How Much Buttercream for Cake Calculator
Estimate buttercream for cake filling, crumb coat, final coat, piping, and overage from your cake shape, size, layers, coating thickness, frosting style, and finish.
Choose a starting point for common layer cakes, tall cakes, sheet cakes, and celebration finishes. Each preset fills the calculator and runs the estimate.
Buttercream Breakdown
| Cake Size | 2 Layers Smooth | 3 Layers Smooth | With Piping | Good Batch Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 inch round | 3 to 4 cups | 4 to 5 cups | 5 cups | One small batch |
| 8 inch round | 5 to 6 cups | 6 to 8 cups | 8 to 9 cups | One large batch |
| 9 inch round | 6 to 8 cups | 8 to 10 cups | 10 to 12 cups | Two small batches |
| 10 inch round | 8 to 10 cups | 10 to 12 cups | 12 to 14 cups | Two large batches |
| 12 inch round | 12 to 15 cups | 15 to 18 cups | 18 to 21 cups | Plan in parts |
| Use | Typical Thickness | Look | Calculator Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thin filling | 1/8 inch | Light layer | Lower center volume |
| Standard filling | 1/4 inch | Balanced slice | Most layer cakes |
| Crumb coat | 1/16 to 1/8 inch | Seals crumbs | Small outside volume |
| Smooth final coat | 3/16 to 1/4 inch | Clean finish | Main outside volume |
| Thick bakery coat | 5/16 inch | Deep icing | More scraping extra |
| Cake Shape | Common Size | Smooth Icing | Border Piping | Heavy Decor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square layer cake | 8 x 8 inch | 5 to 7 cups | Add 1 cup | Add 2 cups |
| Square layer cake | 10 x 10 inch | 9 to 12 cups | Add 1.5 cups | Add 3 cups |
| Quarter sheet | 9 x 13 inch | 5 to 7 cups | Add 1 cup | Add 2 cups |
| Half sheet | 12 x 18 inch | 9 to 12 cups | Add 2 cups | Add 4 cups |
| Tall rectangle | 11 x 15 inch | 10 to 14 cups | Add 2 cups | Add 4 cups |
| Frosting Style | Approx Cup Weight | Texture | Best Calculator Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| American buttercream | 4.6 oz per cup | Sturdy and sweet | Default layer cakes |
| Swiss meringue buttercream | 5.0 oz per cup | Silky and light | Smooth finish |
| Italian meringue buttercream | 5.1 oz per cup | Glossy and stable | Tall tiers |
| Ermine buttercream | 4.8 oz per cup | Soft and creamy | Classic cakes |
| Chocolate buttercream | 5.3 oz per cup | Dense and rich | Thicker coats |
Uses a thin scraped final coat and very little side buildup.
Balanced base for filled layer cakes with clean sides.
Needs more frosting because ridges hold extra buttercream.
Rosettes, shells, borders, and florals add fast volume.
Buttercream are used for three specific function on a cake. Each of these three function of buttercream on a cake require a different amount of buttercream to accomplish its function. The first function of buttercream on a cake is that it act as the cake’s filling, sitting between the layer of the cake.
The second function of buttercream is that it act as a crumb coat to seal the crumbs in the cake. Finally, buttercream can act as the outer coat of the cake. The total amount of buttercream that is require for a cake depends on the size of the cake, the number of layer of the cake, and whether piping decoration will be made on the cake.
How Much Buttercream You Need for a Cake
The shape of the cake will change the amount of buttercream require for the cake. This is because the shape of the cake will change the surface area of the cake. A round cake will have less surface area on the sides of the cake then a square cake of the same width.
A sheet cake will have a more greater surface area than a round cake of the same size. The cake buttercream calculator can calculate these amount of buttercream required to coat the cake in various way. The height of the cake layer will impact the amount of buttercream required to coat the cake.
The higher the layers of the cake, the higher the sides of the cake will be. Higher side to the cake will require the use of more buttercream to coat the sides of the cake. A cake composed of four thin layer will be of a different height than a cake composed of three thick layer of cake.
You must provide the height of the baked cake layer to the calculator to determine the amount of buttercream required to coat the cake. The thickness of the buttercream filling for the layers of the cake is a variable that the person making the cake can be chose. The thicker the layer of buttercream that is use within the layers of the cake, the more buttercream the cake will use overall.
A quarter-inch thick layer is a thick layer of buttercream but may make the cake taste dry if it is too thin. The buttercream layer only exist within the layers of the cake; it does not coat the side of the cake. If no buttercream is used within the layers, there will be less buttercream required for the cake.
The crumb coat and the final application of buttercream is both important for creating a well coated cake. However, they both use the buttercream in different way. A thin crumb coat will use less buttercream than a thick crumb coat.
However, the final application of buttercream will be thicker to cover the texture of the cake if it was coated in a thin crumb coat. If a thick crumb coat is used, the final application of buttercream can be thinner. These two component are separated in the buttercream calculator because they are trade-offs of one another.
The different style of buttercream will have different weight of buttercream per cup. For instance, American buttercream will contain more sugar than Swiss meringue buttercream. Therefore, American buttercream will weigh more than Swiss meringue buttercream.
This information is important for scaling the recipe. The buttercream calculator will account for the different style of buttercream so that the final weight come to an accurate number for the specific type of buttercream. The decorations that are piped on the cake will add to the total amount of buttercream required.
Such decorations as borders will use buttercream at a different rate than rosettes. Twenty-five percent more buttercream will be needed for heavy piping as opposed to a simple border decoration. This amount is account for in the buttercream calculator in the field for overage of buttercream needed.
This accounts for both the buttercream used in decorating the cake and the buttercream that is lost during scraping and color tinting of the buttercream. Environmental factor can alter the use of buttercream on a cake. However, a buttercream calculator cannot account for these environmental factor.
High levels of humidity can make the buttercream soft. High temperature in the kitchen will also make the buttercream soft. Soft buttercream will be easy to spread on the cake but may cause the cake to slide.
Using gel color for the buttercream can alter the consistency of the buttercream. It is more common for an individual to use too little buttercream than too much buttercream. When an individual run out of buttercream while piping it on the cake, they will have to make a new batch of buttercream.
The second batch may not be the same as the first batch. If there is extra buttercream, it can be store in the fridge for touch-ups to the cake or for practicing piping skill. Ten to fifteen percent of the calculated amount of buttercream should of be made extra to ensure that there is enough buttercream for the cake decorating process.
