I usually dont make sheet cakes, however the design Im doing needs it. I need 50 servings. I have a chart, but Im not sure how tall the sheet cakes are supposed to be on the chart. 11x15 serves 60 (I use party servings for everything), but is that 2" high? 4" high? Is that like a 3/4 sheet?
you are going to get a lot of different answers on this one b/c people have differing opinions on what size constitutes a quarter/half/full sheetcake. all of my servings are 1x2xheight, which is industry standard (11x15 would yield @ 75 servings for me). of course i tell customers, if they want bigger slices, order a bigger cake 
but i digress...people have different heights for their sheetcakes...some bake a 2 inch high cake, torte it, fill it and by the time they've buttercreamed, it may be 3 inches high! others bake 2 whole cakes, fill and stack, winding up with a 4 or 5 inch high cake. i think it's completely up to you as to what you want to make your sheetcake serving size (height) be! maybe you could call a few bakeries in your area and see what sizes they go by? or you could poll people at your work/church/family members/etc. and see what they would be satisfied with? at the end of the day, your competition (don't want to underprice too much!) and customers usually are what matter when sizing your cakes HTH!
Ack. Wonderful. I didnt think it would be so complicated. lol. What does the Wilton Chart go by? 2" heigh sheetcakes? This is how I always figured the standard sheetcake was. I have actually never baked a sheetcake. In 3 years, I have never baked a sheetcake. Weird, huh.
Here's a thread with sheet cakes sizes AND the history of why the sizes are what they are: http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-628706-.html
FIgureing servings for a square/rectangle cake is easy.
Assume pieces are 2x2x2 (which means a single layer cake). On a 12x18, you'd cut the cake in 6 rows by 9 columns (12 divided by 2" and 18 divided by 2 inches). 6x9=54 servings.
If it's a double layer, the pieces would be 1x2x4. The cake would be cut in 12 rows by 9 columns = 108 servings.
You don't have to depend on a serving chart. Just do your own math. 
This is insanly more complicated than I thought it would be.
Ok, let me take a crack at this....
11x15 pan
5.5 x 7.5 = 41.25
Woah. that cant be right. That's for a single 2" layer? Am I doing that right?
-------------------
9x13 pan
4.5 x 6.5 = 29.25
--------------------
7x11 pan
3.5 x 5.5 = 19.25
--------------------
Ok Deb, did I do that right? It looks like to get 50 servings Im going to need a 9x13 pan and make it a 4" layer. That will get me the closest I think. My hubby is sitting here yelling at me "I told you that's how you do it last night!!! Why didnt you listen to me but you listen to them!"
LOL
He starts talking math and I tune him out. 
He just came up here, and was like...let me see what they are telling you.
He wrote down the formula for me.
in (3) = L x W x H
9 x 13 x 2 = 234
2 x 2 x 2 = 8
234/8 = 29.25
It's been 8 years since I was last in school and I dont remember any of that. Shame on me. I absolutly hate...HATE.....HATED math.
This is insanly more complicated than I thought it would be.
Ok, let me take a crack at this....
11x15 pan
5.5 x 7.5 = 41.25
Woah. that cant be right. That's for a single 2" layer? Am I doing that right?
-------------------
9x13 pan
4.5 x 6.5 = 29.25
--------------------
7x11 pan
3.5 x 5.5 = 19.25
--------------------
Ok Deb, did I do that right? It looks like to get 50 servings Im going to need a 9x13 pan and make it a 4" layer. That will get me the closest I think. My hubby is sitting here yelling at me "I told you that's how you do it last night!!! Why didnt you listen to me but you listen to them!"
LOL
He starts talking math and I tune him out.
For the odd size pans (11x15 instead of 12x1
, I round down to an even number. You logically can't cut a ".5" row/column. So the 11x15 would be a 10x14 which I would cut in 5rows by 7columns = 35 servings. 2-layer would be 70 servings.
Picture what the pieces will look look like if you (tried to) cut "4 and a half columns by 6 and a half rows"? 
Oh that makes a lot of sense. So 9x 13 would be about 24 servings. I think that is what Ill do.
Thanks so much Debi. Im kind of surprised there is no industry standard for sheet cakes. I came from a grocery store and a 1/4 sheet was 20 servings, and that was probably 7x11x2. I had no idea people made sheet cakes in all sorts of sizes. That's why I was so confused when the Wilton Chart says a 7x11 is 28 servings. It seems to much for a 2" cake, but not enough for a 4" cake.
THanks for helping me out with this! Ill just calculate it myself from now on when doing cakes like this.
Thanks so much Debi. Im kind of surprised there is no industry standard for sheet cakes. I came from a grocery store and a 1/4 sheet was 20 servings, and that was probably 7x11x2. I had no idea people made sheet cakes in all sorts of sizes.
Be sure to read my first post and the link in that post for the history of sheet cake sizes and how they came to be. It actually is an industry standard.
Be careful and be aware. I've noticed that grocery stores are putting out an 11x15 and calling it "half sheet". You need to be aware of this because if you quote a "half sheet" (terms I refuse to use anymore) for $75, and a customer replies "I can get a 1/2 sheet at blah-blah's for $40", then you are armed with the information to tell them that is NOT a half sheet ... it's smaller than a half sheet ... the store is lying to them.
with the groceries calling the 11x15 a half sheet, it makes the independent baker's prices look even MORE expensive in comparison.
Be informed ... educate your clients.
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