i just had an idea. i was thinking about having a cake tsating party to introduce people to my business. i thought i would make different varieties of mini cupcakes, fillings and frostings and have people come and mix and match and make their own little treats. then hand out business cards, and maybe 'menus' (little brochures with flavors and photos).

has anyone done this before? do you have any tips to help me out? thanks so much!

Last year there were a couple of threads which went on and on about this very topic! I don't remember ever hearing what the end result was though.

sounds like a good idea. kinda like a grand opening thing?

I am actually having a cake tasting party this weekend. I have been working like mad to clean the place and get everything ready. I am also making decorated cookies that say "thank you" to hand out to everyone that comes.

I'd like to hear some more responses on this too. It sounds like fun and a really good idea.!!

Sounds like a great idea to me. One day when I have my bakery (dreaming here) I would like to open with a sampling day so people could come in and taste the cakes and see what I can do.

okay, i set my date and did my inviting. i am going to have a raffle for some coupons (i made) and will be giving away a thank you gift (just haven't figured out what it will be yet).

i have 18 cake flavors and 4 specialty cake flavors. I also have 10 options for fillings (plus all of my frosting flavors), 14 frosting flavors and 5 specialty frosting flavors. i don't want to have to make 22 flavors of cupcakes, 10 fillings and 19 frostings for this thing

what would be a good sampling? how many should i have represented?

also, do anyone have any other ideas of fun things to do? thanks!

i decided on my menu for my open house/cake tasting. i am going to go for these cake flavors, fillings and frostings:

Cake Flavors
Milk Chocolate
French Vanilla
Rainbow Party
White
Butter Yellow
Orange Creamsicle
Red Velvet
Strawberry

Fillings
Chocolate Mousse
Fruit Preserves
Marshmallow Cream
Peanut Butter
Vanilla Pudding

Frostings
Buttercream
Cream Cheese
French Vanilla
Milk Chocolate
Sour Cream Chocolate
Dairy Whip
Mary Kay
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Peanut Butter

i borrowed three mini muffin pans from my mom which each make 12 cupcakes and i have one that makes 24. now all i need to do is start baking. i am very worried about them not being fresh, but i have to get them baked ahead of time. how can i bake and store up to a week ahead without them drying up in the freezer or getting all weird out on the counter??

and i think i am going to make my chocolate mice and give 4 to each guest as a thank you.

now i just wish i didn't have a cold, so i could go out shopping and get more done....

wish me luck!

Sounds like a great idea, I will be doing something similar soon. Right now, when I bake a new cake I take samples to work and DH takes samples to work also. But I'd like to invite my neighbors over for a tasting, I know they can smell cake and cookies when I have the widows open. A few have even inquired, so I think it's time to invite them over for a tasting.

I would love to do something like this. Sounds like fun. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

okay, so i had my open house and cake tasting yesterday. i worked for 4 days straight to get the house ready and all the cake bakes, frostings and fillings made and chocolate mice as thank you gifts. 5 1/2 hours baking 38 dozen mini cupcakes, 3 hours making chocolate mice and 8 hours making frostings and fillings.

i had 8 flavors of cake, 5 fillings and 10 frostings. i also put out menu brochures (i made small brochures with all my flavors, since i didn't have them all available), business cards and a binder of photos of some of my work.

here's what i did. i put out 2 dozen of each of the 8 cupcake flavors, and the frostings and fillings in little bowls (on my table in the dining room). then i put out plastic knives, paper plates and napkins. i had each person choose their cupcake flavors, unwrap them and cut the tops off, then choose a filling and put it inside, put the top back on and then choose a frosting. people were able to choose any combination.

then i had drinks set up in the kitchen. i had coffee, tea, hot chocolate, punch and water.

i also had a raffle for coupons i made for discounted products and free products. i had 8 coupons, ranging from a free box of 6 chocolate mice to 10% off an order, to a free cheesecake (that was my big one!)

i think about 20 people came. i got 3 definate orders and a few people who said they would let me know when an event came about.

i also put out large zippy bags at the end so people could take some cupcakes home. and gave a box of 4 chocolate mice with a 'thank you for coming' tag tied with a ribbon to each person as they left.

i got a lot of feedback about the cake, frosting and filling flavors, consistancies and combinations, which was really helpful!

i just wish i had gotten pictures of my set up.

i highly recommend this type of event! despite all of the work to get it put together, it was a lot of fun and really helpful for my business.

now my next big task is to set up concrete pricing for my cakes.

thanks to everyone for your ideas and help!

