Picture the scene, Cake on table, hand holding knife posied to cut. How much would you like? Oh, just a small bit. Well how much is that 150g, a piece 247 mm3 or 15° of the total?
What we need is a universal cake slice size, perhaps based on the number of calories, or the number of chocolate chips in each section.
Lets say Blob, Smidgen, Dollop, and Lump are 5.625°, 11.25.°, 22.5°and 45° respectivly.
So next time someone asks, just say I'll have two lumps please.-- eight_nine_tortoise, Mar 27 2009 [xandram]'s solution OctoPie [theleopard, Mar 27 2009] Five minute coffee mug chocolate cake http://frugalhome.b...offee-mug-cake.htmlBye-bye diet! [wagster, Mar 28 2009] The inchlovers would go separate ways again; I'll have a Trifle - Oh, thats 2.75643 dollops, right? - No, actually 1.629 Smidgens, i'm from Idaho, you see?-- loonquawl, Mar 27 2009 Those units are relative - a Lump of a jam tart is an entirely different beast to a Blob of Mega Pie.
I do like the idea of named common angles - sure, we already have a Right Angle, but you'd expect there to already be a name for 45°, 30°, 15°, 6° and other common slice-sizes. I think Quadrant and Octant already exist for 45° and 22œ° respectively. Presumably, you could use similar notation for Triant, Decant, Hexadecant etc-- zen_tom, Mar 27 2009 I normally use hours for a small cake, or minutes for a big one.-- wagster, Mar 27 2009 Just a sliver for me please.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 27 2009 And then there's fingers.-- zen_tom, Mar 27 2009 Would you be prepared to give me five minutes of your cake? - That would be a tad too much, but i could give you the finger.-- loonquawl, Mar 27 2009 meh, eating desserts should not be so complicated. As long as it is a social event and not a competition.-- dentworth, Mar 27 2009 //"No thanks, I have a nut alergy".// <knowingly>Yeah, a fine response, until one day someone offers you a nut-free bacon-cake.</k>-- zen_tom, Mar 27 2009 I prefer cake free bacon nuts.-- eight_nine_tortoise, Mar 27 2009 I agree with [bigsleep] that any standardized unit of cake should be based on the caloric content. What would be useful would be to express this in time units required to then work off those calories. So a standard cheesecake would be, say, a 6 hour cake and eating a 15° slice would then require 15 minutes of standardized exercise to burn off what's eaten. A 15°slice of a 2 hour spongecake would only cost you 5 minutes. Low fat cakes could then be advertised as 30 minute cakes as compared to their 5 hour full cream equivalents for example. If nothing else, it could help in planning how much time you'd need to spend in the gym that evening.-- shudderprose, Mar 27 2009 Shuds, can I have the GI equivalent please? As cream is low GI I tend to eat a lot of it.-- eight_nine_tortoise, Mar 27 2009 Just go for being greedy, and use integers of cake, rather than decimals. Hmmm, I'll have 2 carrot cakes, and one of zen's mega pie. I do like the idea of standardising Blob, smidgen etc. Their equivalent units of time (tick, jiffy etc.) are already defined after all.-- MadnessInMyMethod, Mar 27 2009 usually we are served at the host's discretion, that being polite. The good host will not overserve or underserve a guest. To put a fine point on the size of your slice is to be rude. If it is too much leave some on your plate, if it is too little you may politely ask after seconds.-- WcW, Mar 27 2009 //Lets say Blob, Smidgen, Dollop, and Lump// Those darn proper Euros with their metric system. I never could get it.
I measure my cake like my horses. By the hand of coarse. I'll have 2 hands worth. And please give me 3 hands worth of frosting too!!!
A big + for the idea. It's about time we measured our cakes.-- blissmiss, Mar 27 2009 Circular cakes are traditionally cut in 'pie' segments to the centre[1]. Therefore giving an angle[2] for the cake in question is precise and sufficient. Rectangular and cylindrical or prism format cakes have the even more trivial solution of specifying the width of the slice desired.
I don't think that adding a series of names would improve matters.
[1] The same applies to spheroidal cakes and, indeed, any with a high degree of rotational symmetry. [2] in degrees - or radians for particularly mathematical households-- Loris, Mar 28 2009 [eight_nine_tortoise], a GI equivalent of a caloric load is not possible I'm afraid, as there is no relationship between the 2. It'd be a case of mixing your apple pies with a banana bread.-- shudderprose, Mar 28 2009 Or indeed with your orange sherbet?-- blissmiss, Mar 28 2009 Was just sent a recipe for a cake that you can actually make in 5 mins - cooking it and all. Real cake. In five mins. Serious. It's LOVELY. (link)-- wagster, Mar 28 2009 Blobs and Smidgens? Cake (especially cream cake) should be measured by the mouthful; where a mouthful is defined as enough cake to not only fill the recipient mouth but also enough to create a satisfying and undignified mess around the lips and chin and, possibly, the tip of the nose too.-- DrBob, Mar 30 2009 random, halfbakery