You Genuinely Don’t Need to have a Knife to Minimize Cake

This tale is component of Consider This, CNET’s collection of straightforward tips to increase your everyday living, rapid.

When you have a stunning cake sitting in front of you, no one particular would like to slice the initial slice and in the end smear the delicate piping with a knife. But there is certainly a incredibly effective way you can slice the cake though preserving its beauty. Just put down the mess-triggering knife and seize some dental floss in its place.

A spool of dental floss tucks easily into a kitchen or desk drawer, or a get the job done bag, and is generally at the all set. I just lately examined 5 kinds of dental floss to slash three sorts of cake. The outcome: some of the cleanest slices that would make any skilled bakery very pleased. I am not kidding. This approach will work fantastically properly, and it is really shockingly easy to do. 

The only drawback: Working with floss may not be the most stylish way to minimize cake slices and you could get icing on your fingers. But the benefits are worthy of it. This is how to minimize your cake with floss, which style of floss functions ideal and some pitfalls you need to unquestionably keep away from. For much more cool tips, here is how to make distilled h2o for free of charge and how to halt junk mail for good.

@cnetdotcom Your #cake could style a little bit #minty based on the floss you decide on. #lifehack#dentalfloss#trythis#didyouknow#cookinghacks#baking#howtotok♬ son first – SHIMMYA

Why use dental floss to lower a cake?

There might be a selection of explanations you achieve for the dental floss in its place of a knife for cutting cake. Possibly you might be in the business or at a birthday celebration in the park and the only out there reducing utensil is a 6-inch compostable knife. Potentially you are fatigued of buttercream buildup and want to check out a thing new. 1 colleague saved the day at a celebration when a giant dice cake appeared at a bar that failed to have utensils for guests to use. Fortunately, the container of floss she experienced on hand did the position.

This is why it operates: A strand of floss is frequently thinner than the common kitchen knife blade, and it can be created to slide conveniently by means of tight spaces (that is, between your teeth). If you have at any time flossed much too aggressively, sore gums are all the evidence you have to have that the floss “edge” can be sharp. 

Include them together and you have a fairly suitable instrument that can get you neat, thoroughly clean slices right after chopping. Whilst slicing by means of a single cake, I could barely see where the floss sliced by the frosting because the cuts were so neat. 

In my encounter, applying dental floss to minimize cake also did a much better job of preserving the fragile decorations. For occasion, the carrot cake I employed for this take a look at experienced a piped carrot style on leading of the cake. Slicing as a result of it with the floss held that structure intact. In my expertise, employing a butcher knife to minimize by decorations often spoils the look, leaving a smeared structure — but it depends on the sharpness, width and length of the knife blade.

And that problem of gathered frosting on the edge of the knife? Typically absent — with the exception of buildup on your fingers.

How to cut any cake making use of dental floss

First, make sure your cake is on a flat floor so you have room to pull the floss all the way to the cake’s bottom. You could set it on a cake stand to give you much more place as you slice down. Next, spool out a size of floss bigger than the widest component of the cake. I remaining several inches on every single finish to wrap the floss all around my fingers comfortably. When you wrap the floss all around your fingers, will not make it super tight: You’re trying to slice cake, not your fingers. 

If you’re hoping to make just about every slice the exact same measurement, you may perhaps want to use the floss to lightly mark manual lines before slicing by means of the cake. 

Completely ready? This is what to do.

Sq. or rectangular cake: If the cake is shaped like a sq. or rectangle, it may well be much easier to reduce because those people cakes are commonly shorter than round cakes. Utilizing your floss, make your cuts throughout the cake lengthwise, pressing firmly into the cake to minimize all the way by. Now make your cuts widthwise, slicing to the base of the cake. 

Spherical cake: If your cake is formed like a circle, it is really probably a layer cake so you may perhaps will need to apply a little bit far more pressure to make it all the way to the base of the cake. Using your floss, firmly cut through the middle of the cake to build two halves — you could want to go the floss in a sawing motion to completely slash it. 

Then, make a perpendicular slice to the a single you just manufactured — you really should now have four triangles. Proceed earning cuts, transferring around the cake, right up until you have the quantity of slices you will need. Take note that the thinner you want your slices, the more challenging it will be to slice mainly because the slices commence falling aside.

Can you also use dental floss to serve cake slices?

To see if it was probable, I attempted to select up a slice of cake with floss. It was difficult and sort of labored, but the floss slowly lower by way of the spongy texture as I attempted to clear away the slice. I advise employing a fork or serving knife to produce slices to a plate, instead.

My pro idea for cutting cake with floss

When you happen to be making cuts, the moment you have sliced to the base, do not pull the floss back up. Very first, executing that will make your floss messier, which implies you’ll need to get a new strand just about every time you make a cut. But a lot more significant, pulling the slice back again up provides crumbs to the major of your cake and pulls up a bit of the frosting as well, so you don’t get the clean, tidy look you might be immediately after. 

In its place, after you’ve sliced all the way via to the base of the cake, permit go of one particular finish and pull the floss out. Most of the icing and crumbs on the floss will be swept off as you slip the floss out, and you are going to be remaining with a thoroughly clean strand that you can reuse to slash the subsequent slice. 

Here is exactly where the floss didn’t do its career

When slicing the larger cakes, I seen the floss often failed to quickly lower all the way to the base, it’s possible for the reason that of the amplified resistance. If this occurs to you, I counsel chopping the cake in half initially and then working with each individual half so there is less cake — and resistance — to slice via. It could also aid to place the cake on a stand to enable you slice all the way by means of.

An additional note: If you are baking a cake at home, this technique is not going to operate until you take away the cake from the baking dish or cake pan very first. 

Which variety of floss labored best

For my exams, I utilised waxed floss from Kroger, two kinds from Oral-B Glide (just one mint flavored, the other unflavored), and two models from CVS’ store brand name: a thicker, waxed dental tape and a frequent, unwaxed floss. I tried using the floss types on a few cakes: A layer carrot cake containing bits of grated carrot, just one taller and lighter texture sheet cake, and a single shorter and denser sheet cake (virtually like brownies).

All the floss worked good and made neat cuts, even with the bits of carrot from the a lot more textured sample cake. The Glide initial floss sliced by means of the cakes a little bit simpler than the Kroger waxed floss. I think it really is due to the fact the Glide floss felt smoother to the touch and truly did glide by means of the cake. 

Irrespective of my being anxious that it would snag, the unwaxed floss labored remarkably very well and designed neat slices.

The only just one that smeared a bit when earning a slash was the dental tape — which seems much more like a ribbon than a thread of nylon floss. It built a clean slice, though, and I would use it in a pinch. 

Flavored vs. unflavored floss: Will it alter the taste of your cake?

I was fearful about regardless of whether utilizing flavored floss would also transfer flavor to the cake slices, but we slash parts of a chocolate sheet cake employing mint-flavored floss and none of the 4 taste-testers could detect a minty flavor. To be harmless, I might adhere with basic, unflavored floss if you can, and steer absent from cinnamon or coconut or bubblegum flavors. 

So the next time you’re chopping cake, access for the dental floss or something identical — like fishing line, sewing string or a slender wire.