Am I "one cupcake short of a baker's dozen?"

April 8, 2008 11:47 AM

1 Cupcake short of a Baker's Dozen...or how to arrange 12 cupcakes on a circular plate.

OK, so I've followed the recipe and now have 12 delicious-looking cupcakes for dinner tonight. Try as I might, though, I can't seem to get them on a circular plate in any kind of a pattern that doesn't bug me to death. Is there a way to do this, or is that why a baker's dozen is called a baker's dozen ("Aw, screw it...I'll just make one extra cupcake so everything is nice and even."). Obviously, not earth-shatteringly important, but I'm curious...

posted by richmondparker to food & drink (13 comments total)

Do four in the middle and eight around.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:50 AM on April 8

(To be more clear, put four in a cross shape, then four more in the corners created by that, then four more evenly around.)
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:51 AM on April 8 [1 favorite]

Add fruit. It's beautiful and will lessen your drive for symmetry, while at the same time filling out any pattern you have going on.
posted by amtho at 11:51 AM on April 8

Fruit will also give any non-cupcake-eaters something to nosh on. You can choose flavors that will complement the cupcakes, too. I think strawberries are in season and would be great, or blackberries if you prefer. Berries are good because they're usually easy to eat and won't turn brown.
posted by amtho at 11:52 AM on April 8

Will it help if you eat one now?
posted by thirteenkiller at 11:54 AM on April 8 [4 favorites]

And now the rest of the world knows why I studied languages instead of math. Thanks so much fiercecupcake! (thirteenkiller's answer is a close second.) Jeez...what are the odds that my question would be answered by two so appropriately named mefites?!).
posted by richmondparker at 11:58 AM on April 8 [2 favorites]

Put six in a ring (with a cupcake sized hole in the center), then the other six around that to make a star. Possibly with something decorative in the center hole?
posted by JiBB at 12:44 PM on April 8

Symmetry is overrated.
posted by rokusan at 1:16 PM on April 8

The term "Baker's Dozen" is irrelevant here; it comes from a time in England where a dozen baker's goods had to be a certain minimum weight or it would break the law, and so bakers commonly threw in an extra item (the thirteenth) to ensure the weight would always be over even if a few of the items were undersized (or as an act of good faith to encourage the customer to not check the weight.)
posted by davejay at 2:31 PM on April 8

Cupcakes for dinner is my dream.

Perhaps the reason it bugs you is you have too many circles going into one design. Round plate, round cupcakes, arranged in a round shape. Shift to a square plate or platter. You might like that better.
posted by 26.2 at 3:01 PM on April 8

A triangle with four on a side has fifteen members. Knock out the the corners and that leaves 12. It would be a row of 2, a row of 3, a row of 4, and then a row of 3. The cupcakes would all be in a triangle pattern, packed densely.
posted by Class Goat at 4:14 PM on April 8

Sorry; a triangle with five on a side has fifteen members...
posted by Class Goat at 4:14 PM on April 8

A different way to describe it is as a hexagon with sides of 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3.
posted by Class Goat at 4:15 PM on April 8