Wedding Cake Tasting - How not to waste cake

[celenes]

Hello All,

I am seeking advice about an upcoming appointment that I have setup with a bride-to-be next Friday. She is coming to do a cake tasting and this is something I have yet to do. The folks that I have done wedding cakes for over the past summer have been customers or referrals from friends and family and have not required the cake tasting.

My first thought was to do three flavor choices, white, chocolate and a butter cake. I thought I would make up 6" size and frost one layer of each with a different frosting, buttercream, whipped and perhaps a ganache. I also figured I would fill one with a mousse and then maybe another with a raspberry filling and leave the third as is. Is that enough, too much???

I am the first baker she is visiting so I want to make a good impression. I plan on displaying a dummy wedding cake. As well as showing her some flower selections, gumpaste, buttercream, and recommend the use of silk flowers.

I have actually lost sleep over this appointment because my mind won't let it go. Crazy huh?

I did send her an e-mail a day after our conversation and thanked her for the inquiry etc. and within the communication I asked if there were particular flavors etc. that she had interest in so that I could be sure to have them available at the tasting. I have not heard from her yet but I would like to start preparing over this weekend so I won't be too overwhelmed. Especially since I am now on vacation from my fulltime job which works perfect.

[chefpeon]

At my wedding cake shop, we had an open house and cake tasting every Saturday.

Rather than actually ice up cakes, what we did is bake an 8 inch cake of every flavor we

did, and cut them up into little cubes. Alongside each cake were toothpicks, so the guests

could spear a cube with it. Then we made up little dishes of every filling we made, and

we had little plastic tasting spoons next to the dishes. That way, our guests could spear

a cake, then go to the fillings and smear a desired filling on it and taste away. That

really worked great for us. Rather than guessing the infinite flavor combinations that

customers may choose, we let them play around and choose for themselves.

I'd suggest doing the same thing, since you're doing it on a much smaller scale...you

won't have to worry about icing up any cakes....and....you may just get some sleep.

[celenes]

I love that idea. The Saturday thing too. Perhaps I can do an email right after Christmas and sponsor an open tasting sometime in February those that got engaged recently. Thanks for the idea. I actually have several cakes in the freezer now that I can cut up. Love it!!

At my wedding cake shop, we had an open house and cake tasting every Saturday.

Rather than actually ice up cakes, what we did is bake an 8 inch cake of every flavor we

did, and cut them up into little cubes. Alongside each cake were toothpicks, so the guests

could spear a cube with it. Then we made up little dishes of every filling we made, and

we had little plastic tasting spoons next to the dishes. That way, our guests could spear

a cake, then go to the fillings and smear a desired filling on it and taste away. That

really worked great for us. Rather than guessing the infinite flavor combinations that

customers may choose, we let them play around and choose for themselves.

I'd suggest doing the same thing, since you're doing it on a much smaller scale...you

won't have to worry about icing up any cakes....and....you may just get some sleep.

←

[Rachel Perlow]

That sounds like a great idea for bakers participating in wedding shows. If I remember correctly, they usually just had picture catalogs of their finished cakes. But, if one had cakes, fillings and frostings out for sampling, provided they are good, you could even get orders right then and there.

[bkeith]

I make up 4 sampler cakes - vanilla, lemon, coconut, and chocolate (my most popular cake flavors). Each one gets torted and filled with 3 different fillings - I grab whatever's in the freezer, so I wind up doing mostly the same ones over and over since they're the popular ones, and I generally have them on hand. Ice the top with my standard buttercream and cover with a bit of rolled fondant. I then cut them into "standard" slices (the same size slice as they should expect to serve their guests). Arrange 1 slice from each cake on a cardboard round (the four fit nicely on a 10" round), wrap, and stick them in the freezer.

Each tasting appointment gets a sampler plate. They're welcome to devour it here, or take the leftovers home in case mom or fiance can't make it to the tasting. I provide a sheet mapping out what all the different flavors are, and include a list of other cakes and fillings they might consider that aren't represented on the sampler.

This gives them a good selection of my most popular stuff to choose from, but generally also gives them confidence that any of the other flavors on the sheet will also be of high quality, so I don't have to make a lot of special flavors for the tasting -- they just trust me. I also get to dispel the "all fondant tastes nasty" myth because they have proof to the contrary right in front of them.

The frozen sampler plates will last up to a couple months in the freezer, but I generally like to toss them after one month just because.

