No matter how great your round cake looks, the way you cut it can make or break it. You want to cut clean, uniform pieces from your cake. Who wants to eat a mush-up pile of crumbs and frosting?
Cut the cake in half.
The best knife for cutting cakes and tarts is a 12- to 14-inch long serrated knife.
Think of a cake as a clock, with 12 o'clock at the far end. Plunge the tip of the knife at 12 o'clock and cut straight down, sliding the knife out beneath 6 o'clock (without raising the knife). When you cut, use a gentle sawing motion.
Cut across the cake from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock.
The cake is now cut into quarters.
To get 16 even slices from a 10-inch cake, take one quarter of the cake and, using the knife, cut it in half; cut each half again in half and repeat with the remaining cake quarters.
Have a deep container of hot water (or a warm, wet towel or sponge) nearby to plunge your knife into between slices. You want to remove crumbs clinging to the blade between slices — they mar the surface of the next cut. Also, a wet knife cuts through cake easier and cleaner.
