Blessings Everyone

Been baking for many years, but really just getting into cake decorating ... on this level ... now. I stumbled across CC on youtube watching a member make a shoe. (please forgive me, but I know she had "Aine" in her name and I want to acknowledge her.) I immediately signed up and "boy am I glad I did!!!" I have been hooked on this site ever since. There is a wealth of information here. What I have noticed and love is ... the novice cake decorators, the master decorators and everyone in between are all looked upon in the same light ... simply as decorators! Not as one being superior or better than another. It seems as though everyone is here to help, learn and share. And I am grateful to you guys for that.

I would greatly appreciate any help I can get in figuring out ... "How do you determine how many slices you get from a cake, be it a 2 layer cake or a wedding cake?" Is there a method/technique/formula to figuring it out?

Blessings and Thank you

it's all math my dear!!!

Depending on what you choose for your cake slice size (standar is 1"x2"x4", so we'll go with that)


Let's say you have a 8" square cake that is 4" tall.

You take the dimensions of Length X Width X height = 8X8X4= 256
This is how many "cubic inches" you have

Now a slice of cake that is 1"x2"x4" is 8 cubic inches (because 1X2X4=

so take your total cubic inches of the cake and divide by cubic inches of the slice

256 Divided by 8=32 servings

I personally round these down to the nearest 5 so I would say it's 30 slices (makes it easier when figuring out what size cakes a client needs, I'm adding 30=50=20 instead of 32=54=23 and so on.....just makes it easier for me!

Hope that helps and welcome to CC

I believe with round cakes you do the 8X8X3(make the dimension for the height 1" less to account for the missing corners you would have on a square)

So an 8" round cake would be 8X8X3=192
192 / 8=24 servings.

This is the chart many of us go by to determine number of servings: http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm

It's also the chart that most venues cut by.

Here's how to cut the cake to achieve these servings: http://www.cateritsimple.com/id10.html

Here's a photo of pieces of cake that are 1x2x4 (industry standard). NOtice they are NOT "paper thin" like a lot of people think they are , when they hear the word "one inch" in the dimension description: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55969028@N00/3856884667/ (using my flickr pic as the CC pics are 'under construction' right now).

KHalstead and Indydebi - Blessings to you both and thank you so much for your feedback, I truly appreciate it. The information is very helpful.

oh and just wanted to add, your signature line just about made me cry...how beautiful!!

[quote="KHalstead"]I believe with round cakes you do the 8X8X3(make the dimension for the height 1" less to account for the missing corners you would have on a square)

So an 8" round cake would be 8X8X3=192
192 / 8=24 servings.[/quote]

I never knew this, thanks for sharing that, your a smart one!!!!

Blessings KHalstead


And thank you so much for your kind words. I have been under my Grandmother's wing baking and cooking since I was a little girl. She never got to see me doing what I love ... my cake decorating on this level ... on account of her physically leaving this earth in 06. She was a master cake artist and never had any recipes written down. I picked her brain every chance I got because I knew one day one of us wouldn't be here anymore; and even if it was me, I wanted to pass on to my kids the cooking/baking traditions that she started in our family. I am glad I did that because people in my family look to me for cakes because they know that I was taught and heavily is influenced by my Grandma and word about my cakes is slowly getting around. I like the slow and steady pace that I am moving ... you build up more of a foundation that way as opposed to a sprint to the top!

Though I know my hard work is a part of it, I know for a fact my Grandma is guiding my hand on this journey!

Blessings My Friend