[celenes]

I also like that recommendation as well. You're right there are cakes that I do over and over again. Lately the one I have stumbled across and perfected I might add is a chocolate raspberry cake that my clients have been going wild over. The cake is quite moist because you actually use raspberries in the batter and then it is covered with a ganache. The last one I made about a week ago was fabulous and I don't like raspberries. Also when I made the ganache this time I didn't have enough bittersweet chocolate so I added semi sweet and it was very tasty.

I make up 4 sampler cakes - vanilla, lemon, coconut, and chocolate (my most popular cake flavors).   Each one gets torted and filled with 3 different fillings - I grab whatever's in the freezer, so I wind up doing mostly the same ones over and over since they're the popular ones, and I generally have them on hand.  Ice the top with my standard buttercream and cover with a bit of rolled fondant.  I then cut them into "standard" slices (the same size slice as they should expect to serve their guests).  Arrange 1 slice from each cake on a cardboard round (the four fit nicely on a 10" round), wrap, and stick them in the freezer.

Each tasting appointment gets a sampler plate.  They're welcome to devour it here, or take the leftovers home in case mom or fiance can't make it to the tasting.  I provide a sheet mapping out what all the different flavors are, and include a list of other cakes and fillings they might consider that aren't represented on the sampler.

This gives them a good selection of my most popular stuff to choose from, but generally also gives them confidence that any of the other flavors on the sheet will also be of high quality, so I don't have to make a lot of special flavors for the tasting -- they just trust me.  I also get to dispel the "all fondant tastes nasty" myth because they have proof to the contrary right in front of them.

The frozen sampler plates will last up to a couple months in the freezer, but I generally like to toss them after one month just because.

←

Edited November 26, 2004 by celenes (log)

[amyd]

My husband and I got married last year and went to a bunch of tastings before deciding who would do our wedding cake. The pastry shop that was included in our catering fees gave us small cups of cut up cakes and then more with different icings and finally ones with fillings. I personally thought that this was a horrible way to select an entire cake. I think you need to taste the entire thing to see how the flavors will blend together (e.g., a certain filling and icing might be overly sweet when tasted together, but fine apart).

The patisserie we really liked took the time to prepare four different cake samples for us to try. My husband and I each got our own plate with a four inch cake that had been cut into quarters (three of the quarters were chocolate cake and the other was white, just in case we didn't want chocolate). Each quarter was filled with different mousselines (orange, strawberry, chocolate, and hazlenut). She topped each one with buttercream icing, since I specifically did not want fondant (love the look, hate the taste). All of the selections were based on my conversations with the baker, asking about favorite foods and desserts without concentrating too much on cakes. It was amazing how she was able to ask the right questions to figure out what we'd like together.

As it turned out, we loved everything she presented to us, so we choose chocolate cake with orange mousseline for the largest tier, chocolate cake with hazelnut mousseline for the next two tiers, and white cake with strawberry filling for the smallest tier. All were served at the wedding to rave reviews.

The moral of the story is that you should take the time to find out what the bride is looking for and prepare a tasting based on that. You can certainly coax her toward items that you feel you make well (can can put together without much trouble), but she will be much more interested in doing business with you after showing that you've invested time and energy specifically into her.

[chefpeon]

The moral of the story is that you should take the time to find out what the bride is looking for and prepare a tasting based on that. You can certainly coax her toward items that you feel you make well (can can put together without much trouble), but she will be much more interested in doing business with you after showing that you've invested time and energy specifically into her.

That's works well when you do stuff on a small scale, like one or two weddings a month. But when you're faced with busy wedding seasons that entail 100 wedding cakes in a single month, you have to approach things a bit differently.

One thing I have found is that there's no way to please everyone. No matter what you do. All you can do is try to please the majority in the most efficient way possible. Some people won't like your methods even if you stand on your head and smile. I used to take a lot more things personally.....I don't so much anymore, otherwise I'd be insane. Wait.....oh crap. Too late.

I used to prepare cakes that were already split and filled, and I'd freeze them up. I would prepare the most popular flavors together, and guests could see how the cake looked. But two

things made me stop doing this.

1) People always wanted to taste a cake flavor combo that I DIDN'T have made up, and I'd tell

them to come back later and I would make it up specially for them. After all, I wanted the sale,

and I would always bend over backwards. Eventually, I discovered this extra work for just ONE

couple was a money loser for me. Especially since the flavor asked for generally was unusual,

and didn't make any other sales for me. By deciding to make all the cake flavors and filling

flavors separately and letting guests play around for themselves, it saved me this extra work.

