Cake Ratio & Baking Loss

One common question I am asked always! What's the cake ratio?

When I started baking three years ago, I did not know how much cake to bake for one kg order! I would take my favourite recipe, divide the recipe according to the servings, bake the cake & frost! Most of the times my cake would be overweight, I would be happy, sometimes the cake would weigh less and a few times terribly less and that would put me into a never ending chain actions until I calculate the weight loss & pay the customer back. That's when I decided to learn about cake ratio.

  🔒What's a Cake Ratio? A Cake ratio refers to the ratio between cake & frosting. Usually a cake is made of one or more of the below components (not necessarily all) • Cake Sponge • Frosting • Filling • Moistener/Syrup The ratio of the weight of the above components change based on which cake and which frosting you are combining it with! There are several types of sponges, some are airy, some light and a few heavy & dense. Although it's quite difficult to create a formula based on the sponge type, we will discuss the ratios on a high level. Henceforth the ratio will be in the order of Sponge:Frosting:Syrup | Filling for a cake is usually charged additional so this won't form a part of the formula and shall come above the weight of the cake. 🔐Whipping Cream Frosting- which is non dairy. Whipping cream is a very light frosting & does not take much weight so the ratio of cream is comparatively lesser than other mediums. Whipping cream Butter sponge: 50:30:20 French genoise: 60:30:10 🔐Chocolate Ganache Frosting A chocolate cake that uses ganache as a frosting is heavier. So the ratio goes like this Truffle sponge: 50:50:0 I don't use sugar syrup in my chocolate cake as my chocolate sponge is extremely moist & tender. I believe in using a utmost soft sponge for a chocolate cake because the ganache hardens indefinitely when it's chilled. 🔐Buttercream Frosting Although there are different types of buttercream frosting the ratio difference is only slightly variant. Butter based sponge- 50:50:0 No sugar syrup again here! Butter from the frosting keeps the cake really moist & doesn't need an outside moistener. 🔒Ratio Directions for 1 kilogram of cake 60:30:10 Sponge:600g Frosting:300g Syrup:100g When this weight of cake has to get into the plates of your customer, so how much to bake? Here are the points that will help you calculate the weight of the cake that has to be baked, 🔐Baking Loss Consider the baking loss, frankly there is not a precise formula that can be help you blindly calculate. Trust me- the best way is only trial & note. •Calculate the weight of the batter before and note it down •Bake the cake until the top is soft brown, allow it to cool thoroughly and note the weight •Now Baking loss=weight(batter-cake) •Do this for all your favourite sponges and keep it handy 🔐Decorators Loss Parts of the cake that is trimmed for layering & decorating • Caremelised Top & Bottom, Heat on the surface of the cake is usually high and this caramelises the sugar & butter in the cake forming a crust. Although this is tasty, it is usually is removed to give the final cake a beautiful layering & also to give more strength to the layers. Also caramelised parts don't absorb sugar syrup or stick with frosting! So it's wise to remove. •Domb & Cracks of the cake, there are several reasons why a domb happens and let's talk about it on a different day! A simple secret to not have a domb on your cake is to fill the cake tin with 1/4th batter. What's the loss here? Once again trial & note, as this changes with every sponge. usual loss is about 20% of the baked cake or less 🔐🔐 The big question: How much to bake? For a ratio like this: 60:30:10 60% is the cake, 600g is the cake that my client is going to eat Baking loss- for a pound cake is about 10% So we need to bake 60g Decorators loss- 20% of 660 which is 135gTotal cake I would bake will be 795g This is my take on cake ratio, feel free to use what suits you.