The Easy Hack To Measure Out The Perfect Amount Of Buttercream For Cake

Baking a cake from scratch isn't easy and that difficulty level nearly doubles when making a layered cake. To create these beautiful works of art, you need a certain level of precision because every layer needs the same amount of moist cake, delicious filling, and velvety smooth buttercream – and it's the buttercream that can make or break your dessert as it's the very thing that holds all the layers in place. Too much buttercream can cause your cake to become a slippery, overly-sweet mess. So, how do you determine how much buttercream to use for your next layered cake? 

Simple: You use a cookie scoop. This is how cake artist Ankita Dutta Dubey perfectly fills her cakes every time. In an Instagram post that received nearly 7,000 likes, she shared the exact cookie scoop she uses and how many scoops she uses per layer. Her measurements are specific to the cookie scoop she uses, but you can easily adjust that to fit your needs since she graciously included the exact grams. It might sound crazy, but this hack is the easiest and mess-free way to guarantee consistency with your buttercream layers. Plus, if you're an avid baker, it's an item you already own. Regardless if you're using a classic vanilla buttercream or a chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream, this hack will always produce the same results as long as you use the same cookie scoop every time.

The number of scoops you'll need is determined by the diameter of your cake. If you're using a 2-ounce cookie scoop like Dubey, you can refer to the amount of scoops as a reference point. Don't have the same cookie scoop? No problem. You can refer to grams for your unit of measurement. Just so you know, a 2-ounce cookie scoop equals roughly 57 grams. When using grams, a food scale will be helpful, so you can measure the exact amount you need.

For a four-inch cake, you'll need ¾ scoop or 42 grams of buttercream while a five-inch requires a full scoop of buttercream. A six-inch cake needs two scoops or 114 grams and a seven-inch cake needs three scoops or 171 grams of buttercream. Once you get to an eight-inch cake, you'll need four scoops or 228 grams of buttercream. For a nine and 10-inch cake, Ankita recommends five scoops or 285 grams of buttercream. Whether you plan on baking on birthday cake for a loved one or a decadent chocolate cake for a holiday party, you now know how to properly measure the perfect amount of buttercream for your cake.