Help Large Stacked Cake Question

Decorating By sweettreat101 Updated 21 May 2011 , 6:31am by deetmar

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sweettreat101 Posted 20 May 2011 , 8:07am
post #1 of 10

I have a friend who has asked me to make her daughters quinceanera cake. She sent me a picture and it looks like six to eight eight inch rounds with a three tier cake stacked on top. I don't know where she got the picture so I can't post a link. She needs to feed 150. I have never stacked a three tier cake on top of satelites before can anyone tell me how this is done. I haven't told her if I will attempt this cake. She is supposed to call met tomorrow evening. This one scares me when I think about delivery. The cakes are covered with fondant, fondant drape and white gum paste roses. Also can someone tell me where I can purchase the cardboard tubes dowels that Tonedna uses?

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Chiara Posted 20 May 2011 , 9:43am
post #2 of 10

Not sure about the satellites because they are just extra cakes on the sides. However, I would put the cakes on foam core in order to have enough stability to move them so they do not flex. Cover with saran to make them food safe.
If you have multiple levels make sure you use a central dowel so the cakes do not slide. This will also help if you put drapes on and have to move the cake once decorated.
With regards to the support dowels you can use the Chinese straws and cut them to length. They are food grade so no wood in the cake and they are awesome. They are very large and the name escapes me at the moment. If you have an Asian store close by they will have them. You can use as many of those as you need.
Good luck.

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sweettreat101 Posted 20 May 2011 , 9:53am
post #3 of 10

Not sure if I described the cake correctly. It's set up like this one. http://www.wilton.com/idea/Ivory-Grandeur-Cake

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sweettreat101 Posted 20 May 2011 , 9:56am
post #4 of 10

Ok this is a picture of the actual cake that I am talking about. http://allrecipes.com/Cook/13754506/Photo.aspx?photoID=643132 How do you dowel and stack this kind of cake? TIA

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sweettreat101 Posted 20 May 2011 , 9:58am
post #5 of 10

Can anyone tell me what size cakes these are and how many do you think are below the three tier cake. They look like eight inch cakes to me. The cake needs to serve 150.

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SugarFiend Posted 20 May 2011 , 10:29am
post #6 of 10

I would mess around on paper first. If you have enough pans, you could do it that way, otherwise you could use a pan to trace circles. Try arranging the smaller base cakes in a circle, then plunk a 10" or 12" round pan or cake circle on top to see where it falls. (And this would show you where your dowels could go in the smaller cakes.) I personally think the ones in the photo are 6" cakes. I'd use 6" anyway, whether they are or not, because 6 8" would give you 144 servings before you even started adding regular tiers.

Personally, I'd be messing around with 6" paper circles and a big SPS plate trying to see if I could get that to work. I have another example of that look here, although this one is much bigger: http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1401411. I would guess you'd need something on this scale if you were going to use 8" cakes for the base.

Not sure if any of that's helpful or not...

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indydebi Posted 20 May 2011 , 1:20pm
post #7 of 10

I made one of these for a wedding.

I placed a styrofoam dummy in the center of the table.
Arranged the smaller satellite cakes around it.
Set the base of the 3-tier cake on top fo the styrofoam.

You can fill any gaps with flowers but if your satellites are 4" tall you should be ok. If the satellites come out a little taller than 4", the dummy cake can be elevated with cardboard rounds.

I didn't have to dowel the satellites at all. If you feel insecure and want that extra confidence, Sugarfriend's ideas about playing with paper to figure out the placement is a great idea. thumbs_up.gif

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sweettreat101 Posted 20 May 2011 , 7:32pm
post #8 of 10

Thank you ladies. I forgot about using styrofoam. The doweling was what bothered me since I would have to transport this cake. Did you just set everything up at the site or assemble and deliver in one piece?

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cakedout Posted 20 May 2011 , 7:52pm
post #9 of 10

Oh this is definitely one of those cake you must set up on site!

I've done this style a number of times like Indydebi-with the styro underneath. You can take the tiered section in one piece as long as you are able to lift it across a table an up above the satellite cakes! thumbs_up.gif I found it helpful to have someone help me with the placement of the tiered cake -wether it was one of my kids that came along on delivery, or one of the venue staff that were brave enough to help. icon_lol.gif

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deetmar Posted 21 May 2011 , 6:31am
post #10 of 10

I have also done one of these for a 7 tier wedding cake with a seperator plate and 10 satellites.

I put a round styrofoam in the middle of the boad, high enough theat the satellites will just fit under, but none of the weight of the cake will be on the satellites. You will want to use lots of dowels and cake supports. I ran a center dowel down through all the cakes into the styrofoam. Of course this had to be stacked on site. I used PVC as asupports in the lower tiers, and bubble T's in the top two tiers, then three dowels ran all the way down. Ihad a problem with the sererator plate that was under the second tier, so my cake was croooked, but it did not more.

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