Ruined Bottem Of Tiers Stacking Crusted Buttercream
Decorating By dsilbern Updated 20 Dec 2009 , 4:09am by wendy1273
My first 2 stacked cakes were with the meringue buttercreams so I'm thinking I got this whole stacking thing down. When I stack tiers made with IMBC or SMBC I let them set up hard in the fridge and they are a breeze to stack.
Hoo boy, then I try one made with a crusting buttercream recipe and ruined the bottoms of my tiers as I stacked them. Buttercream stuck to my fingers as I gently dropped the tier and pulled away. There were stress fractures tracking up the bottom third of the tiers. 
I was using a holly border so I just piped more leaves and berries over the mess and it was OK for that cake. But what about when I want a thinner border? I don't see this problem on tutorials or cake shows. What am I doing wrong? 
Leave the dowels sticking out a little ways and set the cake on top of them. The weight of the cake will push them into place and leave time to get your hands out.
You can also chill cakes covered with crusting BC. The BC will crust in the fridge just fine and the whole thing will firm up and be easier to handle.
Leave the dowels sticking out a little ways and set the cake on top of them. The weight of the cake will push them into place and leave time to get your hands out.
You just gave me the best Christmas present EVER!!!
There were stress fractures tracking up the bottom third of the tiers.
That is caused by having your dowels too short. You want to cut them so that the top of the dowels are just barely above the layer of icing (not down in the icing). If you cut them so they set down in the icing, you get those "stress fractures".
Thanks to everybody. I love this site. I was cutting my dowels even with the frosting and using my fingers instead of the spatula. Not doing this professionally, now I have to find a reason to bake a tiered cake to practice my newfound knowledge. 
Indydebi - pics were great. It's always easier when I can see what someones writing about.
Video on youtube how to stack cakes my way by edna (type in search box stacking cakes tonedna1). It helped me alot.
I always ice the cakes and put them in the fridge to harden and then stack them, and always decorate your tiers after you stack them because if you have a mishap you can cover it with your decorations. Make sure you have the dowels in the bottom tier and ready to go before you take it out of the fridge so is nice and hard.
If you need to finish the cake fast put it in the freezer for 10 minutes before stacking.
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