Calling all Bakers!!!!!!!
Hello to all. I have another ?

1. Can I stack two 10 inch cakes together and then stack an 8 inch right on top of that? Making it 3 tiers.

2. I would need the push in pillars with the dividers, right?

3. When the time comes to cut the cake, how do you do that? Do you stick the knife between the top cake (the 8 inch one) and kinda pry it from the 10 inch cake? Then do that for the next cake which I would pry the 10inch cake away from the other 10inch cake? I hope I make sense. LOL

Please help! I am attempting to make this 3 tiered cake this Saturday.

Thanks!

I'm glad to help because until October, I didn't know how to do this either!

I've found that dowels are a lot cheaper and just as effective as the push pillars. If the push pillars are something you don't already have, don't go buy them just for this cake. Use the wooden dowels.

I think your sizes will be fine stacked. I would make sure to put enough dowels in the bottom tier to make sure to support the weight of the other cakes. I just make and decorate the cake, and then cut the dowels to the exact height of the cake and then place them in the cake in a circular pattern at least 1 inch apart. If you are putting a 10" on top of the other 10" I would make sure to at least make a 6 ot 7 inch circle out of dowels. Then for the second 10 inch cake I would make a 4 or 5 inch circle out of dowels since you are putting an 8 inch on top. Hope my directions are clear enough.

As for cutting the cake, Some people cut the cake still assembled, others, like myself, pull the cake apart first. I do this since I often make my layers different flavors. I have to take the top flavor off to get to the middle flavor if someone wants that one. It really is your preference. Make sure not to frost over your dowels since you will need to see where they are to pull them out before cutting the cake. Always use cardboard cake circles or cake plates between the layers too. Never stack cake on cake. It will not hold and be way too messy to serve if it should for some reason hold. Hope this helps. If my instructions are very vague, you can pm me. Always glad to help!

I wanted to add a trick I recently learned from another post -

Before stacking your tiers, leave the dowel exposed a bit so you have finger room to place the next tier. The weight of the cake will push the dowels back into place. Some people said they pushed the dowels in first to ensure they were the appropriate lenght and then pulled them back up again. Others said they just measured the dowels agains the side of the cake, then put them in leaving them exposed. Get your fingers out of the way quick though.

I just made my first two stacked cakes. I'm getting better at the assembly. Taking them apart is another story.

HTH

Forgot to add - If you have a Wilton yearbook, they have a good guide for cutting the different size tiers.

I just thought of something...are you making a tiered cake or a stacked cake? A stacked cake is where it looks like the cakes are just sitting on top of eachother and you can't see between the layers. The tiered cake is where the cakes are separated by several inches and are often placed on the push pillars or columns.

If stacked cake.. keep to what I said before, if tiered cake, this changes a lot of things from my other post. You would definitely go with the push pillars.

sorry to be so confusing

Wow! Alot of useful information from both of ya'll. Thanks so much. I'm sorry I said a tiered cake, I meant a stacked cake. I'd like to make a stacked cake. Although I am now thinking of a tiered cake. I will most likely go with a stacked cake. No, I do not have a Wilton Yearbook yet. This will actually be my first big decorated cake.
Thank you both so much for this information, I will surely use it.

Ok, first of all, THANKS for this info - VERY helpful!

I am doing my first stacked cake next week. I am going to be doing a 10" and an 8" - both squares. They will be covered in fondant.

My question is, do I put the dowels in before or after I cover it in fondant? I am afraid that if I do it after, it will "pull" on the fondant and mess up the smooth look.

You put in the dowel rods after you put the fondant on. You want it to be perfectly level with the top of the cake. Just push in the dowel rod, mark where the top of the cake is on the dowel, remove it and cut with a serrated knife.

Some folks do this for every rod, but I usually just do one and cut the rest of the rods for that a layer the same length. As long as your cake is level that works fine.

Never had a problem with it pulling on my fondant. The dowels go in and come out rather easily.

Thanks so very much!

Something else you may want to try that I find is better than the "Dowel Rods" is to use Bamboo Skewers. They are easier to size and are extremely sturdy. Plus you get a ton of them at such a cheap price. They also com with such a nice sharp point on them for when you need the main one in the middle that goes through all the cakes.

Lazy_Susan

Cool! I think I have some of those!

I had an instructor who used straws for supports. Like the big ones you get from McDonald's. You use the same amount as the dowels but they are so much easier to cut!! I've used them on a stacked cake that had 3 layers. It worked just fine for me.

Are you traveling with this cake? If you are, you should consider putting a dowel through center of the whole cake, or assemble it at the party.

My mom is picking it up and traveling with it, so I'llprobably have to dowel it before it leaves my house. I'm nervous about that one! But I trust that it'll go ok...

The cake is for my neice, so I am not too worried it something happens, but...

I have a question about the center dowel to go through all the cakes. Can you cut a small hole in the middle of the boards to make it easier to get the long one through? I worry about trying to push through the 2 boards of a 3 level stacked cake.

If you should not do that...do you sharpen the point on it?

And do you use a regular dowel for the center one? Seems the babmboo skewers are not very very sturdy ( or long for that matter).

Thanks,

julia

I sharpen the end of the dowel and push it through. When it gets to the cake board I use a small meat tenderizer(used only for cakes) as a hammer and tap it through. I've tried putting the hole in the center, but never seem to be able to line it up right. Tapping it through doesn't damage the cake at all. When traveling with it, I actually make the dowel long enough to go through the cake boards at the base. They are usually a couple of layers thick, so it kind of anchors the dowel into the bottom cake boards. The downside to that is you have to serve the slices directly from the cake, which I know some people prefer not to do, until you can pull the dowel out. I do this mostly for friends and family.

I like to place all my cakes on separate cake boards and frost them smooth. I dowel each layer except for the top and place them in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. This lets the icing get nice and firm. This helps not to damage the icing when stacking the tiers. If you do not get it in the right place at first you can gently slide it without tearing up the icing.

I have always put my dowels in before I covered in fondant. It worked fine. However...I think it would be fine either way. I just fely more comfortable doing it before because I am not very good at working with fondant.

I too have used straws... Jack in the Box has really good thick strong ones and I have never had a problem.

I just sharpen the end of the dowel with a pencil sharpener. It really goes through the cardboard cake boards fairly easily.

It can be bit nreve racking the first time or two, because it seems like it would be hard to push through. But its not really, just firm pressure and the sharpened dowel goes right through the cardboard. Remeber the layers below the board have dowels in them so you don't have worry about squishing them.

Most of the cakes I've been making are stacked, I just really like the look.