I'm making a cake that looks like the Marine dress hat. I've seen two on here that look exactly like what I'm going for, but I haven't heard responses from either of the two decorators. It's a small cake, but I'm not sure how to do it to get the right look (large at the top and small at the bottom). Would I use an 8 and 6 inch and just carve them, or would I use the same sizes? It's for only 12 people, so I don't want to waste too much cake. thanks so much!

I personally prefer to carve from two of the same size. 2" doesn't sound like a big difference, but it really dictates too much of the curve for me. Even 1" difference forces me to deal with a certain curve that may or may not fall in the correct place. Yes, you can always fill in with icing or cake spackle, but you usually get 2 - 8" rounds from any mix or recipe, so why bother?

Hi MammaG!  I was wondering the same thing...a couple years later haha.  Did you ever find a response I"m having trouble finding a good approach as well.  Thanks! Amanda