Hello everyone. I'm a hobby baker who is now branching out into making the occassional cake for friends....I am confused by portion details though and find the array of charts etc available on the web so confusing. I've been asked to make a victoria sandwich for a friend - she wants it to serve 10 people. Now, I know a 9" cake will definitely be fine for that many people but is there an easy to understand guide I can refer to for other requests?
I think on some of the guides they must work on a slice (ie a vertical section of the cake) then being cut horizontally into half - if that makes sense...because otherwise I simply cannot understand how you get some may 'slices' from a 9 or 10" cake - or does it work on like 2" squares and not slices as I am thinking? I really hope my question and ramblings make sense - and thank you in advance to anyone kind enough to answer. Regards, Helen
i know, well i think I know that Australia has a coffee size serving and a wedding size serving but they might have different names -- then i'd figure if it was fruitcake you use a different chart but never done fruitcake so there's that -- and all that is beyond my pay grade being an American --
but what i do know for tier cakes that are typically 4-6" tall you can use the 'wilton wedding cake data chart' just search for that and be sure you are on the wilton site because there are screwy images of it out there
no wonder you're confused
some people use the chart at earlenescakes.com -- she gives less servings than wilton but Wilton's is the industry standard and I've used it all my life -- works great -- it might sound like a 1x2x4 or 1x2x5 or 1x2x6 inch serving is too small but it is plenty of cake -- i tell my bride's it's about the size of a nice fluffy cupcake plus fillings -- when you get into the doubled tiers that are 8" tall -- those are actually 2 tiers that are just the same size around --
wilton has a 'party' serving size chart -- ignore that or get the prozac ready 
i'm open for questions -- fire away -- but I can only answer u.s. of a. type questions -- but if you are in a different country ask those too -- we'll get this all straight...maybe 
ok at the mo I am thinking a 9" round cake - she wants it to serve 10-12 people which I 'know' will be OK but I was wondering how on earth i figure out the 'official' number of servings. When hubbie started going on about the volume I sort of glazed over....I think height weight it will be 3-4 ins tall.
a 6" cake 4" tall serves 12 -- lemme see if this possessed tablet will let me post a link
k8memphis - thank you for that but what can I say other than OMG - my family get nowhere near that......maybe that's why we're all a bit porky!!! Seriously though I guess it does show the difference between a slice of cake you might have at home, and what's normal to have at an event where the cake, although a centre piece, probably follows a formal sit down meal or buffet.
The chart above is the work of indebbie, and it's what I use. I give this to my friends when I deliver the cake. There are many serving guides out there, pick one and stick with that. Like K8 said forget about party size / wedding cake size. I use the wedding cake serving size and no one has ever complained. I do cakes as a hobby, but in a business if people want more cake they pay for more.
This cutting guide really open my eyes, and I cut even home cakes this way, there is less waste. HTH
The cutting guide is the work of @indydebi and is used by many here on CC.
that's where we go wrong.....we don't do waste!!
I wonder why the bigger cakes are shown as 'pieces' rather than 'slices' - I think that's why I have a problem visualising how the portion sizes work out becuse I'd always want to serve a slice. Thank you both for your help.
I mean if you make a 9x13 -- you can make two servings out of that right -- if you have a 12" cake you don't cut it into wagon wheel spokes --smaller cakes sure you can cut into 8-12 wagon spoke wedges
so if you're doing servings as servings a 9" will cut 32 -- no worries -- it's just quite a different ballgame than home cakes huh
The reason I include the party size guide, is to show them that if they want bigger slices, this is how many you will get, so you will need more cake. I do my calculation based on the 1"x2" servings. The visual really helps people understand how you get, what they think is so many slices.
I appreciate the credit but I did not design the above charts. I do cut my cakes in "straight-line-method". Here is the link to my "how-to" for cake cutting. Many Cc'ers have told me they print this out and leave it with their cake when they do a drop off and have rec'd good feedback from the families and venues on how easy this is. http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-cut-wedding-cake.html
@indydebi Yes that's right.........the person who did the chart based it off of your cutting method. I can't remember who.........I will check
Got it .......thr charts were created by @lexi55033 , gotta give credit where it's due. Here is the link to the square and there is one for sheet cakes....
http://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/1300479/square-cake-cutting-and-servings-guide
@hep275 I love my friends and family dearly but they can be lame and lose the print out, so in addition to the hard copy, I text them the guide the day of event. Plus I don't always want to be the designated cutter. lol
Indydebi I have been cutting my cakes the way you do since I saw you postedit, my friends & family always say " wow we have been cutting it wrong, and I say "me too"
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