initial cooking supplies, the actual ingredients are cheap and you could be well on your way to starting your own business or frying up some for your church or school fundraiser.

Elephant ears and funnel cakes are basically fried dough. The ears are traditionally served with cinnamon and sugar but you're usually given a choice of topping such as powdered sugar, maple syrup or fruit. They can be messy to eat but I've never met anyone who complains.

The elephant ears are made from dough that is stretched and then fried in oil. Funnel cakes are made from batter poured into a mold placed over hot oil. I've seen newer recipes online for elephant ears, but they're nothing like what you get at the fair. They're more like cookies. You might want to try making a batch of each at home to see if it's something you would want to do all day. If nothing else, you'll have dessert.

But before you start selling any type of food in the public arena, you need to obtain a food vendor license for your area which I don't cover in depth in this article.

Here are a couple of tips to get you started:

• Go to the official website of your state, city, province, etc. and do a search for the term food vendor, you should get all the info you need including application forms.
• If you're doing this as a fundraiser, you may not need a license but check with your organization to be sure.

You'll need to have specific supplies for selling at fairs to help you cook quickly for a lot of people.

A few things to consider before buying or renting supplies are:

• How large do you anticipate the crowd to be?
• Do you have your own pavilion or will you need to invest in a vendor trailer?
• Can you start with a small fryer or will you need commercial-sized equipment?

One of the best places for business info that I've found is the Funnel Cake Company in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Check out the company intro video above or their website for tips on how to start your own business or earn funds for your organization. They also have a site for distribution and business start-up in Europe. They have a start-up kit for sale to get you started in the basics. As of this writing, the kit was under $200.

If you want to do this completely on your own, then you can buy some funnel cake and elephant ear mix and a fryer. You don't need a lot of start-up cash if your starting small. The Fry Daddy brand of fryers has a range of sizes and prices, some under $30.

You can also buy a funnel cake kit that includes the ring to fit into the Fry Daddy. However, since these aren't meant for commercial use, you'll need to check local codes to make sure they're allowed for public cooking in your area. If not, then you'll need to buy commercial equipment. New fryers can cost up to $3000. Don't forget to check for used equipment at places like Craig's List and local papers and internet sources.

Food service is hard work, but rewarding when you're making a profit at something you enjoy doing. With a funnel cake or elephant ear business, you earn cash and fulfill that age-old tradition of providing carnival smiles at the same time.