2) I found that if you are going to showcase your cakes and have their texture and flavor be a

major selling point, then having it as freshy-fresh as possible is the best idea. The Friday before

every open house, we would bake off one eight inch round of every flavor we did, and make up all the fillings. On Saturday, we would bring out all the cakes, cut them up, and let them come to room temperature. Cakes always taste their very best at room temp. Can't stress that enough.

Truly.

Something I didn't mention in an earlier post solved my problem of guests having trouble visualizing what the inside of a finished cake looked like. Sounds funny, but a lot of people do have trouble with visualization. I made a two tier stacked wedding cake dummy. It was covered with fondant that was was the same exact shade as my buttercream. It was decorated in a swiss dot design. On the Friday before open house, I would split, fill, ice and decorate a little 6 incher, and place it on top of the dummy. Now it looked like a complete three tier cake. Then I'd cut a slice out of it, so the guests could see the inside.

My open house set-up was as follows......

A long table covered with beautiful linens and beautiful china holding all my cake samples. Nice china bowls with all my fillings. Plenty of toothpicks and little tasting spoons. My cake dummy with the "live" tier on top, displayed at one end of the table, and fresh bouquets of flowers. Hot coffee and tea. Another table filled with all my books of cake designs. Flyers and brochures detailing price structures, packages, delivery details, and flavors available. KNOWLEDGEABLE sales staff to answer questions (which is the hardest part......KNOWLEDGEABLE sales staff....yipes).

Another thing that I discovered was a selling point was the fact that my open houses were right in my production kitchen. Guests could see how well set up we were to do what we professed to do.

They were always interested in seeing the mixers, the ovens, the walk-in, cakes that were in process, etc. I was kind of amazed that the kitchen was a great backdrop, because I feared it would be the opposite.

Ok, here's the REALLY important point. I discovered in my fifteen plus years in the wedding and custom cake business, that the NUMBER ONE way to assure a cake sale is to PAY ATTENTION to your client, listen, smile, and act as though THEIR cake is the only one you are concerned about, and that you are 100% concerned about it. People are anxious when they buy things that they don't know much about. They don't know what questions to ask. They don't know if they should trust you because they really don't know how to tell the difference between a good cake person and a bad cake person. I have found that when you anticipate their questions and answer them before they are even out of their mouth, they are very reassured. Reassuring anxious couples

almost clinches the sale right there. Can you tell I've done this a lot? I could write a book called

"The Psychology of the Wedding Client".....it's funny after a while, you know EXACTLY what to say to people.

So really, to sum it up, it isn't about the cake sample, or the portfolios you show them, or the referrals you have from other customers. It's how you TREAT them. When they feel special,

they're your customers. Truly.

[celenes]

Anne,

All I can say is that you are right on many points in your post. Being in marketing myself, I know that treating people and querying them for information helps alot. I am also a very good listener and have been told I have a dynamite smile.

So here's what I have found out from the bride which is going to help me. They have interest in the following cake flavors: chocolate, white and cassata. Fillings strawberry or raspberry. Frosting buttercream and cream cheese. So I feel comfortable with all those and should be able to accomplish that without a problem. I had plans to do the dummy cake as you mentioned but didn't think to do a third 6" live one so that could work and then it can go home with the bride. I think I will e-mail her and ask for her colors so I can be sure to have the tier decorated with her color or perhaps I'll just stick with white don't want to be to over anxious. Also I plan to give her a little bag with a token of appreciation. I 'm thinking a little candle that looks like a wedding cake. I purchased one from Crate and Barrel sometime ago because I thought it was cute.

I also like the china idea. I have never used my wedding china so I think now's the time to put it to use.

Thanks to everyone for your responses they have been most helpful. The tasting is this Friday, December 3rd. So once it happens, I'll let you know how it went.

Hope everyone had a Happy Turkey day!!!

The moral of the story is that you should take the time to find out what the bride is looking for and prepare a tasting based on that. You can certainly coax her toward items that you feel you make well (can can put together without much trouble), but she will be much more interested in doing business with you after showing that you've invested time and energy specifically into her.

