Ingenious as this method may be, for solving 1 problem, I spot 2 new problems it creates: *1. Icing Overload* Near the end, when you've already gobbled up most of the cake, you'll be left with weird outside edgy bits, thick with icing but lacking sponge. The icing-sponge ratio of those last few pieces will be all wrong. *2. Tensile Stress Overload* In order to not get a massively oversized 1st slice, you'd have to cut quite a narrow block from the centre of the cake. The sponge may lack the strength to hold itself together, being so thin. At least with a wedge you maximise structural integrity by essentially having a traingular piece of cake. Thank you for reading this comment. If you enjoyed this comment, you might like to try reading other comments, such as the one below mine.
This might be satisfying for mathematicians, but a physicist will point out that the rubber band will stretch when put in a cool refridgerator. Thus the effect of the rubber band is nullified, and you've opened up for up to 4 times as much surface area exposal than what you tried to get away from when simply slicing out a wedge. A potentially more satisfying way would be to simply chop disks from off the bottom of the cake.
An Engineer might disagree with your efficiency. That is, your cake to icing ratio. A slightly better solution may be to cut a normal piece, then proceed to cut the cake in half from the tip of where the piece was. Then you could close the space where you took the piece and it would stay fresh. This would leave the edges on the other side dry, but you could just cut your next piece from the same spot you took your first, and it would be fresh on both sides. As long as you closed it up after each one, every piece would be moist until the last bit, but at least you didn't ever have a piece that was 90% cake with virtually no icing.
Yeah, the kind of cake Galton was thinking about, as I've heard about this problem, (1) was typically eaten by one person (2) was eaten over multiple days (3) did not have icing For cutting a birthday cake that's mostly or all going to get eaten at once, the conventional way seems fine, given that none of 1-3 apply to modern birthday cakes.
Thank you so much !!! Since Îve seen this, I cut my bread and my camembert (or Saint-Marcellin, or goat cheese) according to your cut and YES! it keeps fresh. (I live alone, bread and cheese last longer than a meal.)
Zed no it’s not, if you have one, and add a half, then add a quarter, then an eighth, etc. You don’t ever reach infinity, you don’t even get past 2, this is the same thing
Nah its not infinite, even with a atom-wide knife the cake piece would eventually turn to be a couple molecules wide, and for our human purposes that means no cake.
@@RonWolfHowl It depends on what you mean by "having fun", overthinking about mundane things like how to cut a cake wouldn't classify as having fun to most people.
This method works best for personal cakes that may take a while to finish. Nice that it keeps it moist. The traditional way works well with large groups who often eat majority or all of the cake right away.
+Dracolith1 You would use this method for storing the cake though, you wouldn't give out a cake from the day earlier at your party, hence the equal sharing with the pie method as it is all used at once
I'm sorry but if your icing is strong enough to resist a rubber band sinking into it, you have more things to worry about than a couple of edges getting dry. Unless of course, you are using Royal Icing or fondant. And I've worked at a Bakery for over 6 years now, and rarely do I see a cake which isn't iced with buttercream icing. But hey, if you like your cake iced with sweet modeling clay, all the more power to you.
yeah but the title suggests its something that should still be relevant. a scientific way to heighten efficiency or equal distribution etc. not simply to reduce the lowering of moisture. something which has been more effectively solved by introduction of other methods (which doesn't ruin equal distribution and things like that lol)
Nameguy did you not watch the video? he puts his hands all over the cake.. also the video doesnt show a method of not using rubber bands, hence completely irrelevant to my original comment.
So, you cut out the center and then put your filthy hands all over it and push it together. What if you have whipped cream frosting and not fondant? That could get messy.
He was referencing material from the 1800's. Perhaps they didn't have whipped cream and also needed to make cake last longer. Being a rarity for most. Your point is valid though.
That's exactly what I thought of when you asked what would be a better cutting technique. Well, the first cut anyways. After that, I just figured to cut more slices parallel to the first one. Here's what's wrong with it though. You are increasing the ratio of icing to cake with every slice. If you cut radial wedges (the "classic" way) you get an equal ratio for every piece. But your method starts with very low icing-to-cake ratio (as the size of the cake approaches infinity, the ratio of the first slice's ratio approaches the ratio of the thickness of the icing to the thickness of the cake), and continuously increases as the cutting continues, approaching infinity. I don't want to get one of those final 4 pieces that tastes like icing, rubber, and human hands.
And....the issue of people getting progressively smaller and smaller pieces of cake cannot be over-looked either. :) Who most enjoy cake for their birthdays? Kids. Who is most concerned with fairness (in regard to distribution of cake)? Kids.
In this case, it can not only approach infinity, but actually reach infinity -- or more correctly, "undefined" -- as well. (The icing-to-cake ratio, that is; not the size of the cake.) If you are down to just a very small remainder of the cake, and you cut the center out so that there are only 4 thin, vertical strips of icing left, then the ratio becomes undefined/infinity.
That's a hopeless way to cut a cake. 1. I've rarely seen a birthday cake that lasts beyond the 1st day. 2. It gets extremely complicated if you want to give everyone the same sized slice (the only consideration if it's a child's birthday cake).
...or you could just wrap it in foil or clingfilm and cut it normally so its fair? otherwise you get huge slices at the start and mostly icing at the end :/
Triangle wedges make it vastly simpler to make sure you cut enough equally sized pieces for everyone present. The cutting it out if the middle means each successive person gets less and less cake. Triangle wedges are superior.
The really UN-mathematical thing about this method is trying to evenly distribute individual slices to party guests. It'd be quite hard to give everyone an equal slice with this method. The traditional way suits me!
