How much does this cake weigh?
Every tier weighed with its board and its covering, plus the courier band, the load on the bottom tier, and whether one person can carry it.
Free. No signup needed.The short answer
A 10 inch round cake, 4 inches tall with three layers and covered in fondant, weighs about 3 kg, which is 6 lb 12 oz. An 8 inch is about 2 kg, a 6 inch about 1.2 kg and a 12 inch about 4.25 kg. A three tier 6, 8 and 10 inch in fondant over marzipan comes to roughly 8.7 kg on its drum, which is a 10 kg courier band and just inside a one person lift. Add about 400 g for the box before you quote a courier.
How much does this cake weigh?
BakerInbox
The cake, bottom tier first
Bottom tier
3.37 kg
This tier is carrying 2.04 kg of cake above it. That is the load the dowels have to take.
Top tier
2.04 kg
Finished cake weighs
5.41 kg
2 tiers, boards included
Courier band
10 kg
With a box, 4.19 kg of headroom left
Heaviest part
Sponge
Where the weight actually is
Carrying it
One person
Manageable alone, with a flat base
Weights are worked from the real volume of each tier at baked sponge density, plus the filling between the layers, the covering over the outside and the board underneath. A cake drum is heavier than most people expect and is often the single heaviest thing in the box, so it is counted rather than ignored. Treat the total as accurate to within about ten percent: recipes differ, and a generously filled cake weighs more than a lean one.
Delivery is the easy bit once you know the weight. BakerInbox tracks the order and the date.
Start free trialCake weight charts
| Round cake | Naked, no covering | Buttercream | Fondant over buttercream | Fondant over marzipan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 in15 cm | 780 g1 lb 12 oz | 970 g2 lb 2 oz | 1.23 kg2 lb 12 oz | 1.69 kg3 lb 11 oz |
| 8 in20 cm | 1.39 kg3 lb 1 oz | 1.66 kg3 lb 11 oz | 2.04 kg4 lb 8 oz | 2.70 kg5 lb 15 oz |
| 10 in25 cm | 2.16 kg4 lb 12 oz | 2.54 kg5 lb 9 oz | 3.05 kg6 lb 12 oz | 3.94 kg8 lb 11 oz |
| 12 in30 cm | 3.11 kg6 lb 14 oz | 3.59 kg7 lb 15 oz | 4.25 kg9 lb 6 oz | 5.40 kg11 lb 15 oz |
A plain sponge 4 inches tall, 3 layers, 4 mm of filling between them, on a thin cake card. A richer cake weighs more: a mud cake is about a fifth heavier than these figures and a rich fruit cake is nearly half as heavy again.
Tiered cakes, and what the base carries
| Tiers | Total weight | On the bottom tier | Courier band | Carrying it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8, 6 in | 3.50 kg7 lb 11 oz | 1.23 kg | 5 kg | One person |
| 10, 8 in | 5.41 kg11 lb 15 oz | 2.04 kg | 10 kg | One person |
| 10, 8, 6 in | 6.65 kg14 lb 10 oz | 3.28 kg | 10 kg | One person |
| 12, 10, 8 in | 9.78 kg21 lb 9 oz | 5.09 kg | 15 kg | Two people |
| 12, 10, 8, 6 in | 11.02 kg24 lb 5 oz | 6.33 kg | 15 kg | Two people |
Fondant covered, on a cake drum at the base and thin cards above. The third column is the load the dowels in the bottom tier have to carry, which is everything stacked on top of it. Over about nine kilos, deliver the tiers separately and stack at the venue.
How much the recipe changes it
| Cake | Against a sponge | An 8 in, 4 in tall | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria or plain sponge | Baseline | 2.04 kg | The lightest of the lot, and the standard the batter calculator works in. |
| Madeira or butter cake | 12% heavier | 2.20 kg | Denser, which is why it is what people carve and stack. |
| Chocolate or mud cake | 20% heavier | 2.30 kg | Wet, sugary batter. Heavier than it looks. |
| Carrot or banana | 10% heavier | 2.17 kg | The fruit and veg add weight and water. |
| Rich fruit cake | 45% heavier | 2.62 kg | By far the heaviest. A 12 in fruit tier on a thin board is a genuine hazard. |
Made with BakerInbox. Free cake tools at bakerinbox.com/tools
What the weight is for
One number settles four decisions: the courier band you pay for, whether the drum under it holds, what the dowels in the bottom tier carry, and whether you need a second pair of hands.
