Hi everyone,

I am confused about the number of portions for a cake.  I use the Tiered Caker app and an 8 inch cake will give me 16 servings of 1.5 X 2".

When i use this cake in a stacked cake with 5 dowels should i then consider that I have only 11 servings since 5 will have holes in them?

Also, when a customer wants a cake for 60 people, but I can only get  58 or 61 portions, should I charge for 61 or 60 pieces?  

Thank you for the help :)

how tall are your cakes?

AI don't bother factoring in the pieces affected by the dowels because I always round down to the closest number divisible by 10. So if a cake serves (without any pieces affected by dowels) 75 then I tell a customer it serves 70, price the cake at 70 servings and call it close enough.

Am I technically giving away 5 pieces of cake - yes and no. Yes, because the cake I bake, ice and decorate a cake that serves 75. But no, because I loose 5 pieces due to dowels. In the end 5 pieces of cake on a cake that feeds 75 costs me about $3. I am not going to sweat $3 on a $300 order (75 x $4/serving). I can stand to miss out on 1% of the order.

An 8x4 cake will give you 20 servings, 1.5x2x4  http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-serving-guide.cfm

Once dowels or even straws are removed and the cake is cut into 20 servings, the holes will not be terribly noticeable.

I don't consider supports when calculating servings.

As for charging, if the client asks for 60, but the closest cake is within a few servings, one way or the other, I charge for 60.  It evens out given that icing [and fondant] actually increases the size of the cake.  They always get at least what they paid for, and usually a bit more.

My cakes are 4 inches tall.

I will apply the advice of reducing to the closest number. 

Thank you for the help everyone :)

The 16 servings is actually correct. Wilton has incorrect servings listed for some of the cakes in that chart.   Here are cutting guides in straight and concentric circle cutting styles.

I have never accounted for doweling but never actually thought about that before because I only make cakes for my kids and family. Really glad you asked that.