Quote:
Originally Posted by jekizer
Rach~~ OMG... your cakes are beautiful. I don't know if I could something that big or not.
Squirrelly ~~ I have seen a picture like what I am trying to do, but don't remember where I saw it. I am thinking a 12" square bottom and a 9" round top. I just don't know if I will get the amount of servings that I need from that.
Thank you for all your help!!
Well, you will want them fairly high for proportion so perhaps each cake 6 inches high. Or the bottom square, 4 inches or two 2 inch layers and the top 6 inches high. You will have loads and loads of cake, probably way too much, this is why I asked. Sometimes to avoid a lot of cake people use a dummy for one tier.
You need the height to be able to put the details on and also, it will look more in proportion to the turrets.
The cakes Rach1 did are just gorgeous, beautiful!
The main reason for using dowelling with a two layer cake is serving, yes you can get away without them if the cakes are smaller but particularily with buttercream iced cakes, you want to dowel and board so that the top icing of one cake doesn't stick to the bottom of the board of the cake above. For really small cakes that are covered in fondant, this will work sometimes but not when you get into larger ones of more than two tiers because of the weight factor. One quarter inch of fondant does add some support to a cake in that it increases the density factor. Also the density of the cake you are using will come into play. For a two tiered cake you can get away with using straws for support.
If a cake will be transported, you are also wise to use a centre dowel in the middle. Now a lot of two tiered cakes will be no problem but if you have to brake suddenly, the cake can shift off the top against your box and be ruined. Also your cakes must be very level or the one cake can slide off.
Now do you also have an eight inch round? Because if you do, I would turn the pans upside down and see which one looks best. You may find the eight inch round gives you more space around to house your decorations or the nine inch one may be fine. But with the 9 inch you will only have 1 1/2 inches on either side of the 9 inch round so that might be a factor.
Hugs Squirrelly