Question About 2 Tier Cake

Decorating By kello Updated 25 Jul 2006 , 9:34pm by karateka

kello Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kello Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 7:31pm
post #1 of 8

I've never tried 2 tiers.....do I still need to use dowels? It's just choc. cake on the bottom 9" and 6" on the top, which is just white cake. Or is just a cake circle enough?

Also, do you frost each cake separately and then stack, or stack first and then frost? I'm using BC with fondant accents. Can't figure out how not to mess up the BC.

Thanks!

7 replies
karateka Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
karateka Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 7:35pm
post #2 of 8

Yes, you need to dowel.

Frost the cakes first, then stack. Then put the borders on to hide where the cakes meet each other and the bottom cake meets the board. Then apply your accents and any other finishing touches. HTH.

ntertayneme Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ntertayneme Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 7:35pm
post #3 of 8

I'd put at least one dowel under the 6" .. but then I dowel everything! lol Put your cakes on a cake board, then frosting on your cake, then tier them.

Cakeasyoulikeit Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Cakeasyoulikeit Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 7:36pm
post #4 of 8

When I do smaller cakes like that, I usually just dowel with straws. Never had a problem.

OCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
OCakes Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 7:38pm
post #5 of 8

You would probably be safe stacking a cake that size, but always dowell just incase - and it's less messy that way - the bottom of the cake board will be stuck to the top of the bottom layer if you don't. I find it much easier to decorate each layer individually - your top layer's board is cut to size, so tape a larger board under that for easier handling until you're ready to assemble. Then separate the boards with your metal spatula. What do you mean by "Can't figure out how not to mess up the BC." - ? If you're more specific, maybe someone can better answer that for you... Good luck!

ckkerber Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ckkerber Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 7:57pm
post #6 of 8

I haven't been brave enough to try tiers, either . . . here's one of my many questions. When you make a tiered cake for someone, do you give them instructions on how to cut / serve the cake? Is it involved or is it really just a matter of separating the cakes, removing the dowels, and slicing as if they were individual cakes? How do you remove the dowels before cutting without completely messing up the icing as the dowels are the same height as the cake?

Also, I've thought about making a character-type cake and laying it on top of a sheet cake (e.g. making a castle cake and laying it on a quarter sheet cake so that I can do clouds, sky, grass on the sheet cake and then decorate the castle). In this case, do I need to dowel as well? When thinking it through, it seems like it shouldn't be much different than if I made two quarter sheet cakes that were not torted and put a layer of filling / frosting between them but I wasn't sure since they're different shapes if that requires cake boards and dowels. And, if it does, how many dowels would you use and where would you put them if the top cake was almost as big as the bottom but a different shape like that?

kello Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kello Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 8:09pm
post #7 of 8

I guess dowelling it is.

Frosting first makes sense to me....I just didn't want to mess up the BC while I was assembling it. I guess that's what borders and accents are for.....to hide things icon_smile.gif

thanks for your help.

karateka Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
karateka Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 9:34pm
post #8 of 8

As far as the character cake on top of a sheet cake goes.....

You don't have to dowel if you are doing a 2 layer cake because the weight of the top layer is evenly distributed across the cake layer beneath. Of course, that has it's limits. If you go over 2 layers I would dowel, even if all layers are the same size. Sooner or later the weight of those above could just cause the bottom layer to be crushed. If you are doing something smaller or irregularly shaped, more of the weight is concentrated in the center of the cake. I guess if they are similar in size, you might be ok.....but I think I would dowel anyway, just to cover my bases. It's really so easy to do, that it's not worth the worry to skip it.

I wouldn't worry about removing the dowels before you slice. Just tell them to slice the cake and when they get to a dowel, remove it. If you put them in after you ice the cake, you should be able to see them when you unstack the cakes. That way you won't wonder if you missed one. If you have that concern, though, just warn the recipients that you did dowel the cake, and to look out for straws or dowels in their piece.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%