Portion Guide For Wedding Cakes

Cutting the cake is a beautiful part of your wedding day, but how do you actually cut a wedding cake into the right size portions?

How many portions can you get out of a wedding cake? We have put together this helpful guide to answer those questions and more.  

What Are The Different Types Of Cake Portions? 

There are different types of cake portions that you can divide a cake into. When you are trying to figure out how many portions you will be able to get out of your cake, you need to decide which type of cake portion you will be serving.

Finger Portion 

The finger portion is the most common type of cake portion used for wedding cakes. It will enable you to split the cake into more pieces, so each of your guests can have one.

It is also an easy shape and size to eat, so you won’t necessarily need to provide cake forks etc. Fruit cakes are traditionally served in finger portions, and fruit cakes are the most traditional type of wedding cake. 

A finger portion tends to be 4 to 5 inches tall (this depends on the height of your cake tiers), 1 inch wide and 1 inch deep. 

Party Portion

A party portion is a little bigger than a finger portion. It is often used at birthday parties, but it can be used at weddings too.

If you have fewer guests or a large cake then you might want to give out slightly larger portions. Perhaps you don’t have many dessert options for your guests so you want to encourage people to enjoy a hearty slice of cake instead. 

A party portion is 4 to 5 inches tall (depending on the height of your cake), 1 inch wide and 2 inches deep. 

Dessert portion 

If a cake is being served as a dessert rather than as an extra, then you will need to divide it into dessert portions. It is a more generous portion than a standard finger portion or a party portion. 

A desert portion of cake is 4 to 5 inches tall, 2 inches wide and 3.5 inches deep.

Coffee Portion 

At certain functions and events, including weddings, you might have a tea and coffee reception with small, dainty slices of cake being served. These cake portions are small enough to be eaten while standing and chatting.

A coffee portion of cake tends to be 3.5 inches by 1 inch by 1 inch. 

Types Of Wedding Cakes 

How you cut and serve your cake will depend on the type of cake you have. 

Sheet Cakes 

Sheet cakes may not be the most exciting when it comes to appearance, but they are very easy to divide and serve.

They tend to be rectangular in shape, so cutting the cake into equal portion sizes is very simple. You can easily adjust the size of the portions depending on how many guests you have at your wedding. 

Standard Layer Cakes

A standard layer cake is made up of several layers of sponge, sandwiched together with various fillings. However, there is only one tier.

The cake will vary in terms of diameter and height. Once you know the size of the cake, it is quite simple to figure out how many portions you will be able to divide it into and how big the portion sizes should be. 

Tall Cakes

Tall cakes are aesthetically pleasing and have become a popular choice for modern couples. However, they are a lot harder to cut than more traditional styles of cake. Trying to split a tall cake into equal portions can be quite a challenge. 

A standard tier of cake is usually around 4 to 5 inches tall. A tall cake is often at least 7 to 8 inches tall, or even taller!

You will need to cut the cake into rectangle slices, then cut each slice in half. For example, If the cake is 8 inches tall, you will end up with two slices that are 4 inches. 

Tiered Cakes

Tiered cakes are what most people visualize when they think of a wedding cake. They give you more choice when it comes to flavors as each tier can be different. However, the tiers are different sizes.

This means that the cake portions will not be uniform in size. You might need to make the portions from the smallest tier a bit wider to make them equal in size to the portions of the larger tier. 

Portion Guides 

Here are some examples of portion guides for different cakes. 

Round Cakes 

If you need to figure out how many portions you can get out of a round cake, check out this guide. 

• 4 inch diameter – 6 finger portions or 3 party portions 
• 5 inch diameter -15 finger portions or 8 party portions 
• 6 inch diameter – 20 finger portions or 12 party portions 
• 7 inch diameter – 30 finger portions or 16 party portions 
• 8 inch diameter – 40 finger portions or 24 party portions 
• 9 inch diameter – 50 finger portions or 30 party portions 
• 10 inch diameter – 60 finger portions or 35 party portions 
• 11 inch diameter – 70 finger portions or 40 party portions 
• 12 inch diameter – 80 finger portions or 50 party portions 
• 14 inch diameter – 100 finger portions or 60 party portions 
• 16 inch diameter – 130 finger portions or 75 party portions 

A tiered cake made up of a 6 inch, an 8 inch and a 12 inch round cake would be enough for 140 finger portions or 86 party portions. 

Square Cakes 

Here is an equivalent guide to help you figure out how many portions you will get out of a square cake. 

• 4 inches wide – 10 finger portions or 8 party portions 
• 5 inches wide – 24 finger portions or 12 party portions 
• 6 inches wide – 36 finger portions or 18 party portions 
• 7 inches wide –  48 finger portions or 24 party portions 
• 8 inches wide – 64 finger protons or 32 party portions 
• 9 inches wide – 80 finger portions or 40 party portions 
• 10 inches wide – 100 finger portions or 50 party portions 
• 11 inches wide – 120 finger portions or 60 party portions
• 12 inches wide – 144 finger portions or 72 party portions 
• 14 inches wide – 196 finger portions or 98 party portions 
• 16 inches wide – 256 finger portions or 128 party portions 

A tiered cake made up of a 6 inches wide, 8 inches wide and 12 inches wide square cake would be enough for 244 finger portions or 122 party portions. 

Cakes For Small Weddings 

If you have a small wedding planned with 50 guests or less then there are several different options you can choose from to create your wedding cake. 

Tiered

If you are going for a tiered cake, choose some of the smaller cake sizes to create the tiers. This means you won’t be left with too much cake but you will still get the aesthetic that you want. 

Dummy Tiers

The other option is to use dummy tiers in your cake – a polystyrene shape is used in place of one or more of the tiers and decorated to look just like the real cake tiers. This saves you money but gives the illusion of a grand cake. 

Single Cake

You could go for a tall cake, as each slice can be cut in half to make it go further, or a standard layer cake. You don’t need to have a tiered cake for your wedding – single cakes can still be beautifully decorated. 

Cupcakes

Cupcakes are great for smaller weddings and you can display them on a lovely stand. 

Summary 

Understanding how many portions you can get out of different wedding cakes makes it much easier to decide what size cake you need to order depending on how many guests you have.

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Anna Ingham

Baking is one of those universal loves in the world – who doesn’t love baking a cake every now and then?

Hi, my name is Anna Ingham and I have been a professional baker for almost seven years.

What started as a hobby with my Easy-Bake Oven in school turned into a full career! That doesn’t even feel like work – how cool is that?

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