You've Been Cutting Cake Wrong Your Entire Life

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published 14 October 2015

We've just been hit with the mind-boggling realization that we've been cutting cakes the wrong way for our entire lives. Do you take to your round cakes (opens in new tab) with the triangular slice method? Well, here's a bit of life-changing information—or at the very least a handy tidbit for your next birthday party (opens in new tab):

The triangular slice is not the "scientific" way to cut a cake. Instead, writer and mathematician Alex Bellos recommends a different approach, which helps keep any leftovers fresher longer. He cites a Letter to the Editor from (opens in new tab)Nature (opens in new tab), a weekly science magazine, that dates back to December 1906.

Following the century-old notes and illustrations, Bellos cuts a round cake down the middle (gasp!) and removes one long rectangular piece at a time, allowing the two halves, and then four quarters, to be pushed back together again. Check out his video tutorial and prepare to be amazed.

Of course if you really want to up your cake-serving game, break out the dental floss for the cleanest cuts (opens in new tab) you've ever seen. Seriously.

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7-second life story: I was pre-med in college, until I realized that I could turn baking my problems away (instead of doing my chem homework) into a profession. Hometown: Los Angeles 3 things I make better than anyone else: Pancakes (they are a Sunday morning staple for the Bain family), cookie dough (I will take the raw stuff over just-out-of-the-oven cookies any day), chili Recipe I'm on the eternal hunt for: The easiest-ever, throw-together soup that I still have time to make after work Kitchen technique I just can't get right: Poaching eggs. I swirl the water, just like everyone says I should, but it never works. #fail Follow me on Twitter @zoeabain.