Someone called tonight and asked about a sheet cake--party squares--for a shower. Can anyone tell me anything about serving sizes? I can look in my Wilton books and get an idea, but I thought maybe one of you with experience could tell me what would be the best pan size to serve about 40 people. I'm confused. And are the party square type sheet cakes good to serve at showers? or do you usually serve a sheet cake that is decorated? What's been your experience?

Thanks for any suggestions and help.

I don't have a lot of experience but I think sheet cakes are good to serve at a shower. I recently did one where I sectioned off the cake so it would be easy to serve and you can make sure you get the number of pieces you want. I'll include a picture so you can see what I am talking about. Mine was decorated with little booties or rattles on each square. Here is a little chart I made for my serving guide:

Large Party Single Layer Cake Slices Approximately 2 x 2 x 2                                               
Size      Slices      Cutting Guide                                  
9 x 13      24      9" short side cut 4 pieces 13" long side cut 6 pieces                                   
11 x 15      35      11" short side cut 5 pieces 15" long side cut 7 pieces                                   
12 x 18      54      12" short side cut 6 pieces 18" long side cut 9 pieces                                   
15 x 22       77      15" short side cut 7 pieces 22" long side cut 11 pieces                                   
18 x 24      108      18" short side cut 9 pieces 24" long side cut 12 pieces                                   
                                              
Smaller Party Single Layer Cake Slices Approximately 1 1/2 x 2 x2                                               
Size      Slices      Cutting Guide                                  
9 x 13      36      9" short side cut 6 pieces 13" long side cut 6 pieces                                   
11 x 15      50      11" short side cut 5 pieces 15" long side cut 10 pieces                                   
12 x 18      72      12" short side cut 6 pieces 18" long side cut 12 pieces                                   
15 x 22      110      15" short side cut 10 pieces 22" long side cut 11 pieces                                   
18 x 24      144      18"short side cut 12 pieces 24" long side cut 12 pieces               

                    
Hope that helps!

Wow, that's a really cool idea! Defnitely makes it easier for the person cutting the cake!

Thanks Tonia. The chart is very helpful. I am going to print that out and keep it for reference. The picture of your cake is very nice. I'm impressed with your booties and rattles. I think I would probably have to stick with a flower of some kind.

Today I saw a cake online with similar divisions, Each piece was sectioned off by 2 rows of stars instead of one row or line. And the sections were further highlighted by different colors. One section was light green, the next yellow, the next pink, the next lavendar, etc. It was very striking.

Thanks again! By the way, I noticed that you're in Goldsboro NC. I live in Rocky Mount.

I found lots of similar cakes & the quilt looking cakes with a google image search. You should give the booties and rattles a try. I thought they would be hard to do but really they weren't. For the booties, just use a round or star tip and pipe a line and then pull it up for the top part. For the rattles, I piped a tip 2 line and then a tip 10 I think top and tip 7 bottoms. After it crusted a little I smoothed them with my finger dipped in cornstarch. Then you can use a tip 2 and pipe the bows and the ring around the top of the booties. I found some mini baby candy molds I might try next time. Those little booties and rattles were pretty time consuming. But then again, I haven't gotten really good at painting the different colors in the chocolate mold either, LOL!!

Rocky Mount, KEWL, it's always nice to see others from NC on here. Good luck with you cake, I bet it turns out really cute!!

Take care!