I want to do a cake where the bottom is narrower than the top. It's like a whimsy cake but the top is level and wider then tapers to the bottom. I am thinking I need to feed about 40-50 people.

How do I get the shape?
Any suggestions on sizes?

I appreciate any help; this is a most special cake for us as my son is being baptized and this cake is for the celebration after. Thank you very much!

Bake and stack two layers the same size - say, 10-inch rounds. Place the cake on a 10-inch cake circle. Elevate the cake on something like a small cake pan. Place a cake board that is 2 inches smaller on top of the cake. In this case, an 8" board. Using the two cake boards as guides, carve the taper. Make sure you use a serrated knife that is long enough to touch both boards at all times.

If you're going to fill with buttercream, then you can fill before carving. If you're going to use another filling, carve the shape first, then separate the two layers, add your filling, replace the layers and give a final shaping.

I don't recommend torting into four layers unless your cake is extremely dense. When I've done it, the layers were unstable.

To calculate servings, I just use the size between the top and bottom of the tapered tier. In the example, I would say the cake is 9 inches, yielding about 20 servings.

Thank you so much for your help!

Oh yeah... One more thing... Turn the cake over when you're done carving!