Cake Slicing Made Easy

Some people find themselves a bit intimidated by the thought of having to slice and serve a cake. To help put fears to rest, we offer this short description of the process, with some suggestions that we hope are useful.

Setup

A little forethought always helps a function run smoothly. With this in mind, a container (tub, box or trash bag) for the disposal of support plates and legs should be placed under the table during setup, making it easy to remove unnecessary items from the table. (Walking through a function full of guests with messy items from the cake and icing support system is never a good idea).

Ideally, two people should be at each serving table - one person to cut the cake, and a second person to assist with plates, so that the person who is actually doing the cutting doesn't have to worry about handling plates. The plate assistant is responsible for replenishing plates/forks/napkins, removing the various cake support plates and legs, and generally keeping the serving table tidy.

The First Piece

The first piece of cake is normally cut by the celebrant(s) (that is, the bride and groom, the couple celebrating the anniversary, the person retiring, etc.). In some cases, the position of this first cut is determined by a photographer so as to capture the moment with best effect.

For a wedding cake, the first tier is traditionally saved away and eaten by the couple on their first anniversary.

Once the first piece has been served, the cake serving person should place a latex glove on the hand that will not be holding the knife. Using ones hand during serving turns out to be a much neater and faster solution than using a cake server; instead of having to worrying about two different utensils when transferring cake to plate, it is easier and more efficient to use knife and gloved hand, and experience has shown that this method is actually much less messy than the alternative.

Serving Guests

Cake is served one tier at a time. At each stage, the top cake tier is removed. (A second serving person may be needed to help remove the supports or legs under that tier). Any fresh flowers and other non-edible adornments on top of the next tier are also removed. (These adornments are often placed in the greenery at the base of the cake). The first servings of cake come from the back of the next tier, with the server cutting as necessary to give a straight, clean line across the back of the cake.

Serving of a round cake is accomplished through a series of slices, as shown. (This diagram provides a guide for a 9-inch round cake that provides 22 pieces; for different size cakes, continue to use the 2-inch long by 1-inch wide rule...).

The following directions are written for right-handed people; for lefties, simply reverse the references to left and right.

When serving cake with a cake knife, cut a straight line across the back of the cake from left to right, about 2 inches forward of the back edge of the cake (in the diagram, slice #1). Don't cut all the way from one side of the cake to the other, but rather stop cutting about 2 inches from the end, leaving an uncut section for support. (Slices #1, #6, and #14 follow this pattern; they are not serving slices, but rather starter slices, and are shown as thicker lines in the diagram). Begin serving pieces from the left edge, cutting with the cake knife (line 2) and transferring it to the cake plate with the left hand. Pieces that are on the outside curved edge must be cut a little larger to insure an adequate serving for that guest.

When the entire cake tier has been served, the cardboard support bottom is removed and placed in the container under the table, the next tier is removed, and cutting continues in the same manner as described above.

Normal servings of a two-layer cake are 2 inches deep and 1 inch wide. Notice that in the diagram, servings on the right hand side of the cake are cut in the other direction. This prevents the problem of the last piece of cake wanting to fall over before being transferred to a plate. Basically, all cake pieces remain attached to the cake until they are ready to be cut individually and placed on a cake plate.

All shapes of cake can be cut in similar fashion.