So we are about to take on our first wedding cake this coming weekend. We are struggling with what sizes the tiers should be. It needs to feed 150 people, not including the smallest 6inch round cake as the top tier for them to keep for their anniversary. Math-wise, we were thinking 14", 10", 8", 6". Not sure if the 14" to 10" tiers, then 2" increments down to 6" would look funny. Thoughts???
Thanks =)
Ok... i have never done a wedding cake but i have seen a lot of pictures... i am sure it will not look funny. But it all depends on the design. I would add a good separator between the 14" and 10" so that the design pops out more..
That only serves 140 without the top tier. I'd think the tier sizes would have been discussed with the bride way before this weekend so she would have known how many total servings to pay for.
if you are set on a design and just off a little bit on numbers, consider doing a small kitchen cake to make up for the extra servings. I have added on an extra 8" or 10" cake, plainly frosted to be kept in the kitchen when numbers have gone up, or the tiered cakes are between sizes or not in line with the design requested.
6-8-10-12 x 4" is 141 servings without the top tier, 6-8-10-12 x 4-4-4-5" is 161 servings without the top tier.
This cake
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1826823/modern-white-wedding-cake-2
is the size that serves 161.
Here is a chart that may help you from Wilton :
http://shinymetalobjects.net/cake/calculator/cakulator.cgi?chart=wiltonWedding2Inch&option=2&option=Select+Cakulator&chart=Select+Chart&.cgifields=chart
6-8-10-12 x 4" is 141 servings without the top tier, 6-8-10-12 x 4-4-4-5" is 161 servings without the top tier.
This cake
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1826823/modern-white-wedding-cake-2
is the size that serves 161.
Which chart are you using that yields more servings for a smaller cake? (12" instead of 14".)
And how do you get 20 additional servings by making one tier 1" taller? (Cakes from 3 to 6 in. high, would yield the same number of servings because they follow the same pattern of cutting.)
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
I don't understand the calculations submitted for 161 servings...
Both the CWR41 and cakulator calculations agree that a 14", 10", 8", 6" yield 140 servings (using the 6" as an anniversary cake ) so you are pretty close to 150 servings with your sizes.
I stacked the pans and do not think the 4" decrease in size at the bottom and then a 2" decrease in the other cakes looks bad at all. As a matter of fact, I like that the wider base keeps the whole cake from having a tower effect.
Oops that was a typo... the 161 serving cake in my example should have been 6-8-10-14 x 4-4-4-5"
As far as I'm concerned, 8 cubic inches is a serving (wedding). Be it 2x2x2, 1x2x4, 1x1.5x5, etc. I leave a cutting guide with each cake.
OK. That makes sense now. Where is a good source for a cutting guide? Perhaps one that I could copy from the internet ?
Here are some superb materials that can be xeroxed and given to the bride or the person that will be cutting any custom cake. The first is a guide to cutting a wedding cake by Indydebi.
http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/search/label/cake%20comb
Here a thread with a PDF that shows how to make a fake slice of cake that you can provide so the client knows how big each serving should be:
Sample Cake Serving Sizes -- made of Paper or Cardstock
http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=142470&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=
and, last, an easily xeroxed chart which shows how different people can get different amounts of servings from the same cake:
http://larkcakeshop.com/CakeServeGuide2.pdf
Hi,
In the future if you put your cake measurements into http://www.bakingit.com and use their "cake sketcher" it will show you what your cake will look like. You can also print this out to sketch over which I always find useful. They also have an app "cake slicer" http://cakeslicer.bakingit.com which I use to work out portions per cake :-) It's a brilliant tool and make my life a lot easier. Plus I can show my customers so they can see what they get for their money and work out costs per serving.
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