What Pans To Use, Cake For 150Ppl~Help!
Decorating By 2txmedics Updated 13 Mar 2010 , 4:47am by indydebi
Ok, I have a cake to make for saturday....the cake has to feed 150ppl and I want my base cake to be using a 12" pan.
Im so confused as I looked at all my notes, books, whatever, and They all say something different as to how many ppl they feed! I dont want to be cut short and I ceratinly dont want to "give" way to much cake/work.
Im using a wilton fountain to the side of the cakes. So when they say a 6" feeds 12, is that a one layer, so if make it a 2layers its now 24? Im asking as I copied from different sites and Im getting way off numbers.
In my notes I copied off the net from different sites to compare I have:
12" - 40ppl one pan
10" - 28ppl one pan
8" - 20ppl one pan
6" - 12ppl one pan
and Im 2 layers...so Im so lost...as another person has it make different amounts..OK, IM STOPPING, IM RAMBLING...HELP!!!!!
hope this helps:
http://shinymetalobjects.net/cake/calculator/cake_calculator.cgi
part of the confusion might be because "party" cake slices are generally bigger than "wedding" cake slices. from wilton's site:
Party Cakes
Serving amounts are based on party-sized portions of approximately 1.5 x 2 in. Cakes from 3 to 6 in. high, baked in the same size pan, would yield the same number of servings because they follow the same pattern of cutting. Cakes shorter than 3 in. would yield half the number of servings indicated for that pan. Number of servings are intended as a guide only.
Wedding Cakes
Serving amounts are based on wedding-sized portions of approximately 1 x 2 in. Cakes from 3 to 6 in. high, baked in the same size pan, would yield the same number of servings because they follow the same pattern of cutting. Cakes shorter than 3 in. would yield half the number of servings indicated for that pan. Number of servings are intended as a guide only.
what I had done when I first started making cakes was go to different sites of ppl who make cakes, like Earlene's cakes, and so on...well I just printed out the charts, from about 4 different ppl.
They all give different slice amts for those pans!!!! So of course I got lost...lol
part of the confusion might be because "party" cake slices are generally bigger than "wedding" cake slices. from wilton's site:
Not exactly. Those explanations from the Wilton site are kind of long winded and leave you more confused than enlightened.
A standard party cake slice is 2"x2"x2" = 8 cubic inches of cake.
A standard wedding cake slice is 1"x2"x4" = 8 cubic inches of cake.
If you were just thinking 1"x2" vs. 2"x2", sure... it looks like party slices are bigger, but once you add in the difference in the height, you really end up with the same amount of cake.
What is really different is that what they're calling party slices are usually only one 2" layer, sometimes torted so that you can have 1 layer of filling in the middle. What they're calling wedding slices are usually two 2" layers, sometimes with just the one layer of filling in between the two, and sometimes torted so that you can have 3 layers of filling (or filling, frosting, filling) in between the layers of cake.
Earlene's chart does give more generous portions. All that really amounts to is more work for the person making the cake. If I were to go with Earlene's chart, my per serving price would have to be higher, so that I was still covering the costs of ingredients, overhead, and time to make the cake.
So when they say a 6" feeds 12, is that a one layer, so if make it a 2layers its now 24? Im asking as I copied from different sites and Im getting way off numbers.
No... when they say 6" feeds 12, they mean a 2 layer 6" round tier.
