How To Cut A Layer Cake For Serving

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Round cakes are tasty treats that, at times, can be difficult to cut into plenty pieces to serve everyone. In addition to the typical method of cutting a circular cake into triangle-similar slices, round cakes can also be cut into small square pieces, smaller triangle slices, and even long, thin strips. Ane method was even designed past a scientist to ensure every slice of cake is fresh and moist.

i
Select a knife that's big enough to cut across the entire circular cake. For case, if the diameter of your round block is 10 inches (25 cm), your pocketknife should be at least that long. If you're unable to notice a knife as long as the bore of your cake, cull one that's as long as possible.^[i]
- If your knife isn't every bit long as the diameter of your cake, you'll need to slide the knife along the top of the block in society to brand a complete line in the frosting.
2
Soak your pocketknife in warm water before using it to cut your cake. Fill a tall glass with warm tap water. Place your knife inside the water and lean it against the edge of the glass. Leave your knife in the water until you're ready to cutting your block. When y'all're ready to cut the cake, accept the knife out of the glass and wipe the h2o off with a tea towel.^[2]
- You lot'll demand to make certain your glass is tall enough to agree the pocketknife y'all're using.
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3
Employ your knife to score a line through the middle of the cake. Hold your knife higher up the cake with both hands. Hold the handle with your ascendant paw and the tip of the knife with your not-ascendant hand's fingertips. Identify your pocketknife beyond the entire block, going through the center of the cake. Apply a rocking motility with the knife, from the tip to the handle, to score a straight line across the cake.^[3]
- Press into the frosting to score the line, only until you read the offset layer of cake. Do non cut into the cake itself.
4
Score a second line at a 70-degree angle to the first line. Beginning the second line from the middle of the first line. Movement your knife so that the 2nd line is at a 70-degree angle to the start line, which should create a slice that is about one/iii of that half of the cake, or 1/vi of the entire cake.^[four]
- The outset two lines have now divided the cake into 3 pieces.
5
Created a third line through the middle of the smaller triangle. One half of your cake will look like information technology's made of 2 triangles, one larger than the other. The third score line should divide that smaller triangle exactly in half, from the middle.^[five]
- The commencement three lines have now divided the cake into 4 pieces.
- The 2 smallest pieces volition be the size of all the concluding pieces.
half-dozen
Score 2 more lines to divide the larger triangle into 3 pieces. The side by side 2 score lines volition divide the larger triangle piece into 3 even sections. From a technical perspective, each of the v resulting triangle pieces should have an gauge 36-degree angle.^[6]
- This entire process is based on estimating the size of the slices, just you lot're aiming to make all the pieces equal in size.
7
Use your knife to extend the iv half-lines across the block. 1 half of the cake is now scored into five pieces. Only 1 of the lines scored and then far goes across the entire diameter of the cake. Four of the lines scored so far merely go halfway across the cake. Use your pocketknife to extend those 4 half-lines and so they go across the entire diameter of the block.^[7]
- The final result of this process will divide the circular cake into 10 even pieces.
- If you have more than 10 people to serve, you lot can cut each of the 10 pieces in half to produce 20 even pieces.
8
Cut your cake along each of the score lines to create 10 fifty-fifty pieces. Dip your pocketknife in the warm water and wipe it off with a tea towel in-between each cut you make in the cake. Use your knife and cut through the entire cake following the score marks you've made. Cut from the center point of the block for each slice.^[8]
- Pull the pocketknife out of the bottom of the cake slowly.
- Scoop upwards each easy with an commencement spatula after it'south cut, or expect to beginning handing out cake pieces one time the entire cake is cut.
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1
Warm your knife in water before y'all start to cut the cake. Put your knife into a glass or container filled with warm tap h2o. Leave it in the container until you lot need it to slice the cake. Whenever you take the knife out of the water, wipe it off on a tea towel.^[9]
- Make sure the glass or container you employ is tall enough for the knife you've called to employ.
2
Piece the round cake into long, thin strips. Each strip should be about 1 in (two.five cm) broad. Once you've sliced off a strip of block, lay information technology apartment onto a cutting board or plate. Remember to warm your knife between each big slice.^[10]
- If you lot don't need as many pieces of cake, you can make the strips larger/wider.
3
Cut the long slice into one in (2.five cm) strips. Once the longer slice is laying apartment on a cutting board, utilize your pocketknife to cut it into 1 in (ii.5 cm) strips. The end result will be a piece of block that's 1 in (two.5 cm) thick and i in (ii.5 cm) wide, with a length that's equal to the height of the cake.^[11]
- You don't need to warm the knife in water to cut these modest strips.
- You tin can too cut the flat slice into strips longer than 1 in (2.5 cm) if you'd like.
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1
Heat upwardly your pocketknife in warm water before you lot brainstorm. Let your knife to sit in a glass of warm tap water before you begin slicing the block. Wipe the excess h2o off the pocketknife with a tea towel when you accept it out of the water. Re-warm the knife betwixt each major cut in the cake.^[12]
- The warmed metallic will cutting through the cake quicker and easier than a common cold knife.
2
Cutting a circle in your cake, 2 inches (5.1 cm) from the edge. Slide your pocketknife into the cake vertically in a spot that'south approximately two inches (5.1 cm) from the edge. Continue the knife vertical and cut a circumvolve in the middle of the block that stays two inches (five.1 cm) from the edge all the manner around. Substantially, yous're creating a new round cake in the centre of your existing round cake.^[13]
