{"id":4826,"date":"2017-05-21T01:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T23:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minhcakes.ch\/?p=4826"},"modified":"2017-05-23T13:54:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T11:54:46","slug":"cake-sizes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minhcakes.ch\/en\/cake-sizes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to calculate cake sizes"},"content":{"rendered":"

German version \/ Deutsch<\/a><\/p>\n

Hello! Today I’m going to answer the most frequently asked question by my clients and students.\u00a0Which cake size should I bake \/ order for my event?<\/b><\/p>\n

The short answer: It depends! The most important factors that come into play, are the number of guests in attendance, but also what kind of\u00a0food will be served, and how much!<\/p>\n

\"Minh<\/p>\n

Now for the long answer:<\/p>\n

If your cake is going the be the main dessert, plan at least one serving for each guest. But if you are planning on serving a seven-course wedding feast, or having a buffet of several desserts, then it will be enough to order half the amount of servings, so each guests can get a half-serving.<\/p>\n

Of course, this leads to the next question:<\/p>\n

How big is a cake serving?<\/h3>\n

This decision is usually up to the baker. This is why\u00a0 all the serving charts you find on the internet are different – \u00a0because each bakery has decided on a custom serving size. Fondant cakes of today are usually filled with several layers of buttercream or ganache. This makes them quite rich to eat, compared to traditional European pastry cakes like Black Forest cake, that is very airy and filled with whipped cream. A wedding cake portion\u00a0 does not have to be huge, nor does a children’s birthday cake because both groups of people usually are too full to eat big slices of cake. Also, do take into account that fondant cakes tend to be quite high, 10cm (4 inches) and more!<\/p>\n

Here at Minh Cakes, our standard serving size is 5 cm x 10 cm x 2.5 cm
\n(2 inches x 4 inches x 1 inch)<\/b>.<\/p>\n

For a wedding dessert, it’s a generous amount of cake. I’ve heard that in the UK, it is customary to serve only half this amount – the wedding cake is meant as a little teaser and not as full-fledged dessert.<\/p>\n

Method 1: Determine \u00a0cake size using volume calculations<\/h2>\n

The way to determine the amount of servings per cake, is by using volume calculations (yes that’s geometry folks!) \u00a0My standard serving is\u00a0 125 cm\u00b3 (8\u00b3 inches)<\/b>. Using cylindrical volume formulas, it’s easy to calculate the amount of servings per tier.<\/p>\n

A round cake is basically a cylinder. That’s why we can use this formula:
\nVolume = radius square * \u03c0 (Pi) * height<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i> <\/p>\n

Example<\/h4>\n

Take a 20 cm (8″) diameter cake that ist 10cm (4″) high. The radius is 10 cm (4″).<\/p>\n

In cm: Volume of the cake: 10 cm\u00b2 * \u03c0 * 10 cm = 3141 cm\u00b3<\/b>
\nIn inches: Volume of the cake: 4\u00b2 inches * \u03c0 * 4 inches = 201\u00b3 inches<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Now we just have to divide the volume of the cake, with the volume of the serving, and we’ll get the number of servings:<\/p>\n

In cm: Servings: 3141 cm\u00b3 \/ 125 cm\u00b3 = 25\u00a0 servings<\/b>
\nIn inches: Serving: 201\u00b3 inches \/ 8\u00b3 inches = 25 servings<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Result: A 20 cm (8″) cake that is 10 cm (4″) high, will yield 25 servings that are 2.5 x 5cm (1″ x 2″) large.
\n<\/div>\n

This is the exact mathematical method. For each tier size I sell, I could calculate the geometrically correct number\u00a0of servings:
\n\"Minh<\/a>
\n

<\/p>\n

However… <\/i>(yes, there’s always a BUT)… I don’t actually work with the numbers above. Why? There are three\u00a0reasons:<\/p>\n