#cake servings

Cake Sizes and Servings Chart: All You Should Know

Most people focus solely on the recipes and ingredients during cake baking. However, some basic calculations should also be factored in during this process, especially if your cake is to be served at large gatherings or during significant events. 

Having handled numerous bulk orders for diverse party sizes at BK17 Bakery, I understand the complexities of calculating cake servings. That’s why I am glad to share my two cents and offer you an accurate cake serving size chart. Let’s get into it!

In This Article

What Is A Cake Serving? How Does Cake Height Affect The Number of Servings?

How Many Cake Servings Can You Get? Types of Cake Servings

Standard Layer Cakes

Tiered Cake Servings

Sheet Cakes

Other Shaped Cakes

Cake Pans

Should You Pay Attention To The Baking Time and Temperature As Well?

Conclusion

What Is A Cake Serving? How Does Cake Height Affect The Number of Servings?

“Cake serving” refers to the portion of a cake that is cut and served to one person. There are no fixed rules regarding the size of one serving. But from my observation, a slice 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 4 inches tall has been considered the standard.

Most people assume the cake height does not affect how many servings they can make, as the standard serving size is usually more dependent on the depth and width of the slice rather than its height. Still, I’ve encountered many occasions where taller cakes actually yield more portions than expected due to the increased cake volume available for cutting!

Let’s say you have a 7-inch-tall vanilla cake, almost double the 4-inch height of a typical serving. In that case, you can cut the cake into thinner slices (each with the standard 1-inch width), then divide each slice horizontally to get 2 servings.

Of course, to each their own, so a tall cake does not necessarily produce more servings than a standard one; sometimes, the extra inches simply result in thicker slices! Back to the previous example, if you kept the slices exactly as they were instead of splitting each into halves horizontally, the serving count would remain the same. 

How Many Cake Servings Can You Get? Types of Cake Servings

While standard layer cakes (usually square or round) serve 16 to 160 people, tier cakes should be enough for 20 to over 210 people, depending on the tier counts and heights. Sheet cakes equal 54 to 192 servings for parties; meanwhile, less conventional options like hexagon/heart-shaped cakes are suitable for guest counts of 36 to 78. 

Standard Layer Cakes

Since they are not tiered cakes, the process should be fairly straightforward – although the number of servings also varies depending on the cake shape. For instance, a 6-inch round cake does not serve as many slices as a 6-inch square one.