@@5gonza541 It's both mathematical (sorta) and practical (kinda, but moreso than mathematical), but only if you buy the cake only for yourself without anyone else to eat it with and there's a bunch of leftovers. But if you're a normal person, you wouldn't have leftovers. Or you would have larger cake and guests to eat the cake with.
It's hard to make equal slices with wedges too, which is why a typical solution to the fairness problem is to have one person cut and the other choose (for two people; there are more complicated rules for more people). I don't see why the same approach couldn't be used for this method.
+Official Officials You can't or else it can get dried because the rubber band squishes the pieces together so they keep moist, but if you do take it off it would be dried.
If you're that much of a loner that you have nobody to share your cake with, just make cupcakes. The icing on top and paper on the sides and bottom will protect the cake from going stale.
If you had the amount of friends this guy apparently has, a cake can last weeks. (Although, I'd think in one sitting once he got depressed over having no friends, he could just eat the whole thing himself and at least one problem solved)
The original "bad" way ensures equal distribution of icing, provided that each slice subtends the same angle. In Alex's method, you can't ever just eat a single piece. You have to cut two pieces each time in order to squeeze the two halves back together. If you consume only a single piece, you have the same problem that one has with the original method.
ANameThatIsn'tMyOwn There's a logistics problem: a piece of cake that is 1/4" (6mm) wide can't be delivered to the plate without breaking apart. Furthermore, a piece with a high-surface-area-to-volume ratio will undergo air exchange very rapidly, losing flavor.
+Tom Nally Many people like myself don't eat just 1 small piece of 1 small cake unless it's to be polite in which case someone else will have the other slice. If it's a very large cake it's probably for a event/occasion of some kind and normally most of it will get eaten on the day so if I judged it right this would work well even for a large cake.
Zeus if you had bothered to watch the whole video, you would know that the method in the video was invented in 1906. The guy in the video hasn't invented the method. He's just educating us on an interesting piece of history.
8 лет назад
That's the reason no one invites you to birthdays Bob
This is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in relation to cakes. Well done. No one eats a birthday cake one slice at a time since the purpose of a birthday cake is to enjoy it with family or friends. Secondly, the "correct" method does not yield equal slices, and "banding" the remaining halves together only works if the frosting is solid. If it is creamy, then you have a mess on your hands. Not to mention, rubber bands are not exactly sanitary.
What if someone chokes right before you cut his piece and dies, and the whole cake can't be eaten in one day anymore? I mean that can happen. And it even get worse the more people that choke and die before getting a piece...
sKebess The traditional way also makes sense in large groups because it's easier to cut equally sized pieces. With this new way you get progressively different sized slices. Which can lead to disputes!
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I really think this is useless if you're having a cake that doesn't have a sugar cover. How would you wrap an elastic band around a chocolate cake? You'd make a mess and ruin the biscuit.
+mrtemper85 If you cut the cake in a perfect 90° slice, then there's no need to use the elastic band. It's just an additional detail he used for the video.
Halfway mark of the video I was like, "Oh come on, tell us already how" Also, this is very impractical for cakes with with softer cream-like kind of icing. It's very messy to clump the pieces towards each other. I think the reason why we traditionally cut our cakes that way is to distribute the cake and icing evenly for each serving. I never encountered a cake in our house that'll last for that long anyway. Haha.
Another alternative would be to slice it horizontally, starting at the bottom and working up. The nice thing about that is the big frosting prize on the last slice for being patient. And while you are nibbling, no one notices the cake is getting smaller until it's gone . . .
Are you serious? Back in 1906 there was no tupperware containers, no plastic wrappers like Saran and not to say home refrigerators. If the issue is better ways to cut the cake to keep it fresh, there are better ways to do it with today technology.
What, you mean you're not down to chop your cake in half, give people different sized slices, mush your hands all over the cake, and utterly ruin anything not done in fondant? Come now, surely you recognize that this method is both scientific and superior! You must now recognize that your archaic plebeian method is wrong! [;)]
But there was butcher paper, cake or cookie tins, and brandy-soaked cheesecloth. This wasn't a problem for anyone who actually managed a kitchen, it was a hypothetical.
And then you have loads of icing at the end. Nothing's wrong with the normal way. Just cover it up or put it in a box to stop it getting dry! Who spends that long eating a cake anyway lol
I wouldn't say this is the "right" way or even an efficient way of cutting cake. I have a sense that the rubber bands will not work on a cake with soft icing, such as whipped cream. Also, why would you leave food uncovered in the fridge in the first place? Have it covered by a lid or store it in a box or wrap it it plastic foil and it won't get dry so quickly. And is it really that bad if one side of a piece of cake is dry? That's like 1% of the cake that's dry. 99% of the piece is still fresh. Just shove that thing in your mouth. If you don't expect to eat it in one, two, or three days, eat/buy a smaller cake. I can go on and on, because I love cake, in lovely triangular pieces.
either way its not gonna be perfect one way you have one dry side but equal slices the other you have nice softness but all the pieces are different sizes.
Lucarioguild7 do some math and you can figure out where you would need to cut it for slices that are exactly the same size. (although the shape may be diverent)
That method may work fine for hard-icy cakes. Soft icing (as used in Mexico) would summon a mess. I actually learned another way, cutting small arc portions, let's say, pi/6 or less depending on the diameter. Work it out inwards, until you get a cylindrical core (softest part!). If any leftovers, there's always a Pyrex or Rubbermaid hermetic container at hand.
Interesting. But most cake actually have mushy middle with all those cream and jam and won't hold up this way. Seems like it'd only work with those hard fruit cakes...and let's be honest, who likes fruit cakes anyway?
