The Way To Determine How Many People Your Sheet Cake Will Feed

There's a formula for determining how many pizzas to order to feed a crowd (thank goodness), so it only makes sense that there's a formula for calculating how many servings your sheet cake holds. Whether you're baking a homemade sheet cake or ordering one from the Costco bakery, you should know how large that baked beauty is going to have to be to satisfy your crowd. You want to have enough cake to go around, but you don't want to be left with a fridge full of leftovers (unless, of course, leftover cake is your jam).

Sheet cake pans typically come in one of three sizes: quarter (9 x 13 inches), half (13 x 18 inches), or full (18 x 26 inches). To calculate how many servings your sheet cake will hold, two separate equations will be necessary. First, multiply the length by the width of each slice. For instance, a slice of single-layer sheet cake is roughly 3 x 3 inches, which comes out to 9. Then, calculate the area of your sheet pan. If you're working with a half sheet, that would be 13 x 18 inches, which comes out to 234. Lastly, divide the area of your pan by the area of each slice, which in this example would be 234 divided by 9, which comes out to 26 servings of cake. If you end up with a decimal number, round down to the nearest whole number.

There are also a few other variables to keep in mind here as you calculate. This formula covers the dimensions of length and width, which still leaves height. If your sheet cake is going to have multiple layers (i.e. more than one sheet cake stacked on top of each other, bound together by filling), then smaller pieces will satisfy per serving. Otherwise, single-layer sheet cakes are going to be cut into larger pieces per guest. Single-layer sheet cakes will be cut into roughly 3 x 3-inch slices, while thicker sheet cakes will be cut around 2 x 2 inches. At weddings, standard cake size is a much smaller 1 x 2 inches per single-layer slice. Also, if this sheet cake is intended for a child's birthday party, then it's probably a safe bet that the pieces are going to be smaller than pieces cut for a grown-up holiday party at the office.

This calculation method also works with any sheet pan dessert like brownies, blondies, crumble, or dump cake (which is different from spoon cake, for the record). To clarify, this formula does not work with circular cakes, which require their own formula to calculate. In general, half sheet pans will yield the ideal cake size for small gatherings like birthday parties and baby showers, and quarter sheet pans are perfect for more intimate affairs like Mother's Day gatherings or dinner parties.