Okay so I looked on the wilton serving chart and earlene's serving chart and the servings differ greatly between the two. I am making a cake for a large baby shower as a gift (upwards of 60 people) and it will be the only dessert at the luncheon.
If I make a 6-8-12 I figured I'd have more than enough with the 6" really being the extra. There is 24 servings difference between the two charts.
Earlene's
6" - 8
8" - 15
12" - 45 for a total of 68 servings

Wilton's
6" - 12
8" - 24
12" - 56 for a total of 92 servings.

Which one is more accurate? Should I make the bottom 10" instead of 12"? I'd be really embarrassed if there wasn't enough cake. What do you guys recommend? Thanks.

I just use the Wilton serving chart and make sure to tell the cilent that the serving size is 1.5"x2". It's not my fault if they can't measure.

I always use cakes that i make for my family as practice cakes for how to properly cut & serve

(The wilton wedding chart is based on 1x2x4, not 1.5x2)

I use the wilton wedding chart. One, it's a nice dessert sized serving. Two, especially for little kids, it's a perfect size piece of cake. Three, when I cut wedding cakes, I frequently get people ask for ".... a smaller piece, please".

I use the chart to determine pricing ... if they plan to cut the pieces bigger, then they need to buy a bigger cake.

Here's a step by step on how to cut a cake to achieve these servings: http://cateritsimple.com/_wsn/page10.html

Here's what a 1x2x4 piece of cake looks like: http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1156785

Thanks for the info. It's now up to me to figure out what size to cut and how big to make the cake. At least I know what the wilton chart is based off of. Thanks for the cake cutting guide. The pictures of the actual cake take a lot of the guesswork out of it.

I'd actually rather prefer using Earlene's since we love to eat a lot. But that's just only my opinion. I dont think 1x2x4 is big enough.

After going back and forth on this, I settled on the average of the two. In my book, a 6/8/10 cake comfortably serves 60.

I'm not sure why you think the 6" cake for a shower is "extra". It's not like a wedding cake where they want to take it home and freeze it for the anniversary. I'd certainly cut and serve that layer along with the rest.

Also, keep in mind that not everyone will eat cake, and if you're inviting 60 people you won't have all 60 attending.

I was thinking about going with somewhere in between for the serving size. Especially since we will probably be cutting the slices bigger. What I meant by extra was, second servings or insurance and peace of mind for me. I'll get a head count about a week before. I know that it will prob. be closer to 40 people and I can scale down the size tiers or eliminate a third tier. You should never assume that everyone won't eat the cake. On the contrary, you should have more than what is needed for the people attending. I've never heard anyone complain about a few extra pieces of cake that they get to take home, but being short can be disasterous. I was just really confused by the huge disparity between the two charts. I could see a 5 slice difference or so but 26? That's a whole cake. I also made a 3 dimensional paper model of a 1x2x4 and I agree it is kind of small but for a wedding it makes sense.

You were initially right about the Wilton PARTY serving being 1.5 X 2 X height. That's plenty of cake for party servings. I've found - over many years of experience - that the Wilton charts for both party and wedding are extremely accurate. Earlene's charts just cause you to give away cake for free. A very bad thing, especially if you do this for a living.

i have been ususing ealene's chart. since i make mostly for family right now i have been cutting the cakes, practing to cut the correct size of 1x2x4. i found that i can get more slices than what earlene's chart says. i am definitely going to switch to the wilton chart.

Unless you are making this cake as a giveaway, ask the hostess how many servings she wants. Then make that size. If she wants extra then she should pay for it. IMHO.

Thanks leahs - I didn't notice there was a wilton party chart and a wedding chart. I think I'll use the party chart for this party. And yes people - there is no payment involved in this instance. It's a GIFT!!!!

I completely understand the gift cake. All my grandkids get to help design their bday cakes...and I always make extra.