Questions About Wilton Serving Chart
Decorating By DriveMeBatty Updated 20 Jun 2013 , 10:22pm by DriveMeBatty
AOk so this probably sounds really dumb but I've been trying to work out the silly Wilton serving chart and can't figure it out for the life of me!! For starters when you quote customers on their cakes do you tend to go by the wedding servings or party servings or do you judge it based on what the cake is for? Also why should the height of the pan make any difference as to how many people the cake serves? Wouldn't it be dependant on the height of the final cake which is normally 4" anyway?? And in the column where it states the number of serves for each size cake it says Servings 1 layer. Um my cakes are generally 4 layers, surely that doesn't mean that I multiply that figure by 4 o.O
I swear I'm generally of an average intelligence...but looking at this chart I definitely feel pretty dense lol!
Wedding serving chart is industry standard -- use one chart for all occasions -- simple.
Yes, normally 4" height is standard for layer cakes, so it doesn't matter how many layers you use as long as final height is typical 4 inches (two 2" layers).
Chart doesn't say servings per 1 layer, it's 2 layers. (per 1 layer is for batter.)
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
I personally don't like the Wilton chart. It doesn't seem quite right to me either. The standard wedding cake serving size it 1X2X4, or 8 cubic inches. The height of the cake matters because if your cake is thinner, 2" for example, then you would need a 2X2 serving to achieve the 8 cubic inches.
As for the difference between party cake serving and wedding cake servings, I don't personally like that either. I always base my servings on a 2X2X4 party slice. Not all of my customers have the same expectations for serving size, so I'd rather give them a little too much cake than have them be short and think they got ripped off.
I'd rather give them a little too much cake than have them be short and think they got ripped off.
You are not giving them a little too much cake, you are giving them 50% more (16 cubic inch servings). Are they aware they are getting twice as much as other bakeries would charge when comparing prices, or are you charging double for your twice the size as customary servings? (if not, you are the one getting ripped off.) Also, venues will slice "industry standard" serving sizes... will clients complain when they learn they may have paid for 50% more cake than was needed?
AStandard party cake servings range from 1.5x2 to 2x2, and 4" tall. The only thing I do differently is that I use that as my standard serving size for all cakes. I have a chart on my website so that my clients know exactly what they're getting. I've never been told that I've given too much, but I have been told by a few customers (who had 1x2 servings) that they wish there had been more so that's why I do it that way. Then again, I've done more birthdays than weddings, so maybe things will change a bit as I do more wedding cakes.
Standard party cake servings range from 1.5x2 to 2x2, and 4" tall. The only thing I do differently is that I use that as my standard serving size for all cakes. I have a chart on my website so that my clients know exactly what they're getting. I've never been told that I've given too much, but I have been told by a few customers (who had 1x2 servings) that they wish there had been more so that's why I do it that way. Then again, I've done more birthdays than weddings, so maybe things will change a bit as I do more wedding cakes.
Yea, giving away free cake isn't fun especially when you know others are getting paid the same amount for half the work and producing half as much product. Essentially, you're undercutting the industry if you don't charge double for 16 cu. in. servings.
Ugh sorry for the delay in replying, pretty much everyone in my house is now sick, not fun with a 3 year old and 1 year old 
. Thank you for the help, I went back and had another look at the Wilton chart and realized that the servings are the same in both the 2" high pan chart and 3" high pan chart. Duh, now I feel even dumber lol.
So I know mpatko's view on this, but CWR41, do you tend to give your customers a rundown of what size the servings will be and recommend they go a size up if they want larger serves, or do you simply put a chart on your website and leave it to them, or do you not tend to get into that at all and they get what they pay for?
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