That's works well when you do stuff on a small scale, like one or two weddings a month. But when you're faced with busy wedding seasons that entail 100 wedding cakes in a single month, you have to approach things a bit differently.

One thing I have found is that there's no way to please everyone. No matter what you do. All you can do is try to please the majority in the most efficient way possible. Some people won't like your methods even if you stand on your head and smile. I used to take a lot more things personally.....I don't so much anymore, otherwise I'd be insane. Wait.....oh crap. Too late.

I used to prepare cakes that were already split and filled, and I'd freeze them up. I would prepare the most popular flavors together, and guests could see how the cake looked. But two

things made me stop doing this.

1) People always wanted to taste a cake flavor combo that I DIDN'T have made up, and I'd tell

them to come back later and I would make it up specially for them. After all, I wanted the sale,

and I would always bend over backwards. Eventually, I discovered this extra work for just ONE

couple was a money loser for me. Especially since the flavor asked for generally was unusual,

and didn't make any other sales for me. By deciding to make all the cake flavors and filling

flavors separately and letting guests play around for themselves, it saved me this extra work.

2) I found that if you are going to showcase your cakes and have their texture and flavor be a

major selling point, then having it as freshy-fresh as possible is the best idea. The Friday before

every open house, we would bake off one eight inch round of every flavor we did, and make up all the fillings. On Saturday, we would bring out all the cakes, cut them up, and let them come to room temperature. Cakes always taste their very best at room temp. Can't stress that enough.

Truly.

Something I didn't mention in an earlier post solved my problem of guests having trouble visualizing what the inside of a finished cake looked like. Sounds funny, but a lot of people do have trouble with visualization. I made a two tier stacked wedding cake dummy. It was covered with fondant that was was the same exact shade as my buttercream. It was decorated in a swiss dot design. On the Friday before open house, I would split, fill, ice and decorate a little 6 incher, and place it on top of the dummy. Now it looked like a complete three tier cake. Then I'd cut a slice out of it, so the guests could see the inside.

My open house set-up was as follows......

A long table covered with beautiful linens and beautiful china holding all my cake samples. Nice china bowls with all my fillings. Plenty of toothpicks and little tasting spoons. My cake dummy with the "live" tier on top, displayed at one end of the table, and fresh bouquets of flowers. Hot coffee and tea. Another table filled with all my books of cake designs. Flyers and brochures detailing price structures, packages, delivery details, and flavors available. KNOWLEDGEABLE sales staff to answer questions (which is the hardest part......KNOWLEDGEABLE sales staff....yipes).

Another thing that I discovered was a selling point was the fact that my open houses were right in my production kitchen. Guests could see how well set up we were to do what we professed to do.

They were always interested in seeing the mixers, the ovens, the walk-in, cakes that were in process, etc. I was kind of amazed that the kitchen was a great backdrop, because I feared it would be the opposite.

Ok, here's the REALLY important point. I discovered in my fifteen plus years in the wedding and custom cake business, that the NUMBER ONE way to assure a cake sale is to PAY ATTENTION to your client, listen, smile, and act as though THEIR cake is the only one you are concerned about, and that you are 100% concerned about it. People are anxious when they buy things that they don't know much about. They don't know what questions to ask. They don't know if they should trust you because they really don't know how to tell the difference between a good cake person and a bad cake person. I have found that when you anticipate their questions and answer them before they are even out of their mouth, they are very reassured. Reassuring anxious couples

almost clinches the sale right there. Can you tell I've done this a lot? I could write a book called

"The Psychology of the Wedding Client".....it's funny after a while, you know EXACTLY what to say to people.

So really, to sum it up, it isn't about the cake sample, or the portfolios you show them, or the referrals you have from other customers. It's how you TREAT them. When they feel special,

they're your customers. Truly.

←

[celenes]

Here's the update:

The cake tasting went very well. Looks like I will be hired for this wedding. The bride and groom were very impressed with the cakes that they tasted.

Here's what I prepared:

chocolate raspberry cake with a thin frosting of chocolate buttercream and then covered with ganache

butter cake filled with vanilla custard and strawberry with cream cheese frosting

white cake filled with raspberry and vanilla buttercream frosting.

They selected the chocolate and the butter cakes.

I will know for sure if I have the order on Monday.

Thanks again to everyone who gave me great recommendations on how not to waste cake because I just have a little left of each. The chocolate one my hubby has claimed as his and I plan to give the rest of the other two to neighbors.