Hi

 

I have googled and checked link after link and need someone to clarify something for me.

Firstly I use bubble straws for support in all my stacked cakes and a centre dowel ( Just of the centre )

Which must alter the amount of available servings per cake, Does it ? and do you calculate for and lose a piece for each straw?

(When I look at the cutting guides every inch of cake is accounted for)

I am wanting a serving guide that allows for each serve of cake to be of a fair size.

Is a two layer cake-  2 cakes in 1 tier or is it 1 cake that has one torte with filling?

For an example

I have found a variety of serves for an  8" round cake 

1st guide = 8 x 3" Generous serves, 14 x 2 1/4 " sensible slices or 24 event slices 

Wilton = 24 serves

Earlenes = 15 serves

 

Is the Wilton chart event slices, Earlenes Party slices, ?

Does anyone use something other than these?

 

Thanks

Awiltons is event style and event style is anywhere from 1 x 2 inch sizes to 2 x 2 inch slices. We have made our own suggested serving sizes based on how regular people cut cakes and have listed our suggestions next to the average industry suggestions. Your welcome to check our site for the list. Im sure most bakers would freak out to see our portions. lol. so please go easy on us. lol.

Wilton has wedding size [8 cubic inches of cake] and party size [12 cubic inches of cake].  I calculate servings based on that--and I generally use the party size.  I don't worry about straws or dowels because there's always plenty of cake.  If I'm making a 2" tall cake, I just halve the number of servings in the Wilton chart.  I've never had too little cake.

 

For a 4" tall, 8" round cake, Wilton's chart shows 20 servings, I get 17.  I think it's reasonable to get 20, so I describe it as a 20 serving cake to a client.  If the cake were only 2" tall, it would easily serve 10.

 

A two layer cake is equal to a single 4" tall tier.  It is comprised of 2, 2" tall layers [that may be torted and filled or just stuck together with icing].

Can I ask why you halve the number of servings for a 2' tall cake, 

This is where I am confused with the charts, do you cut 1 piece of 4' tall cake in half to get 2 serves of 2' tall cake?

Thanks

There are times that I make a 2" tall cake.  If I need to know how many it will serve, I look at the chart and just divide the number of servings in half [because the chart is for 4" tall cakes].

 

No, I don't cut the servings from my 4" tall cakes in half.

I believe Earlene's chart is the same size servings, but she claims you cannot cut as many slices as what the Wilton chart says. I use the Wilton chart...

 

I don't do single layer cakes, but I believe the serving size for them is 2x2, isn't it?  For 2 layer cakes, I do like Maybenot above, but I also try to figure out about how many 2x2 servings they can realistically cut from the cake.

A

That. I do single layer tiers often in my designs. Like I'll do a double barrel cake as the focal point, with a half tall tier under that, and another on top of the DB, with a regular sized tier on top. This weekend, one of the wedding cakes is an alternating configuration of regular tiers, with half tall tiers. Gonna be a fun design.It's a fun way to get a different look, and helps get close to weird serving amounts, etc. Mainly though, for me, I do it just to be different.

A[IMG ALT="Double barrel in middle with half tall tiers and a regular tier on top. Handpainting, and whimsical flowers."]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/2881128/width/350/height/700[/IMG]Here's one with normal tiers, a DB, and half talls.

AAs always...a beautiful cake. You're kind of my cake crush lol.

I'm glad I saw this thread because I had similar questions

AThanks! These are the ones I love to do. Have one this weekend thank, and I thank God! Sometimes a person gets a stretch of not so interesting ones, and it's mildly depressing.

AFor clarification, for how I do it anyways, the single layer cakes like you see in my example are just that: one single layer of cake, from one single pan,, iced and decorated. They aren't filled.

OP, for a normal tier like the top one in AZCouture's photo, some people bake two two inch tall cakes and sandwich them together with filling to end up with a 4 inch tall cake. Some people torte and fill each of those so there are four layers of cake and three layers of filling between them, still 4 inches tall. Some people bake a tall 3-inch cake, and torte and fill it. 4 inches tall.

 

A Wilton serving of those cakes is 2 x 1 inch, giving a piece 2 square inches of cake by 4 inches tall, or 8 cubic inches of cake.

 

For a single layer, those are usually 2 inches high. You can fill them, or not. To get 8 cubic inches of cake, you need to cut a piece 2 x 2inches, which is 4 square inches of cake by 2 inches tall.

 

There is often quite a debate about whether the Wilton chart gives large enough servings. Some people have made up their own serving chart, others solve the issue by giving their customers a range of servings they might be able to cut from the cake - ie, this cake serves 16-24, depending on the size of the slices. I find that it also depends on the type of cake. I usually make very rich mud cakes, and I typically cut 1x1 inch slices, and get more like 40 pieces from an 8inch cake.