When you do cake testings for brides, do you have to bake each individual flavor of cake? That seams like an awful lot of baking for a testing. Or do you have the cakes already made & frozen then section it off?

I actually only sample with cupcakes. I can shrink most of my recipes down to about 6 cupcakes (so that usually leaves a few extras for hubby!) Its the same recipe as the cake, and they can be filled & frosted with the same ingredients, too. It doesn't necessarily show off any decorating skills, but thats where my photo album comes in handy!

I don't know what the best way would be but this is what we do where I work and maybe it will help.

We bake almost all our flavors (16 of them) in little loaf pans (like the little aluminum disposable ones you can get from grocery store, we do wash and re-use them though) then we keep them in the freezer. When we need a flavor sample we cut a slice off the loaf and then cut in half. This makes the perfect sample size. Then we pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. Depending on how frozen your freezer keeps it and how powerful your microwave is about 5-15 seconds. Then we put our filling in the middle of the two pieces and then whatever icing on the top.

Ooh!! Like a little cake sandwich?!

great ideas.........thank you

i've never done wedding cakes or tastings. But i did read a forum about this not too long ago and they said what they do is just make the differnt kinds of cakes they want, and then they put the fillings and icings in those little condiment cups (like for ketchup at McDonalds) and this way the bride and groom can just pick and choose which fillings they want to try with the icing options and you dont have to go crazy making a million different options. Hope that helps

I starting having Wedding Consultations this spring. I have booked 5 so far, with another one pending this Saturday, and another way in advance for December. They usually take about one hour to an hour and a half. I schedule them any time of the week and for the tasting, I make the flavor the bride is most interested in .... in a 6 inch cake. If she is considering a grooms cake also, then I make a chocolate cake if she desires to try that as well. Either way I let her pick 2 flavors before the appointment. I go ahead and ask her colors and if there is a theme. That way, I can search for pictures she may be interested in for her to view at the time of the appointment as well. The two cakes that I make for her tasting are well decorated as they would be if they were to be on top of her very own wedding cake, I want to show off what I can do up close and personal. There are a world of very impressive things you can do with cheap ol yummy buttercream . At the consult, I also have out my assortment of cake stands and pillars so that she may see actual sizes. Most brides are so clueless and appreciate being informed. Besides having my laptop available and full of photographs and my own portfolio, I have a collection of Wiltons Wedding Books on standby. At the close of the tasting the bride recieves photocopy of her cake design choices, an Invoice with all her wedding information and a bill for 30.00 as well as one of the cakes in a pretty bakery box.
So far....its worked like a charm, and the Summers getting all filled up
HTH

We've only had to make one flavor for consults so far. Most of ours have already had some of our cakes at other times.

http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=57804&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=15

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-47317-sampling.html

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-256531-sampling.html

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-218121-sampling.html


This should get you started with a lot of good ideas.

Basically, I make one flavor cake with 2 fillings (pic in my photos .... link in one of the threads above). I'm not going to do more work for a free sampling than I do for a paid wedding.

I've had REALLY good success rate with what I do. Out of over 100 samplings - only 2 people have NOT chosen to use my services so I think they're pleased with what I do. And I am usually not the first person they're coming to so I get to hear horror stories about other samplings but in a nut shell...this is what I do.

On my website, they can schedule their sampling and are required to fill out 3 combinations they would like to try. I make all my samples fresh so this works best for me - they can try whatever they want and I'm not making a lot of cake - definitley cuts down on cost. (I'll share how I do that at the end)

From this point - once the appointment is set up - it's all about customer service. If you make the bride feel special she is going to love you. I also do what southrnhearts does and I have binders of pictures that I've done as well as pictures from magazines that I've pulled out. I have stands for them to look at and uniced dummies to build their cake so they have a visual of what they have ordered. I also have dummies on display for them to look at as they walk in (we run this out of an apartment we rented just for the business so I have it decorated as a shop).

During the appointment I ask a lot of questions about what they like and don't like, after they've looked at pictures, I begin to sketch their ideas and work out pricing. Usually during this time they are sampling their cakes and just having a good time. Whatever they don't finish they take with them. I put their left over samples in a 1/4 sheet box with my company logo and out the door they go with their leftover samples and my price quote. This is of course if they haven't booked me at the appointment. Usually, once I've given them the pricing information I ask them if they have other appointments they need to keep or if they would like to book with me today. They usually book with me on the spot but if they have other appointments after mine they usually contact me as soon as they've gone to their other appointment.

I don't really feel like I do anything special except make the bride feel special. I think what bride's really appreciate is information and someone who is really personable...I'm lucky that I'm a people person and I'm not shy.

Now, for the samples - I've seen a few threads about what people do for samples but I have yet to see anyone mention something similar to what I use. About 2 years ago I found the 3" Wilton pans at my local AC Moore - they were $3 for 3 pans - I have 30-40 of these. They're generous samples but not too expensive. 1 cake mix makes 10 of these samples so for mini-cakes, I can bake 10 3" cakes at a time. I fill and ice these just like a regular cake. In the beginning I would have a lot left over but as business increased, it usually works out for the week that I use most of what I've had to bake and what I don't use is either made into cake balls or given to my husband who never gains a pound!! lol

I'm sorry this is so long I get carried away sometimes when I'm typing. I type so fast that I can keep up with my mind which can become wordy!!! lol - Hope at least my rambling was helpful

Tammi