I need to make a 5 tier stacked wedding cake for April. The bride loves the look of 5 tiers but is only having 75 guests at her party. I told her 3 tiers would be more than plenty. She wants 5! I said that was perfectly fine but I had a solution to her dilemma. I told her I will use 3 real tiers and 2 dummies. She wants the cake to be real layer, then dummy, then real layer, then dummy, then real. (if that's not too confusing). My question is....Do you put dowels in your dummy cakes? Especially if they are in between layers??

I've never used dummies before. I'm confident I will be fine I just want to be sure. Also, where can I find them? Are there pieces of styrofoam out there somewhere that are specifically deemed "cake dummies) or are they just the floral foam pieces you can get at any craft store? Thanks for the help.

If you use a very sturdy foam then i think that'd work great in supporting each cake and you won't need any dowels in the foam.

I suggest you do it:
dummy cake as bottom layer then going up real cake, dummy,real cake, dummy cake, and finally real cake for the top tier

That way you have the bottom layer for support and the top tier can be real for them to take for ther 1st anniversary.

For me dummy cakes are just white floral foam disc that you find at any craft store. You have to get a couple and glue them together to get the height your going to do the rest fo the cakes. Some people on here get thier foam somewhere else ,but that's how i do it. Just be sure to cover the cake with plastic wrap so you can get them back and re-use them if need be.

You can get them in many places, here's a link that someone posted hear recently, (sorry, don't remember who) http://www.dallas-foam.com/products1.html

They're very cheap, but you need a minimum order of $25 according to the website.

My concern would be that someone who doesn't know that the cake isn't all "real" might try to cut into the foam dummies. Even the bride might forget in all her giddyness.

Thanks for all your help. I have agreed to cut and serve the cake as well for another fee. This way I can leave with my dummies and stands too. THe bride is a friend of a friend so I'd be there anyway. I'm excited to work with the dummies too.

The do sell dummy cakes at Michaels .. You would have to check your cake supply stores as most will have them

I'd want to have the real layers all together on the bottom and the dummies on top....I'd worry about the weight from the real ones throwing off the light false ones somehow.....maybe it's just me.

Besides, if you are in the kitchen cutting it, what will she know or care? (Fascinates me the details that brides manage to worry about!)

Maybe you should talk to the bride to find out if she wants to keep the top for her anniversary. If she doesn't care then you could put the dummy cakes where you want.

SAD
I did this cake and used dummies because the bride wanted 6 tier but only needed enough for 150 people. Worked fine and they were alternated with one dummy on the bottom. I determined which would be dummies based on the number of servings she needed. All held up well!

that is some cake. It is exactly what I was talking about. The dummies will be placed where I've stated due to the sizes and number of servings needed for the real cakes. Maybe you've all seen the cakes I'm talking about. They are the ones that look sort of like lighthouses. THey are cake, then flowers, then cake, then flowers, then cake, then flowers and so on. mine will be cake, flowers, cake, flowers, cake. The bride doesn't want just flowers in between the layers, she wants them stuck into a dummy cake to give it extra support. i agree too. i just wasn't sure the best way to do this. Do any of you know if those types of cakes are column or dowel construction? Here is an example pic of a cake like the one I want to make, done by heavenlycakes. this one is wayyyyy better than the one I desire to make but this is the only pic I could find where dummys are used to hold the flowers between layers

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-photos_display_83_-22851.html

SAD I did a cake like I think you are talking about. Is this it? I did use craft styrofoam in between the tiers to insert the roses. The only problem I had wad the stems were not real stiff and I had to use a dowel to place holes to insert the roses into it. I used dowels in my cakes for support. No columns. Hope this helps!!
D.

SAD, sorry the picture is small. New at attaching to this forum. Click on my photos and you will be able to view it better!
D.

Darstus, that is EXACTLY what I am talking about. Thank you soooo much for your help and guidance. I am more confident now in my gut instinct as all the information you gave me is the way I would have done this cake too. Thanks again for the help. Your cakes are out of this world!

Glad I could help. Let me know if you have any other questions
D.

You can buy cake dummies at ebay.

http://search.ebay.ca/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&shortcut=0&from=R41&query=cake+dummies&category0=&Submit=Search

thanks didi5