- This method will merely work for cakes that are 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter or larger. Smaller cakes should exist cut into the typical triangle pieces.
- The end result will exist an outer ring-shaped cake and an inner round cake.
iii
Cutting the ring-shaped outer cake into 1.5 in (3.8 cm) wide pieces. Re-warm and dry the knife earlier proceeding. Employ the knife to cut the outer, ring-shaped block into private pieces that are about 1.5 in (three.viii cm) wide. For an 8 in (20 cm) block, this volition issue in 21 pieces of the aforementioned shape and size.^[14]
- For cakes larger than 8 inches (20 cm), you tin either keep the same slice width of i.5 inches (iii.8 cm), which will result in more than 21 pieces, or you can increase the width of each slice in lodge to nevertheless create about 21 pieces.
four
Slice the smaller round inner block into triangles pieces. Once the 21 outer slices of cake have been removed, you have a new, but smaller, round cake to cut. Start but cut the inner round cake in half, through the centre. And so cutting the cake in one-half once again, at a xc-degree angle to the starting time cut. Depending on the size of the inner block and the number of slices you need, you tin can either cut each quarter department in half (which will give y'all 8 slices, or you can cutting each quarter section into thirds, which will give you 12 pieces.^[15]
- For example, if the entire cake was 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter, you'll have a 4 in (x cm) mini-circular cake left in the heart.
- Don't forget to rewarm and dry your knife before you get-go cut the inner cake. However, you lot won't need to rewarm between cuts.
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1
Use this scientific method for cakes you lot plan to shop. This method works best when you lot accept a round cake that is not going to exist eaten all at in one case, for example, at a party. If only a small portion of the cake is going to be eaten, and the rest is going to be stored in the fridge for after, this is the method that will provide you with the freshest cake day-after-day.^[16]
- This method was created by a British mathematician named Sir Francis Galton and first published in the periodical Nature in 1906.
2
Make one cutting beyond the entire block, slightly off-center. This beginning cut needs to get the entire bore of the cake, but not down the exact middle of the block. Instead, the cut needs to be off-centre because you lot're essentially cutting a strip out of the middle of the cake. Brand this beginning cut about 0.5 in (one.3 cm) to the right of the middle of the block.^[17]
- The final piece of block will be one in (2.v cm) wide.
- If you desire a larger slice of cake, cut the block more than than 0.5 in (1.3 cm) from the middle.
3
Cut the cake again, one in (2.v cm) to the left of the kickoff cut. The second cut will create a long, thin piece or strip of cake directly through the eye of the cake. This slice of block will exist 1 in (2.5 cm) wide merely will be the entire diameter of the round cake.^[18]
- Over again, you tin cut a slice larger than 1 in (2.five cm) broad, if you'd like.
4
Use your knife to remove the thin slice from the cake. Slide your knife under the cake, just underneath the thin slice that y'all created with the first two cuts. Carefully lift the knife so you can remove the thin slice from the middle of the cake.^[19]
- Serve and/or consume the thin piece of block yous cut out.
- You tin can cut this middle piece into small pieces if you'd like.
five
Slide the ii ends of the cake together and secure them. Once you've removed the center piece of cake, use your hands (or a spatula or knife) to slide the two ends of the cake together in the eye of the cake tray. Make certain the within sections of the block are touching each other. Secure the 2 ends together.^[twenty]
- The original method suggests securing the cake with a safe band. All the same, this will merely work if your cake has a harder exterior fabricated of something like fondant (and isn't very big).
- Alternatively, yous could use a ribbon, a thin piece of parchment paper, or a slice of plastic wrap to concord the two ends together.
- Yous could as well avert securing the cake, equally only sliding the 2 ends together have probably protected the inside of the cake well enough.
six
Cut another slice from the middle, perpendicular to the starting time piece. When you lot're ready for another slice of block, take it out of the fridge and cut another slice from the middle of the cake. However, this fourth dimension, cut the slice at a xc-caste angle to your original slice. Then repeat the same procedure of sliding the ends of the cake together for overnight storage.^[21]
- When storing the cake in the fridge, information technology's upwards to you if you'd like to cover the cake with a lid or plastic wrap.
- The key to this method is that the within part of the cake, or the sponge, will stay fresh because none of it is exposed to the air.
seven
Repeat the process until the entire block is eaten. Each time you want another piece of cake, repeat the same procedure. Each fourth dimension you repeat the process, turn the cake another ninety degrees so you go on alternating the direction the slice is cut. (This volition help ensure the ii ends are e'er approximately the same size when they're slid together.)^[22]
- Eventually, the pieces of cake left volition be small enough to eat on their own and y'all won't demand to go on cutting pieces from the middle.
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Things You'll Need

One or more than round cakes
Long knife
Tall glass
Warm h2o
Tea towel
Outset spatula
Rectangular cut board

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Article Summary X

When you're cutting a circular cake, use equally long of a pocketknife equally possible, and soak the knife in warm water beginning so it cuts through the block more hands. Use the pocketknife the score a line in the frosting across the center of the height of the cake. So score another line at a 70-degree angle from the first line to make a triangle. Score another line between the first 2 lines to make ii smaller triangles. Echo the procedure around the entire block and then it'south divided into 10 even pieces. Finally, cut downwardly through the cake along each of the lines you scored. To acquire how to cutting a round cake into square pieces, coil down!

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