Cake tasting

When we were picking out our desserts I did a zoom consalt and picked up the cake flavors from the bakery

Nearly every baker is doing that now standard with Covid. It's taking their safety and yours into consideration. Are they having a Zoom meeting too?

Get a tasting with every baker you can before you book one. Otherwise you will be locked into something you don't like. Same with catering. Never book before tasting

She's not even offering at home tastings? I know a lot of places are doing the at-home where they will make some of a few flavors and allow you to pick them up to try. If we couldn't taste what we were getting, I probably wouldn't want to get my cake from them.

Yes I think you should search for a new baker. That is the one job, to provide you with a cake/cupcakes for your wedding that you like. If you can’t go there to view the presentation and taste it when it comes out just like you would at your wedding or your guests would then how does she expect you to have a conversation about what you like or you don’t like.
If she’s this concerned about you guys having a tasting, then who’s to say she won’t be concerned aboutDelivering the cake/cupcakes to your wedding or are you guys picking it up?
It honestly just sounds like another Covid excuse that people are using these days to use the get out of work free card.I would suggest that you find someone else

We were able to do one tasting in person, where we chose the flavors and the baker sat down with us to talk about design, recommendations, etc. and answer all our questions. We did another tasting where the bakery gave us their top flavors to take home (similar to you, we could not select the ones we wanted), and we did not have access to anyone to ask questions. Needless to say, we went with the first, even though the second had previously been our top choice.

I think this may be a normal thing now due to covid. We did tastings from 4-5 different bakeries and they were all like this, no in person tastings. The only downside we found with this (upside for you) is that most of the tastings were cupcakes or cake trifles, instead of cake slices, which normally have different textures.
I would try the flavors offered and go from there. If you like it, then ask if you can video chat with her to discuss options if she doesn't want to meet in person. If you like the taste and texture of the cake, but not the flavor, see if she would be willing to let you try a flavor you're interested in.

Would she be open to an outdoor tasting? At the very least a Zoom tasting where you can pick up the samples the day of so they are fresh. I would not hire a baker that would not have any type of meeting and wanted to mail me stale cake.

Like others have mentioned, is it possible to set up a video consult with her to talk about design etc? Also, how far away is your baker from you? Almost all bakers are having to do this as a form of precautions because of the pandemic, so I wouldn't allow it to completely sway your decision. If she's close enough to you, I'd ask if there's anyway she can get the samples together and have you pick them up same day? That way they're fresh samples instead of mailed.

Is this a thing now!? I didn't even realize. I personally wouldn't want to get a cake days after it's made and that be my deciding factor on my wedding cake- but I guess you do what you have to do now! Zoom or FaceTime would be okay for designing, but tasting would be a little weird!

If it were me, I would ask that I could pick up the cakes. Even if it were 'no contact'!

Providing a cake tasting box is pretty standard practice now with COVID. We did it last year, and it worked out great. If they are good bakers, their cakes will still be moist and fluffy even days after it's shipped. (My hubby is a hobby baker and often ships cakes to our families which they LOVE!!). Would the baker be willing to provide a tasting box based on the flavors you prefer instead of their top sellers? If so, I'd say give them a try. If not, I'd look for another baker. I'd want to taste the actual cake I'm looking to purchase, not the ones they think we may like based on other people's preference.

Not getting to try what I want would, for me, be grounds for finding another baker.

As for the "in person" chat about design, I think with the current climate, that won't be feasible for most bakers. A FaceTime or Zoom call may be your only options.

But certainly, not getting to try the specific flavors I wanted would make me go elsewhere. After all, you're going to feed that cake to each other during your cutting - you should know that you're going to enjoy it.

I think most bakers are unfortunately sticking to this method of cake tasting right now with the pandemic. All of our potential bakers we reached out to have mentioned doing small cupcakes that we can pick up and taste (although they did give us the option to pick what flavors and icings we wanted), but I wouldn’t say to find a new baker just because they’re trying to follow safe precautions

Run. Seriously!

I think that it's pretty normal for bakers to do that during this Covid era

If this is something that may be off-putting to you, maybe you should see what other options are out there for you. Since we are still living with covid and safety should be at the utmost importance for everyone, this is pretty standard for a bakery. The bakery we chose had sample packages that we picked up and did our testing at home. If we chose to proceed, then we set up a consultation via phone or virtual.

In my area all the bakeries we looked at have cake tasting in the bakery. They have a strict schedule though and spots fill up fast.
I wouldn't like having them send me stuff in the mail. But I would ask if they could do a zoom.

This is common during covid. We were given a box with 6 cake flavors to taste. Not ideal but what can ya do.

Make sure you're able to pick them up in person. Because cake has no business going through the post office and will be dried out with a mess made of fillings by the time it arrives. If she doesn't allow pickup then move on.

Being put off by the plan, I’m sure you followed up with questions for clarity. So what did your baker respond when you told her the various questions and concerns you had? What’s their packaging plan for mailing the cake samples? What did they say when you asked to pick the box of samples up in person? What reason did the baker give for not allowing you to pick six flavors of your choice? What was the baker’s response when you asked her to meet via zoom to discuss cakes?


As others have mentioned, we’re still in a pandemic so business owners are taking a variety of precautions and coming up with creative alternatives in order to stay in business. But, if you dislike the baker’s plan, then definitely do what makes you feel most comfortable. But, keep in mind that bakers do not bake cakes on the same day as the wedding anyway. The cake is made a few days prior and sits in the refrigerator waiting to be iced on your wedding day. So, even what shows up at your wedding is not “fresh” out of the oven. So don’t let that part concern you too much. At the height of Covid, a local bakery near my sister had a similar option on their menu, where they mailed a “cupcake sampler”. For my birthday last May, my sister ordered the mini cupcake samplers and the bakery mailed them from Maryland to California. They were fine and still tasty!! In the past I’ve have ordered cookies, cheesecakes and other fresh baked goods that have arrived in the mail without issue. So, I’m not sure how/why a wedding cake would be any different.

I totally feel you -I say look for a new bakery- I had my heart set on my family bakery in town but I wasn’t able to use them I had to go outside my city to actually find a bakery that was willing to make my cake- we have to stay focus it’s what we want- I didn’t feel comfortable picking a different cake- this is the cake that I wanted and if they were not able to accommodate me it’s OK I will go somewhere else no hard feelings I will still go to that bakery just not for my wedding cake