Making
Your Own Wedding Cake

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Cake Sizes and Portion Sizes

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When making your own wedding cake, it could be rich in fruit, arranged in tiers and lavishly iced and decorated. Or it could be of another flavor, which can also be arranged and decorated in the traditional way or in a more modern style.

When making tiered cakes in any flavor it is essential to get the proportions of the tiers correct, to give the desired pyramid effect. Don’t try to make the bigger sizes (before you measure your oven space) you should have at least 2.5cm (1 inch) space between the oven walls and the tin.

You can hire different shape tins, stands, and other needed ingredients from a cake decorating supplier. For three-tiered cakes, bake the two smaller cakes together and the largest one on its own.

Traditional recipes require that the cakes be made two to three months before the wedding so that it can mature in wine and brandy. The icing acts as an airtight seal that can be decorated. These types of cakes can be stored for years if packed carefully.

Making smaller cup cakes can be easier than baking a tiered cake; these can be place on a cup cake stands which can be hired from a cake decorating supplier. If iced and decorated nicely this can look stunning.

image by sifu renka

If you decide to make cakes other than fruit cake, these can be baked well in advance and frozen un-iced, then thaw closer to the date and decorate.

When making your own cake(s) will need to work out the size and number of cakes that will be needed to serve all your wedding guests. Use the easy to follow chart below as a guide.

Approximate Wedding Cake Portions Servings Chart

Wedding Cake
Size

Round
Fruit
Serves

Round Sponge Serves

Square
Fruit
Serves

Square Sponge
Serves

Dessert Portions

13cm

5 inch

15cm

6 inch

18cm

7 inch

20cm

8 inch

23cm

9 inch

25cm

10 inch

27.5cm

11 inch

112

30cm

12 inch

100

134

35cm

14cm

115

196

Tiered Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cake
Size

Round
Fruit
Serves

Round Sponge Serves

Square
Fruit
Serves

Square Sponge
Serves

Dessert Portions

15, 20, 25 cm

6, 8, 10inch

136

20, 25, 30 cm

8, 10, 12 inch

208

105

278

139

15, 20, 25, 30 cm

6, 8, 10, 12 inch

236

116

314

156

20, 25, 30, 35 cm

8, 10, 12, 14 inch

323

169

474

237

120

15, 20, 25, 30, 35 cm

6, 8, 10, 12, 14 inch

351

180

510

254

130

How much you will get out of a cake will really depend on how large or small the pieces are cut. As a general rule:

1. Sponge and Chocolate Cake is cut at 10 x 2.5cm (2”x1”).

2. Fruit Cake is cut at 2.5cm (1") square.

3. Dessert portions are larger and usual cut from the sponge type cakes.

The top tier, for wedding cakes, should not be included in the portion calculation if it is to be kept for the first Anniversary or Christening.

As a guide hexagonal, octagonal shapes yield similar portions to square, whereas heart, petal and oval yield similar portions as to round cakes.

The smallest base that should be used for a two-tiered cake should be 25.5cm (10 inch).

Download PDF Cake Portion Chart

You will need Adobe PDF Reader to read this chart if you don’t have the free Adobe PDF Reader you can get it here.