This puzzle was asked to me in one of my campus interviews..

Interviewer (I): You have a chocolate cream cake in front of you and a knife. I want you to cut it into 8 equal pieces using the knife. You are allowed to cut only 3 times.

*Thought for a minute”

Me: The first 2 cuts will be at right angles to each other resulting in 4 equal pieces. The third cut will be exactly between the top and the base. The cake will eventually have 8 equal pieces.

*Interviewer just shook his head”

I: But I want all the pieces to have chocolate cream. And they still have to be equal.

*Really got confused here. Asked for a paper and tried to draw different figures. Soon realized its not working out*

I: You can tell me if you don’t know the answer. You’re wasting time.

*Cursed both myself and the interviewer in my head. Realized that there had to be some sort of symmetry and then finally something struck my mind.*

Me (With a smile on my face): The first 2 cuts will be in the same way as before. We then keep all the four pieces one over the other and make the third cut in the middle from top to bottom.

*He finally moved his lips a little. Enough to indicate a smile*

I: Good!

Verdict: Not selected (Because I screwed up the rest of the interview)

Edit: Added image for those who couldn’t understand the solution: