A cake cutting ceremony is not complete without a small toast and a slice of cake. However, the traditional way of taking a piece of cake from a wedge is flawed.
A new solution has been found to solve this problem. Mathematicians have come up with an elegant method for dividing 생일케이크 cakes that ensures that no one will envy another person’s piece.
Getting Ready
If your cake cutting is following other events on your wedding day timeline, consider having one of the bridal party or your catering staff set up a table for the couple with their decorative cake knife, server and a plate for each slice. You will also need a few important utensils like forks, napkins and two glasses of champagne.
Choose a clean and well-lit space for your cake cutting. This is a special moment that your guests will want to capture with their cameras. Consider using a backdrop with drapery or flowers. If you plan to use a lightbox during your wedding, set it up for this occasion so that you have great lighting for the ceremony and cake cutting photos.
Get the Right Tools
A large, sharp knife is needed for a clean, even cut. A dull knife will drag and smear frosting instead of cutting cleanly. It’s a good idea to have the knife warm and ready before starting the cutting. If not, the first slices will be messy, and it can be difficult to get back to clean cuts without a lot of wiping with a paper towel.
Start the cutting with a line around the perimeter of the cake. This will help you to easily pick out a wedge of cake for each person. For best results, encourage the couple to take dainty bites rather than huge mouthfuls. This looks better in photos and is more comfortable for them to eat.
Cutting the Cake
The cake cutting may be the most dramatic moment of the whole wedding reception. After spending hours perfecting the layers and slathering them in frosting, you want that first slice to be flawless. The best way to get a clean cut is to run your knife under hot water or dip it in a container of warm water, then wipe it off before you start cutting. The knife will be sturdier and less likely to squish the cake or leave crumbs behind.
A small serrated knife (like the one you might use to cut tomatoes) is ideal for a round cake, but even a large serrated bread knife works well. It’s a good idea to score a line on the top of the cake before you cut it, and make sure each slice is even in size.
If you have a square or rectangular cake, it’s easier to cut because those cakes are shorter. Start by making a cut straight down the center, then from one side, make a 90-degree angle perpendicular to your first cut. This will create two equal slices, and you can save the “heel” end pieces for guests who love lots of frosting but not a lot of cake.
The Cutting
The cake cutting is a moment you’ll look back on for years to come. So it’s important to get it right. For starters, make sure your cake knife is long enough to slice through all of the frosting. It’s also a good idea to refrigerate your cake for about 10 to 15 minutes before you cut it. This helps set the frosting so it won’t smear as you slice through it.
It’s also important to have a good spot to display your cake, and that it’s easily accessible to all of your guests. That includes Auntie Celia who’s in a wheelchair and wants to see the happy couple making their first cut together!
When it comes to the actual cutting, you’ll need a long serrated knife and two wooden sticks that are equal in size (10 mm). It’s best to practice before the big day so you know how to hold your arms and hands. A good tip is to wipe the knife with a damp cloth after each use. That way it won’t stick to the frosting and cause uneven slices.
The Reaction
Whether it’s a 5 tier elaborate wedding cake or a simple slice of carrot cake from the grocery store, cutting the cake is an emotional moment for all involved. It’s a symbol of the couple starting their new life together, and it’s a moment that needs to be captured for generations to come.
For this reason, cake cutting is often a contested event, with couples fighting over who gets the first bite and how they should cut the remainder of the piece. But if a couple followed the advice from the mathematicians behind this new cake-cutting algorithm, they’d be able to avoid those arguments and still get their perfect slice of cake.
The key to the new cake-cutting method, which Aziz and Mackenzie call 3SC (for “three-person, single-cake”), is that it gives players a chance to show their true valuation function—that is, what they really want from the cake.
This is accomplished by assigning each player an initial value for the cake and then asking them to allocate the parts in the manner that maximizes their utility.
For example, if your friend made a chocolate layer much larger than the vanilla layer then you would like that portion more and be willing to trade some of your own pieces for it. If you are not strategic, however, then you might take the trimmed slice even though you have negligible utility for it.