sizes for cake to feed 150 ppl  

an idea is to google

wilton wedding cake data

and earlene has a little bit larger serving size on her website

www.earlenescakes.com

i'd do a 13x10x7 and advise they need to serve all the cake to get the servings

i'd actually try to make a bit larger --i about never get it that even steven

i like to give 15-20 unbeknownst additional servings

or have a 9x13 back up if they were glued to 150 servings in a 3-tier configuration

After a couple of years being  a hobbyist and being worried that I wasn't making enough cake (and always having leftovers), I went into business and started using the Wilton chart exclusively.    Let me say that I've never had a complaint about not enough cake.  People (and the caterers too) often still tell me there is some left over.

I think it is just as bad to give too much as to give too little, because in the final analysis, if the customer has a lot of cake left over,  they will think you sold them too much and they could have purchased less and paid less.

This, even if you gave it too them for free.  They, after all, can only assume they paid for what they got.   I do hasten to add that if you buy other things from me, like cookies or mini cupcakes you always get maybe one or two extra, so a serving or two of extra cake makes sense, but not a lot.  I think our clients assume we are professionals and know how much cake they will need.  

3 tiers? Yuch. Would be horridly squatty. I would sell a 5-8-11-14 for 148 servings, a 4-5-6-10-11-12 for 158, 5-7-9-11-13 for 163, or something with less servings. 

itsacake, yes of course

but i just produce what they buy--it's their decision

i mean a slice might break apart, fall on the floor, get crumpled by a dowel

i want them to have enough to make 150 servings

and a 13x10x7 is exactly 150--too close for me

i'm not troubled in the least what they do with it i just fulfull the order

i tell my brides diplomatically that the cake order is not contingent on there being a wedding

if they think they ordered too much or too little it's their miscue not mine

Ron Ben Israel said, in a class I once took, that it is our obligation as cake artists to counsel our customers to make the correct choices.  I think that is part of being a professional.  So yes, if they order more than they need, that is their choice, but we ought to steer them in the right direction.  Even with slices lost to dowels and pieces dropped, I've never not had enough cake.  There are always people who don't eat cake, for some unexplained reason   I do believe however, that California cake slices are inexplicably smaller than Texas and Tennessee slices, so that may make a difference.

AZ couture--I would never had thought of doing more smaller tiers.  I always thought that only two inches between sizes would look strange .  However, because I have always wanted to be able to make cakes that look like yours, I will have to rethink this thoroughly and make a dummy or two.   And this will solve the issue of not wanting to make really large tiers.  More smaller ones is a lot less work rolling fondant.   Thanks for stimulating my brain!!!!

Oh good! Another thing to consider is half tall tiers and double tall (double barrel tiers) to throw in the mix too. Soooooo many ways to do it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DinasSugarShack

.... I have a client who wants a 3 tiered cake to feed 150 ppl. What size tiers would you make?...

Thanks

Dina

TN servings different size than California?

no they're the same when i bake there in California

if i'm not mistaken it's the number of tiers that's different from Arizona & California to Ontario

in Ontario it's t-h-r-e-e in AZ & CA it's four or five

edited to add quote

and to avoid the squat look be sure to keep the bottom tier at say for example 5 inches tall then the next tiers 4 inches tall

will be a very pretty set up

some people don't want too many tiers

K8

I just meant that in California it seems that people are always saying "please cut my piece smaller", while in other places this may not be the case.

I hate that designers give away cake.  It just fuels the bigger slice camp.  Cake is a treat, not a meal.  Any venue is going to tell you that a cake, no matter what you tell them it should serve, will serve what they need it to serve. 

I also hate squatty cakes.  150 servings as a three tiered cake will look squatty no matter how tall you make that bottom tier.  I'd tell them it has to be 4 tiers to have all of the servings in one cake.  If they are stuck on a 3 tiered cake, you could easily make a 6-9-12 to serve 100 and then have a 12" cake out back to make up the extra 50 servings. 

this is odd to me

a 13x10x7 is an equal one inch difference to a 12x9x6

there is no viable visual difference, one's a bit bigger

this is cake deco 101 not sure what the hubub is about

a skilled decorator can certainly make it beautiful

no squat

It's the 7" top tier.  Unless you have a large floral topper, it is a large empty space.  The wider the top tier the squattier the cake will look.  A 6" top tier looks squatty to me, especially if it is only 4" tall.   

Stack up some dummies... you will see what I am talking about. 

i can and have made tons of these cakes

just 'cause everybody can't oh well

back in the day even an 8 inch cake would be used for a topper

yes of course the decor is how you can balance out a profile

i know decorators who would not be caught dead using a five or four inch top tier

margaret braun not only uses 4" tall 4" tiers

she even uses a 2 inch diameter tier that is 4 inches tall

(page 125 of cakewalk--the bow cake)

it makes me crazy but she does-- I'd  never do that (i hope :)

the 13x10x7 tiers can be offset for a beautiful cascade too

the decor can mask any profile issues

it's not a death wish cake size

to your eye apparently it is not gonna work

but we're all different and I can do it

op simply asked for a 3-tier 150 serving --that's it

projecting y'all's personal limitations so strongly is odd

edited for typo