Mum's viral cake cutting 'hack' guarantees perfect slices, every time

No need to perform trigonometry feats next time you slice up a birthday cake — one woman's mum has solved an important, delicious cake cutting conundrum with a simple pair of kitchen tongs.

The clever act, filmed and shared by TikTok user Mimi To, captures the moment the woman's mother grabs a pair of flat-edged kitchen tongs, and eloquently slices a perfect triangle out of the birthday cake, taking the guesswork out of consistent slicing.

"My mom found a life hack," the proud daughter captions the clip, which has garnered a staggering 5.5 million views.

Note that for the hack to work, you require a very specific type of tongs; they need to be perfectly straight and flat-edged (not scalloped) and have a curved hinge (rather than a spring-hinge variety).

The time-saving tip is being praised by TikTok users, with comments ranging from "Genius! Will use this one..." to "Game changer".

"Equal portions for everyone," one critic acknowledged, followed by a train of applause emojis.

"Ive done this so many times its a perfect hack [sic]," another agreed.

"Your mom is livin in 3020 [sic]," another TikToker chimed in about the mum's forward-thinking approach.

But while the hack is certainly useful, it's not for everyone apparently — specifically, anyone keen for a more generous slice.

"What if I want a bigger piece?" one commentator asked.

Another agreed: "Who wants perfect...I just want the biggest slice."

It's a fair point. But nothing that a pair of wider tongs couldn't fix, we reckon.