Postage
A courier quote is a weight band, and guessing costs money
Couriers price in bands: 2 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 15 kg. A 12 inch fondant cake weighs about 4.25 kg, and with a 400 g box that leaves roughly 350 g of headroom in the 5 kg band. One taller tier, one heavier box, and you are paying for 10 kg. The calculator gives you the band and what is left in it before you book. Then work out what to charge for delivery, because the weight and the mileage are two different costs.
The board
The drum is the heaviest thing nobody counts
A 12 mm cake drum under a 10 inch cake weighs about 385 g. The thin card the same size weighs 62 g. Six times the weight, sitting under everything, and most guesses leave it out completely. It also decides whether the cake stays flat, because a 3 mm board under a 5 kg fruit tier bends, and a bent board slides. What size cake board you need comes first, then the thickness follows the weight.
Dowels
A tier carries what is above it, not the whole cake
On a three tier 6, 8 and 10 inch in fondant over marzipan, the base carries about 4.4 kg. That, not the 8.7 kg total, is the load the dowels have to hold, and it is what sets how many go in and whether plastic will do. How many dowels a tiered cake needs takes that number straight from here.
Carrying it
Over about nine kilos, stack it at the venue
Nine kilos is the line for one person carrying a boxed cake with their arms out and no view of their feet. It sits well under a warehouse lifting limit on purpose, because a cake cannot be gripped and dropping one costs the whole order. A four tier 6, 8, 10 and 12 inch at 5 inches tall comes to about 13.4 kg in fondant and 17 kg over marzipan. Past the line, travel with the tiers on their own boards and stack on site. How big a wedding cake for your guest count sets the tiers before you weigh them.
The recipe
A fruit cake is nearly half as heavy again
Baked sponge runs about 0.42 g per cubic centimetre, which is where the familiar 700 g for an 8 inch by 2 inch layer comes from, out of a standard tin or pan. Madeira is about a tenth heavier, a mud cake a fifth, and a rich fruit cake nearly half again: 2.6 kg against 2 kg for the same 8 inch. The covering counts as much as the crumb. That 8 inch is 1.4 kg naked, 1.65 kg in buttercream, 2 kg in fondant, and 2.7 kg once marzipan goes under the fondant.
FAQ
Common questions
How much does a 10 inch cake weigh?
About 3 kg, or 6 lb 12 oz, for a 10 inch round sponge 4 inches tall with three layers and a fondant covering, on a thin card. On a 12 mm drum it is nearer 3.4 kg. Without any covering the same cake is about 2.15 kg.
How much does an 8 inch cake weigh?
About 2 kg, or 4 lb 8 oz, covered in fondant. Naked it is about 1.4 kg and in buttercream about 1.65 kg. A single 8 inch sponge layer 2 inches deep, on its own, weighs roughly 700 g.
How heavy is a 3 tier wedding cake?
About 8.7 kg, or 19 lb, for 6, 8 and 10 inch tiers at 4 inches tall, finished in fondant over marzipan and sitting on a 12 mm drum. In plain fondant with no marzipan it drops to about 6.7 kg. Both are inside a one person lift, but only just.
How much does a tiered cake weigh for delivery?
Add about 400 g for the box on top of the cake, then read the courier band. A two tier 8 and 10 inch in fondant is about 5.4 kg and lands in a 10 kg band. A three tier at 8.7 kg is still in the 10 kg band. A four tier at 5 inches tall goes past 13 kg and into the 15 kg one.
How much does a cake drum weigh?
A 12 inch drum, the one that goes under a 10 inch cake, weighs about 385 g. The 3 mm board the same size is about 125 g and the thin card about 62 g. On a three tier the boards come to about 455 g together, and the base drum is most of that, more than all the filling between the layers.
Does fondant make a cake heavier?
Yes, by a lot. Covering an 8 inch cake in fondant, or sugarpaste, adds about 650 g over a naked cake and roughly 380 g more than buttercream does. Fondant over marzipan is two full layers, so the same 8 inch goes from 2 kg to about 2.7 kg.
How much does a fruit cake weigh?
Nearly half as heavy again as a sponge of the same size. An 8 inch fruit cake in fondant is about 2.6 kg against 2 kg for a sponge, and a 12 inch fruit tier under marzipan and fondant on a drum is about 7.1 kg. That is why a fruit tier is the one that bends boards and snaps dowels.
Can one person carry a tiered cake?
Up to about 9 kg, yes. A three tier 6, 8 and 10 inch sits just under the line at 8.7 kg. Past that, take the tiers separately on their own boards and stack them at the venue. A four tier at 5 inches tall is 13 kg or more and is a two person lift every time.
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