I'm glad everything went ok for you. It gave me some ideas for when I have mine, which will be sometime in May. Thanks for sharing.

Wow that sounds awesome! I'm glad you had a nice turnout, I bet the orders will roll in now Good luck!!!!

i wanna do it again!

I'm glad you resurrected this thread because I would like some ideas for people who can't do it at their home and don't have a retail location. I bake from home legally in Ohio, but unfortunately we live on a private drive with no parking (long driveway off of a fairly main road so no on-street parking either), so no way I could invite a ton of people to my house.

I cannot believe that you people would open your home to the public like this....... a shop is one thing, but your HOME, where someone could be "casing da joint" to come back at another time..... I don't think so......

This sounds like such a cool idea. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I think I would like to try such a thing. I live a little out of the way, so I would have to research someplace else to hold something like this. Now my brain is working!!!!! Thanks.

I would only be inviting my current customers and friends and family (most of them have only had my cookies and I'm trying to expand my cake offerings). If they wanted to pass on the invitation to their friends, then I would be fine with that. If I did it at home I would only have my two front rooms available and they are pretty empty, so they wouldn't be able to see what I have or don't have, as far as casing the joint! LOL! But I also don't like people using my bathroom (I'm kinda weird like that) and so at my home wouldn't work anyway. Oh, and my husband wouldn't let me do it at home either. He doesn't like people in the house. Together we are quite a pair!

i just ordered my invitation post cards last night! i'm gonna hold my open house on may 31. i'm starting to get excited!

For those of you who don't want/can't have people in your home, a suggestion is to rent a room in the local community center or a conference room in a hotel. Even Holiday Inn Express has a conference room.

Because of the cost of renting either place, maybe someone could split the room with you, say someone who makes cookies, a makeup rep, photographer, etc.

When I used to sell "pink" makeup, several of us would rent either of these spaces and invite our clients for open houses, etc. It worked wonderfully.

i only invited people i know and some guests are bringing guests. i would never open my house to strangers. i'm so excited! my open house is sunday!!

time to bake!

This sounds like an excellent idea! But yes, I agree, no one in the house. I would rent out a room somewhere!

Jess, I am wishing you all the best. Please let us know how things go and what worked and what you would change. I have just opened a studio, and haven't done my "grand opening" yet, and I'm wondering what exactly I want to do. Please have someone take pictures of your turn out and share with us. Thank you so much for the push for me to find my space. I'll be waiting!!!!

Donna

Ive been thinking of having a cupcake tasting party, I want to open up a cupcakery, I just have way to many flavors on the menu! I need help narrowing it down! I'm glad yours was succesful!

hey everyone! so i had my open house this past sunday. i would say it was a success! i made about 360 mini cupcakes in 5 flavors, 4 filling flavors and 4 frosting flavors. below is my menu. i had about 30 people come and got 8 definite orders and a few 'i'll call yous' (which i'll take!), so it looks like i'll be a busy bee for the next few months! i had a raffle for coupons for percentages off orders or free products. people really seemed to like that.

i gave away pens with my business name and web site on them and thank you gifts of 2 cupcake bites, packaged in little treat bags, with a tag on them that said, 'thank you for coming' and my business card inside.

what i did was have the guests take their choices of cake, frosting and filling, cut the cupcake open and put the filling inside, then close it back up and put the frosting on. this way, they could get an idea of the different combinations available.

i hooked my laptop up to my computer and put my screensaver on so it played photos of my cakes. i also had my portfolio passed around.

all in all, i would say it was a very successful event and can't wait to do it again next year!

i attached some pictures for your enjoyment!

menu:

Cake Flavors
Milk Chocolate
French Vanilla
Chocolate Chip
White Almond Sour Cream
Strawberry Cheesecake

Fillings
Bavarian Cream
Cookies and Cream
Marshmallow Cream
Peanut Butter

Frostings
Buttercream
Mary Kay
Chocolate Syrup
Cream Cheese

Wow, 360 mini cupcakes! You were busy! Did you have leftovers?

Your table is beautiful!

thanks! yes, i had leftovers! ha ha. i brought some to my moms of multiples meeting the next day and my husband brought some to work. i have a photo of my pen too, but it's stuck in my camera (the battery died). as soon as i can, i'll post that too.

thanks for looking!

That is awesome! The table looked so pretty! And 8 orders? That is amazing!! Way to go!

thanks!

here's a picture of my pen!