I need to make a sheet cake that will feed 50-75 people. What size sheet pan would I need? I have a 11x15 pan and a 12 x 18. I plan on making it a 2 layer 2" cake. Should I use the 11x15 pan twice, side by side, where it will be a 22x15 cake. Does any one know if that would be enough cake to feed 50-75 people? I appreciate any help. Thanks, Lucina

Here is a few charts that I love

www.countrykitchensa.com/wedding/cakechart.aspx

A standard serving of cake is 8 cubic inches. Therefore, a cake that is 2" tall, would also have to be 2" wide by 2" wide. 2" X 2" X2" = 8 cubic inches.

Square and rectangular cakes are the easiest to compute servings.

A 2" tall 12 X 18 would be cut 6 pieces by 9 pieces, or 54 pieces.

"Fun with math."

sheet cakes AND square cakes = simple math

if planning on industry standard 2x2 size piece:

just divide both dimensions by the 2 (drop any fractional amount) and then multiply results together.
so....

11x15 =
11/2 = 5
15/2 = 7
5 x 7 = 35 servings

method works for ANY size serving piece.

so if dealing with the "BUT I'm on a diet crowd" and go with 1 x 2 pieces....
same 11 x15 =
11/1 = 11
15/2 = 7
11 x 7 = 77


or if have the football team, all of the "jethros" -- well then just bake 1 cake per player!

if you're making a 2 layer 2" cake that would be 4" tall right?? You'd only need the 11x15 (bake 2 and stack one on the other) that would give you roughly 75 slices of 1"x2"x4" (by roughly I mean, you'd get a few more if you cut accurately)..........I'd probably give the customer the choice of the double 11x15=77 or the double 12x18=108 and see what they want, they'll know if they have BIG cake eaters or not.

Depends on how large a serving do you want a serving of cake to be: 2"x2"x2" (basically a 2" cube of cake) or 1.5"x2"x2"?

Also, there is a BIG difference in serving 50 ppl or 75 ppl. Can you narrow the numbers you need to serve?

For 50 2"x2"x2" servings, you'd need to do a "half sheet" (12x18x2) cake (gives 54 servings, to be exact).
For 75 2"x2"x2" servings, you'd need to do a "3 quarters sheet", which is 18x18 (basically a "half sheet" (12x1 with another "half sheet" cut in half length-wise attached along the long (18") side) (gives 81 servings, to be exact).

For 50 1.5"x2"x2" servings, you'd need to do an 11x15x2 ("third sheet") (gives 55 servings, to be exact).
For 75 1.5x2"x2" servings, you'd need to do a 15x15x2 (make a "third sheet", then add 4x15, cut from an 8x8 to make a 15x15 square) (gives exactly 75 servings).

BTW, 2 layer rectangular ("sheet") cakes are usaully 4" high, not 2", which changes the serving size to the industry standard of 1"x2"x4", in which case a "quarter sheet" (9x13) will serve 58 and a "third sheet" (11x15) will serve 82.

HTH!

Thank you all for your information. You really helped me out . I appreciate it, Lucina

Saving because this is a good thread!

I like this formula for sheet cake slices to be 1"x4"x4". 9"x13"x4"... serves 29
......................................................................................12"x18"x4"... serves 54
.....................................................................................16"x24""x4"... serves 96

I charge 4.00 per serving so the 9"x13 would be 116.00
.................................................12"x18" would be 216.00
.................................................16"x24" would be 384.00

Pricing could be higher if the final detailing is intricate.

I can't imagine getting more than 29 servings out of a 9"x13" and dito on the rest.
I know you didn't ask about pricing, thought I'd just throw that in.
*(Actually once I put the filling in my cakes they are closer to 5" tall). (2 -2" layers of cake, 1 layer of filling).

AHow many people will it serve?

I do not make sheet cakes and have a request for one.  Does anyone know if a full sheet cake will fit into a normal size fridge? And will the pans fit in a normal size oven?

Thanks in advance for your help!