Extracting That First Piece of Cake

Problem: You have a circular cake, and it’s time to cut the first piece. In this era of “I’ll just take a tiny slice,” how often have you seen someone struggle to get that first piece out cleanly?

Solution: Cut two or three pieces before taking any out. Then take them out together.

This works because when you extract multiple pieces at once, you are working with a wider base yet the height has not changed. By improving the base-to-height ratio compared to a single, tall and thin piece, you get greater stability.

(Thanks to Sharon the restaurateur for enlightening me on this.)