Making "taste Testing Cakes"
Decorating By momoftwogirls Updated 12 Sep 2005 , 2:51pm by momoftwogirls
I would like to 'try' a few receipes but do not need an entire cake!! How could I go about doing it?
Also how would you do that for a bride - if she wanted to taste your cakes??
Thanks for the help!
Christina
I also remember reading a tip on here somewhere, someone suggested using tuna cans. Not such a big cake, but enough to sample. Then you can freeze them and take them out as needed for samples (or maybe a nice dessert for yourself!)
I haven't tried it yet, however I am saving up tuna cans to try it.
Leily
I organize a scheduled day when I can get a few couples in for cake tastings/consultations...then I make a few different batches of cupcakes for tastings. It's so much easier and people love to eat them that way! I can even pack them extras in little boxes so they can take some home to ask their family's opinions too!
Works really well, no freezer-burned cake samples, nothing to store, nothing wasted and fast to prepare! 
Tuna cans-interesting idea. Very resourceful. People bake cakes in soup cans. But tuna is stinky so those cans would have to be washed VERY VERY well lol! They would probably be 3 inches I am guessing.
I have tons of miniature cake pans since before I "really" decided to do "real" decorating lol I did a lot of miniatures. Just remember the larger tips will overwhelm a 3 or 4 inch cake. If you decorate the testers you need to decorate to scale. One of the larger drop flower tips would like cover almost the entire top of some of my miniatures lol! You can also use mini springforms (which also come in handy to do mini cheesecakes). In fact, I have more cake pans from 3 to 6 inches than I do in larger sizes lol! So guess what is on my Christmas list this year? A full set of Magic Line square and round. I would also like the petal pans.
Cupcakes I find a bit difficult as they generally are not level and "slope". They do make special pans to do true miniature cakes that size with straight sides. I have one of those too. But if the testing is just for flavor rather than to display your decorating, cupcakes would probably be the easiest way to go. And at a bakery supply store you can buy the disposable plastic dozen cupcake carriers for about $1.50 here, so the bride could take a few "samples" with her and not break your bank. And you could probably use marker or stickers to tape on over or in the lid to write what the flavors/combinations are so she can remember when making a decision.
Thank you for all the suggestions!!
I do have some small pans that I bought at a garage sale (yeah I will get use out of them)!
how long can a cake stay in the freezer and still taste okay?
I bought little spring form pans from a dollar store.They work great and were cheap.. I have used them over and over and they have held up fine.. I usually line them with parchment paper before filling. 
Liz
I think a month is the longest time to keep a cake in the freezer. But maybe someone else might have done it for a longer period of time and can also let you know.
A true deep freezer you can keep cake a pretty long time, I've tasted cakes from bakery 9 months old! ( yes, they had the nerve to tell me and be proud!..lol) but you must wrap them well and it must be a true deep freezer. A home freezer..dunno, never tried. I have one cake in the freezer now that I'm "experimenting" with!..lol
the cupcake idea is AWESOME! you can get different sticky dots and when you pack them for the bride....color code them! You can print out the guide on your computer and keep the color code the same, start a system...why not?
I'm going to "steal"..erm.."ADAPT" that cupcake idea with the color coded dots myself!..lol
Thank you for sharing!
And if I can't get rid of them at a "tasting"...guess what? My friends and family are more than glad to have me bring them as a last minute dessert when I come over!
Thank you..thank you, Thaaaaaaaank you!!
*Diva throwing kisses!
Another great idea! Martha has a flower cake on her site where she got 6 four in. rounds out of a 13x9. So even if you have one four in. pan you could cut them! Or use that tuna can lol! Then Martha frosted/filled and assembled them to look like a flower with a middle and 5 petals lol!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%