Q: Dear Lindy, Do you have any advice on how to go about cutting a really ornate cake? I make a lot of children’s cakes and some of them have a lot of decorations on them. I never know what to advise parents in terms of how they can go about cutting them up into party-bag size portions without too much mess. Any advice would be really appreciated.

A: This is a difficult question to answer, as the best way to cut a cake will vary depending on the cake’s shape. However here are a few pointers:

Firstly remove any decorations that make carving difficult or that want to be kept, for example sugar models.

It may sound obvious, but use a long bladed sharp knife to cut up the cake, not a table knife!

Cut the cake into squares or rectangles rather than triangular wedges. Solid pieces of cake are much easier to cut, handle and wrap.

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