Hello my fellow CC I need your expertise as usual.

When it comes to cake tasting how do I go about that? I just don't want to have to make cakes before the appointment. I travel to the clients appointed meeting place and bring the samples, I would like to know the following:
1. How do I keep samples fresh and ready?
2. How many samples should I have?
3. What type of presentation should I set up?

Please all advice and ideas are so so so welcomed!!!!!!!!!

Thank you

I usually limit it to, two or three different types of cake of their choice. You can either have them in cupcakes prefrosted or you can have sample of frostings also for them to taste. I usually keep them in a cake box in the fridge until I go to the appointment. If your not baking the day before the tasting then freeze them in ziploc bags for up to a month and it should be fine.

A lot of bakers use cupcakes for their samplings, which can be made ahead and frozen. Then you just pull out of the freezer whatever you need for the sampling.

I bake 6" square cakes, and then cut them in quarters (giving me four 3x3" squares. I tort the squares and freeze. When I have a bride coming over, I pull a couple of white cakes, maybe a chocolate, a red velvet or carrot cake (depending on what's in the freezer). I will fill the cakes with different fillings, then just use a big star tip to zig zag icing on them. These 3x3's are just big enough for samplings for 4 people.

I usually just do three cakes. Any more than that and they are in TasteBud Overload.

I view a sampling as the time where the bride determines whether they like my baking skills or not. I don't view it as the time where they get to try a number of flavors to determine what flavor they want the wedding cake to be. I tell them, "My lemon cake will taste just as good as my white except it will taste like lemon." This is the appt where they are figuring out if they WANT to hire me or not.

The reason I do two white cakes with different filling is to show them how the taste of the same flavor cake can be altered just by changing the filling.

When you say you are going to the meeting place, does this mean a Starbucks type of place? As far as presentation, I say that since YOU are the one doing the traveling, then cake in a cardboard box, with a paper plate and fork is sufficient "presentation".