You plan a party for some occasion and think about what food to serve. You have a substantial number of visitors, so you are now making computations about how large your cake must be to feed them.
Will you make a 6-inch cake, an 8-inch one, or a 10-inch one? Let us do the math and see how many people can those cake sizes feed, but first, do you serve a round cake or a square one?
Round Cake vs. Square Cake: Which Is Better?
Whether a wedding cake or any party cake, a chocolate cake, a cream cheese, or any other type, the first thing you decide when you bake or buy is the shape. There are benefits to a round cake and a square cake.
You often have a round cake for a more formal affair; that is why your wedding cake and that of others are usually round. You have a square cake for a less formal occasion, like birthday parties, children’s parties, and the like.
Party cakes are usually square cakes because you can feed more by having a square cake than having a round one, at least for single-tier cakes. But the number varies depending on the number of tiers you can have on a cake, but tiered cakes are also an option if you want to feed many visitors.
But this is to talk about cakes in general. Once you consider some things and look at some factors, you can decide whether to buy a round cake or a square cake.
You can choose too if you go for a 6-inch, an 8-inch, or a 10-inch cake.
Read More: Want to know the types of cakes for different occasions?
What Do You Need To Consider?
How Many Visitors?
Is it a small gathering, a small affair for family and friends, or a big company celebration? Depending on the expected number of visitors, you need a particular cake size.
And depending on it too, you may need to have several tiers instead of having or buying many cakes. You can feed more than a hundred people in a single cake, provided it is a tiered cake.
How Thin Is The Cut?
Depending on how thick or thin you slice a cake, a six, eight, or ten-inch cake may not be enough or too much. Here, though, we have to go with the tradition and go for the standard measurement we use when slicing a cake.
An 8-inch cake is considered the average size of a cake; depending on the cut, it can serve, at minimum, ten people and 20 people at the most. Now, if you have a smaller cake, say a six-inch cake, you can have a smaller number of people who can eat an equal portion.
On the other hand, a more extensive cake, let us say 10 inch one, can feed a large number of people, more than the 20 that an 8-inch cake could feed. Remember still that the maximum number of people who can eat can increase significantly, more than double, for instance, even with a two, or four-inch difference in size.
The servings may vary; if you have a few guests, you can slice a cake evenly. But if you want the ideal number of servings, you can slice the cake an inch wide horizontally, then cut those long slices into pieces that are an inch or 1 ½ inch long.
What Kind of Celebration?
You have square cakes for children’s parties, and a large one at that, because you have many visitors, some are slicing cakes depending on their appetite. In planning the size of your cake, you need to consider what kind of party it is.
It is for two reasons. First is to know how large the cake you need, and second, to know what type of cut you have to make.
For less formal gatherings, like a children’s party or a birthday party, you usually have the standard slicing, as mentioned.
For some events like weddings, debuts, and other formal gatherings, you can be a bit conservative on the slice. The cake is an attraction, but it is a dessert, not the main food, unlike at children’s parties; the serving is considerably less.
So, it is the number of visitors, the way you cut it, and the nature of the occasion that will determine, in large part, how many people a six-inch, an eight-inch, or ten-inch cake would feed. You must note that the increase in cake size, plus the way you slice, has a multiplier effect; it can more than double the number of servings.
What Is The Ideal Serving Per Cake Size?
Here is the ideal number of servings depending on cake size.
A Six-Inch Round Cake
This cake size will typically yield at least twelve servings; it does not matter what the occasion is. A six-inch cake is considerably small, and if you buy this one means you are not expecting that many visitors for an event.
A Six-Inch Square Cake
It can yield up to twelve servings for birthday parties, but if you want a more conservative serving, it can yield up to eighteen pieces. A square cake will always yield more servings.
An 8-Inch Round Cake
The 8-inch cake servings can be around 14, but the servings can go as high as 20. For wedding servings, it can yield up to 24 servings.
As you can see, a two-inch addition to the cake size could double the number of servings.
An 8-Inch Square Cake
It can yield the exact servings as a round one, around twenty servings for parties. It provides more if you want wedding servings; it can provide up to 32 servings.
A Ten-Inch Round Cake
You expect this cake to provide you with a cake portion for twenty-eight, talking about party servings. For wedding servings, it can yield up to 38 servings.
A Ten-Inch Square Cake
Party servings can go up to 30 servings, which is more than a round cake the same size has, and if you have the conservative wedding servings, you can have 50 people at the most having their cake and eating it too.
Final Thoughts
It is not enough to have your cake and eat it too; you need to have the right size so that all can have their cake slice. You do not need meticulous planning; you need only to consider some things, like the type of party, the number of visitors, the shape of the cake, and the slice you want.
Bearing those things in mind, you are sure that you can have the cake servings needed, despite the size and the budget.