Here's some options for ya... I'm going by the Wilton chart, as that is industry standard. This is for 2 layer (so, approximately 4" tall) tiers.
http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm
12" round = 56 servings
10" round = 38 servings
8" round = 24 servings
6" round = 12 servings
TOTAL = 130 servings
If you bump them all up one size:
14" round = 78 servings
12" round = 56 servings
10" round = 38 servings
8" round = 24 servings
TOTAL = 196 servings
If you went with squares instead of circles:
12" square = 72 servings
10" square = 50 servings
8" square = 32 servings
6" square = 18 servings
TOTAL = 172 servings
If you wanted to try mixed squares & circles (please note... sizes on this are the way they are because squares are bigger corner to corner, which means you need a bigger difference between the square tier and a round one underneath. An 8" square has a diagonal of 11.3"):
14" square = 98 servings
12" circle = 56 servings
8" square = 32 servings
6" circle = 12 servings
TOTAL = 198 servings
Or circles with a square base:
12" square = 72 servings
10" round = 38 servings
8" round = 24 servings
6" round = 12 servings
TOTAL = 146 servings
Or circles with a petal base:
15" petal = 64 servings
12" round = 56 servings
10" round = 38 servings
8" round = 24 servings
TOTAL = 182 servings
Or, the same using 12", 9", 6" circles instead of 12", 10", 8" circles:
15" petal = 64 servings
12" round = 56 servings
9" round = 32 servings
6" round = 12 servings
TOTAL = 164 servings
HTH
They all give different slice amts for those pans!!!! So of course I got lost...lol
The trick is to pick one chart and stick with it.
I use the wilton wedding chart, which is pretty much the industry standard. People are welcome to cut it larger if they want, but they are paying for the number of servings the cake is designed to serve. If they plan to cut them bigger, then they need to plan to order a bigger cake.
http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm
Here's pics of a 1x2x4" piece of cake. notice they are not paper thin, like most people envision when they hear "one inch":
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1156785
Here's how to cut the cakes to achieve those servings:
http://www.cateritsimple.com/id10.html
part of the confusion might be because "party" cake slices are generally bigger than "wedding" cake slices. from wilton's site:
Not exactly. Those explanations from the Wilton site are kind of long winded and leave you more confused than enlightened.
A standard party cake slice is 2"x2"x2" = 8 cubic inches of cake.
A standard wedding cake slice is 1"x2"x4" = 8 cubic inches of cake.
If you were just thinking 1"x2" vs. 2"x2", sure... it looks like party slices are bigger, but once you add in the difference in the height, you really end up with the same amount of cake.
What is really different is that what they're calling party slices are usually only one 2" layer, sometimes torted so that you can have 1 layer of filling in the middle. What they're calling wedding slices are usually two 2" layers, sometimes with just the one layer of filling in between the two, and sometimes torted so that you can have 3 layers of filling (or filling, frosting, filling) in between the layers of cake.
Earlene's chart does give more generous portions. All that really amounts to is more work for the person making the cake. If I were to go with Earlene's chart, my per serving price would have to be higher, so that I was still covering the costs of ingredients, overhead, and time to make the cake.
Thanks! That does clear things up for me ... I was weirded out by their "3 to 6 in. high" part. Either way, that's not enough cake for me 
I go back for seconds.
Thanks! That does clear things up for me ... I was weirded out by their "3 to 6 in. high" part. Either way, that's not enough cake for me
I go back for seconds.
Glad I could help... and I agree... more cake=more better
Ok, I have a cake to make for saturday....the cake has to feed 150ppl and I want my base cake to be using a 12" pan...... In my notes I copied off the net from different sites to compare I have:
12" - 40ppl one pan
10" - 28ppl one pan
8" - 20ppl one pan
6" - 12ppl one pan
Just out of curiosity ...... Your own numbers show that using a 12" base cake is not even going to be close to getting 150 servings, so why/how did you come up with using a 12" cake to start with? 
Logically, you should figure the number of servings per cake before you can know which pans you need to use. Was this something the bride requested or something?
Thanks for posting that cake calculator, that will help me alot 
Indy, I came up with strting with a 12" because The woman wants it to look like alot of cake, and just make more smaller ones...thats what she wanted, so she is paying for it...I would rather have gone a tad bigger to make less cakes but the same amt.
Sagebrush, Thanks so much for posting all thw work! It helps, I really appreciate it....
Ok back to baking...
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%