How To Cut A Cake Into Perfect Portions
With our step-by-step guide and a few simple tricks, you’ll learn how to cut a cake like a true food stylist: into exactly the same, beautiful pieces for each of your guests.
Any special occasion that requires some of impressive cake and pastry recipes with an impeccable presentation on the table will likewise require perfectly symmetrical portions for our guests. After having spent hours in the kitchen weighing ingredients, baking, and preparing the cake, it would be a shame if when you cut it the pieces were uneven or worse, crumbled when cut incorrectly. Fortunately, getting perfect portions worthy of photography is quite simple, and we will see that with a few easy-to-apply tips our cake slices will turn out so beautiful that our guests will be speechless.
To do this, we will delve into the art of cutting a cake. We will review some simple tips that will make your cakes look like they were made by expert pastry chefs. We will see that with minimal effort and in the simplest way, we can divide the cake into exactly equal portions and with a masterful cut. Additionally, with our step-by-step guide, we guarantee that each piece will be perfect. At the end, we include a small section that will help us hide a possible error when cutting all the portions.
Previous tips for cutting perfect cake slices
Before getting to work and wanting to cut the cake directly, we must pay attention to some small details that perhaps we had overlooked until now and that will determine the perfect cut of each of the portions of our cake.
The temperature of the cake
We preferably like cakes at room temperature, but if we buy them ready-made, they usually come refrigerated or even frozen. If this is the case and the cake is completely frozen, the ideal is to leave it in the refrigerator and let it defrost little by little; If it comes refrigerated, the temperature will be ideal so that the cuts are completely uniform.
If we have prepared the cake at home, it is best to let it cool quickly in the refrigerator for a few minutes before cutting it. The reason is simple: the cake will not be cold, but this simple trick will help the cake coverage to solidify a little so that when cutting the portions they come out perfect. It will be enough to put the cake in the refrigerator 15 minutes before we are going to cut it. In the case of cakes with a creamy consistency such as cheesecake, or 3 chocolate cake, the ideal is to let the cake rest in the refrigerator until it has cooled completely. That is, it will have to be left to rest for at least 4 hours before cutting it.
The type of knife
Another aspect that we must take into account when cutting a cake into perfect portions is the type of knife we need. Cutting a carrot cake, whose base is layers of sponge cake with traditional frosting, is not the same as cutting a creamy cheesecake.
In the case of cakes whose base is sponge cake, it is best to opt for long serrated knives that allow for a more uniform cut. In the same way, we will cut using the saw, that is, gently pressing the knife downwards while making forward and backward movements until cutting the portions.
For creamy cakes such as cheese, we will use an onion-type knife with a wide and stable blade that allows for an even cut. In this case, the cut will be done in one go by pressing the knife downwards.
The infallible trick: moisten the knife in hot water
Something essential that will make a difference in our cake slices is to moisten the knife (preferably a long blade) with hot water before making each cut. Furthermore, once moist and free of cake residue, we must wipe it with a clean cloth to dry it and leave it as good as new before making the next cut. To avoid having to continually turn on and off the tap, we can fill the base of an elongated dish with hot water and immerse the knife several times before having to change it.
A step-by-step guide to cutting a cake into equal portions
Whether round, square or rectangular, with our step-by-step guide, cutting a cake will be a piece of cake. We will see that it is so simple that from now on we will think about this simple guide every time we have to distribute a cake into exactly equal portions.
Mark before cutting
Before cutting with the knife, if we are not very clear, a good idea is to mark the cutting areas. To do this, in the case of round cakes, we will make a first division into 4 equal parts, marking gently with the blade of the knife without actually making the cut. If we want to be even more precise, we can do it with kitchen twine.
If the cake is square, we will do the same step, dividing the square into 4 equal parts starting from a vertical line and another horizontal line. If the cake is rectangular, it will be enough to mark a vertical line that divides it into two pieces of the same size.
The first division of the pie
Once the first division has been marked, we will wet the knife with hot water, dry it and proceed to make two symmetrical cuts: one vertically that divides the cake into two equal halves, and another horizontal that gives us 4 divisions of the same size. It is essential to repeat the action of wetting and drying the knife every time we are going to make a new cut. This is essential since this will prevent crumbs and frosting from sticking to the knife with each cut of the cake and transferring to the next portion.
If the cake is square, our first vertical line will divide the cake into two symmetrical rectangles which, in turn, we will divide into another 4 with another vertical line. If we have a rectangular cake, the way to make this first division will only consist of making that first vertical cut that divides the rectangle in two.
Finish portioning the cake
Once the first cuts are made, we will proceed to repeat the same action of the lines, but this time we will divide those 4 large portions into another 6 of the same size. If each portion already has the size that you consider appropriate according to the number of guests and the size of the cake, we will already have the cake perfectly portioned. Otherwise, all we will have to do is repeat the action one more time, getting smaller pieces.
With our square cake already divided into 4 large portions, we will draw another two vertical lines again, leaving the same space between them, and if we want smaller portions, we will draw two other horizontal lines in the same way. If we continue with cutting our rectangular cake, what we will do is make two more vertical cuts, which divide the cake into 4 rectangles of the same size. If you want smaller portions, we can make a single horizontal cut that divides the cake in two.
Serve the cake
Once the entire cake has been cut into equal portions, carefully remove the portions with the help of a spatula of the appropriate size for each of them. The best way to do this is to stick the spatula to the base and place it just below each serving, so you can easily slide each one back to serve on an individual plate. In the same way, we will remove the pieces of a square or rectangular cake, taking into account only the size of the spatula.
How to fix a bad cut
In case we made a mistake making any of the cuts or we forgot to rinse the knife and dragged the crumbs and frosting with it, there is no need to worry, this is how we fix it. We must rinse the knife again, and gently run it over the edges that have excess glaze. If we see that it is not enough, we will just have to be a little more original when serving the cake and accompany those portions with a little whipped cream, a scoop of ice cream, and a few assorted red fruits.