Food - Drink
The Trick To Easily Cutting A Round Cake Into Perfect Servings
By LAUREN CAHN
Slicing a standard round cake into portions can be challenging, since you need to make sure that each slice looks nice and that you cut enough pieces to feed all your guests. Most common cakes are 8 or 9 inches in diameter, yielding 20-24 servings, but if you always struggle to get that many slices out of your cake, try this trick.
Baking supply company Wilton suggests cutting a circle that is 6 inches in diameter into the center of your 8-inch cake, then slicing the ring-shaped perimeter at inch-and-a-half wide intervals; then, slice the circle in the center into the standard wedges. The tip also works for larger cakes, and will yield between 30 to 33 servings.
For denser, stickier cakes and ones with fillings or frostings, Wilton recommends rinsing your knife between slices, while delicate spongy cakes cut better with a serrated bread knife. If this sounds fussy to you, you can use unflavored dental floss or a fishing line to cut the cake evenly, and there are many tutorials for this method online.
It is important to note that when using Wilton's method, the slices from the outer ring will not be equal in size to the pieces from the center, and some pieces will have more or less frosting. You can take advantage of this and let guests decide how much cake and icing they'd like to have, since everyone likely has their own preferences.