Sheet Cake Sizes and Servings

A quarter sheet cake is often 9x13 inches and a half sheet often 12x18, but there's no industry standard — sizes vary by bakery. On the Wilton chart a two-layer 9x13 serves 36 party slices and a 12x18 serves 72; a single 2-inch layer serves about half (18 and 36).

Half sheet (often 12x18) serves

36 or 72

party slices as one 2-inch layer or two layers · quarter sheet (often 9x13): 18 or 36

Data & method: Servings from the Wilton cake serving chart (two layers about 4 in tall; single-layer figures use Wilton's rule that cakes under 3 in yield half). Size names and ranges from WebstaurantStore's sheet cake size guide. Piece counts for other sizes are grid arithmetic, labelled as such. Every figure is checked by an automated test. How we calculate →

Sheet cake servings by size

The four sheet sizes on the Wilton chart, as two layers about 4 inches tall (Wilton: anything 3 to 6 inches tall in the same pan serves the same) and as a single 2-inch layer, which Wilton says yields half. Party means a 1½ × 2 in slice; wedding a 1 × 2 in slice.

Sheet size	Often sold as	Two layers (party / wedding)	Single 2-in layer (party / wedding)
7x11	—	24 / 32	12 / 16
9x13	quarter sheet	36 / 50	18 / 25
11x15	—	54 / 74	27 / 37
12x18	half sheet	72 / 98	36 / 49

Quarter, half and full sheet: what the names mean

WebstaurantStore is blunt about it: no industry standard exists for a full, half or quarter sheet cake, and sizes differ by bakery. These are the ranges it reports — useful for a ballpark, but ask your bakery for the dimensions in inches and the number of layers before you count heads.

Name	Finished cake, roughly	Common pans (L × W × H)
Quarter sheet	13 × 8–10 in	13 × 9½ × 1, 13 × 9 × 2, 13 × 8 × 3 in
Half sheet	12–18 × 13–18 in	18 × 13 × 1, 12 × 18 × 2, 12 × 16 × 3 in
Full sheet	16–18 × 24–26 in	18 × 26 × 2, 18 × 24 × 2, 16 × 24 × 3 in

Eighth sheets have no published standard at all — the guide doesn't list one — so we don't give dimensions for them. Get the size in inches and use the grid table below.

How many pieces fit each sheet (grid arithmetic)

For bakery sizes the Wilton chart doesn't cover, the honest number is a count: how many whole pieces of a given footprint fit the sheet cut in a straight grid, with no edges trimmed. This is arithmetic from the dimensions, not a published serving chart. 2 × 2 and 2 × 3-inch pieces are the portions WebstaurantStore calls typical for sheet cakes; the count doesn't change with height, but a taller piece is a bigger portion.

Sheet (inches)	2 × 2 in pieces	2 × 3 in pieces	3 × 3 in pieces	Wilton chart (two layers, party)
7x11	15	10	6	24
9x13	24	18	12	36
11x15	35	25	15	54
12x18	54	36	24	72
13x18	54	36	24	not listed
16x24	96	64	40	not listed
18x24	108	72	48	not listed
18x26	117	78	48	not listed

Single layer or two?

It matters more than the name. Wilton's serving counts for 2-inch-deep pans are based on a two-layer cake about 4 inches tall, and Wilton says cakes under 3 inches tall yield half the servings for that pan. A home 9x13 baked in one pan is a single layer: about 18 party slices, not 36. Cakes 3 to 6 inches tall all serve the full chart count — extra height doesn't add slices.

Not a sheet? The cake serving calculator covers rounds, squares and tiered cakes, and the cake size for 50 people page shows every option side by side.

Count any sheet, round or tiered cake

Preset to the 9×13″ sheet — switch sizes or add tiers to plan a different cake.

Serving style

Tier 1 (or single cake)

+ Add tiers for a tiered or wedding cake

Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4

Serves about

party slices (1½ × 2 in)

Counts are for two layers about 4 in tall (3–6 in serves the same). One 2-inch layer per tier? About 18 (Wilton: under 3 in yields half).

Your cake, tier by tier

Next: how much frosting for this cake? →

Or plan backwards — how many guests?

We'll find the smallest two-layer cake that seats them, using the party/wedding slice size selected above.

Guests

A 12" round seats about 40 party servings — enough for 36.

Each sheet size in detail

Cake Pan Converter

Convert any recipe between pan sizes — see both pans drawn to scale with batter fill levels, plus adjusted bake time and temperature.

Pan Volume Calculator

How much does your pan hold? Get the exact volume of any baking pan in cups, millilitres and litres, plus the batter it takes at a two-thirds fill.

Frosting Calculator

How much frosting does your cake need? Cups of buttercream by pan size, layers and coat thickness — computed from the cake's actual surface, with a cupcake swirl mode.

See all pan & size calculators →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people does a half sheet cake feed?

A half sheet is often 12x18 (sometimes 13x18 — sizes vary by bakery). On the Wilton chart a two-layer 12x18 about 4 inches tall serves 72 party slices (1½ × 2 in slice) or 98 wedding slices (1 × 2 in slice); as a single 2-inch layer, Wilton's half rule gives about 36 party or 49 wedding. Cut into bigger 2 × 2-inch squares, a 12x18 gives 54 pieces.

How many people does a quarter sheet cake feed?

A quarter sheet is often 9x13. A two-layer 9x13 serves 36 party or 50 wedding slices on the Wilton chart; a single 2-inch layer — the usual home 9x13 — serves about 18 party or 25 wedding, because Wilton says cakes under 3 inches tall yield half.

What size is a full sheet cake?

There's no single answer. WebstaurantStore notes that no industry standard exists for full, half or quarter sheet cakes and lists full sheets from about 16 × 24 to 18 × 26 inches, with full sheet pans of 18 × 26, 18 × 24 and 16 × 24. Ask the bakery for the finished dimensions in inches.

How many does a full sheet cake feed?

It isn't on the Wilton chart, so there's no published count to quote. By straight grid arithmetic, an 18x26 cut into 2 × 3-inch pieces gives 78 pieces (117 at 2 × 2 inches), and a 16x24 gives 64 (or 96). For a crowd, two half sheets are usually easier to carry and cut than one full sheet.

What size is a 1/8 sheet cake?

There's no published standard for an eighth sheet, and WebstaurantStore's sheet-size guide doesn't list one — bakeries use the name for small cakes of different sizes. Ask for the dimensions in inches, then count pieces with the grid table on this page.

Are sheet cakes one layer or two?

Either — WebstaurantStore lists sheet cakes from 1 to 3 inches tall. The Wilton serving counts assume two layers about 4 inches tall (cakes 3 to 6 inches tall serve the same), and Wilton says a cake under 3 inches tall yields half, so check which you're getting before counting heads.