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I am starting to kick myself for doing this..

post #1 of 21
9/11/12 at 5:57am
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A few months ago my best friend's mother asked me if I could make her daughter's wedding cake and of course at the time I was eager (and REALLY needed the $$) so I said yes. The cake itself is easy. Its a 4 tiered cake with different fillings and covered in vanilla buttercream with swiss dots on each tier. However, this is my first "real" 4 tiered cake. I have done 5 tiered dummy cakes for competitions but have never stacked a large 4 tiered cake. I have done a few 3 tiers but I guess that extra 4th tier is making me nervous.

Of course to add to my anxiety last weekend I did a very simple two tiered wedding cake with yellow cake and buttercream and I get a text from the brides friend saying that the bottom tier had split and collapsed. icon_eek.gif When I decided to google and see what went wrong which looks like the cake I baked wasn't sturdy enough ( I used a basic yellow cake recipe) The cake was very soft and was starting to crack before I even stacked the tiers. So I have learned my lesson on not using a yellow cake recipe for wedding cakes. I tested out a pound cake recipe this weekend that came out much sturdier and was tasty so I plan on using that.

Anyways I guess my question is does anyone have any suggestions for this cake? I am so scared I am going to add too many dowels and create the swiss cheese effect or I am going to add not enough dowels and cause the cake to be crooked or collapse again! I guess I also need someone to calm me down because I normally do not ramble this much. I apologize for such a lengthy post but I have already had 2 nightmares this week about this cake! haha
Let's face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.

--Audrey Hepburn

http://paulaspastries.wordpress.com/
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Let's face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.

--Audrey Hepburn

http://paulaspastries.wordpress.com/
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post #2 of 21
9/11/12 at 6:10am
Use the WASC (white almond sour cream). Just type it in under recipes above. You barely taste the sour cream, it's very sturdy, and if you don't like almonds, just substitute another flavor. HTH
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post #3 of 21
9/11/12 at 6:30am
you dont mention what support system you have used in the two tier cake. if your support structure is sound, it should not matter how dense your cake is.
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post #4 of 21
9/11/12 at 6:39am
pag41989 I peeked at your cakes and they are great. You can totally pull this off. Make sure your dowels are evenly spaced and between layers they should come out to 1/2 inch the size of the layer going on top. Just be certain the weight of each tier is evenly placed onto the dowels below. Hope that makes sense. And as you have already learned don't use a cake that is too crumbly.

Remember to breathe, plan well and execute a great cake. This one will be great because you learned a lot from the last one. You can most certainly do this. icon_smile.gif

Best of Luck and Good Wishes
MsGF

Quinte West, Ontario, Canada   www.TeriLovesCake.ca   Strictly Wheat & Gluten-Free         

 

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Quinte West, Ontario, Canada   www.TeriLovesCake.ca   Strictly Wheat & Gluten-Free         

 

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post #5 of 21
9/11/12 at 7:25am
I really don't get the "too moist" or "too crumbly", or "too whatever" to stack. Your cake is not stacked, your support is! The supports carry the weight, that is why they are called supports! Your cake sits on the support, not more cake. Maybe your dowels or straws or whatever you use are too short? Maybe they shifted? SPS is a real lifesaver. I don't use it every time, but I do use it if my cake has to go very far, or if it is very tall. I have taken 4 tiers, stacked, an hour away, on bumpy, crumbling roads, and didn't have a problem, with that SPS in there.

I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

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I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

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post #6 of 21
9/11/12 at 7:28am
Don't worry, it's not difficult at all. (And the others are correct, the density of the cake doesn't matter, as long as you support the tiers correctly.)

I just use drinking straws. The bubble tea ones are best, but any will do. Each tier should have 5 of them, in a square pattern, with one just off center of the middle. You will sink them just inside the space that the next tier will sit on. Cut them to be level with the top of your buttercream, so that the tier is sitting on the straws, not sinking into the cake.

After you've stacked all 4 tiers, you'll put a wooden dowel through all 4 tiers. (Note: I use cardboard cake circles, so a dowel with a sharpened end will easily go through. Otherwise, if you're using the plastic plates, you'll have to drill a hole in each.) Just take a 1/4" dowel and cut it about 1/2" shorter than the height of the stacked cake. Sharpen the end of it using a paring knife, pencil sharpener, whatever, and gently hammer it down through the cakes. Viola! You can now move that cake around anywhere without fear of it shifting at all.

(BTW, I'm just a hobbiest at this. I don't do it for a living, but I've taken a ton of classes, and made more than a few wedding cakes for friends and friends of friends. Never had a disaster yet...knock wood!)

Good luck, you can do it!
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post #7 of 21
9/11/12 at 7:31am
Get the SPS! It seriously takes the scariness out of stacking/transporting cakes. I love it.
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post #8 of 21
9/11/12 at 10:11am
If you're using bubble tea straws to stack, make sure all the straws are even with each other, not necessarily with the buttercream. If you make them all level with the buttercream, the cake could shift if the buttercream itself isn't level. Just take the best measurement with the first straw in the cake, pull it out and cut the other straws the same height as the first one.
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post #9 of 21
9/11/12 at 11:14am
Yes, use SPS. You will not regret it! Easy, sturdy, cheap.
Answers to the most often asked questions re: SPS. SPS instructions are on Page 15 of the Sticky at the top of the Cake Decorating Forum. Supplies can be ordered from Oasis Supply, Global or BakeryCrafts.
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Answers to the most often asked questions re: SPS. SPS instructions are on Page 15 of the Sticky at the top of the Cake Decorating Forum. Supplies can be ordered from Oasis Supply, Global or BakeryCrafts.
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post #10 of 21
9/11/12 at 11:24am
I use the stainless steel cylinders.I hate the wood post and the plastic one I can never get them cut the same size, and on large cakes you end up with a bunch of holes in the cake. The cylinders are wonderful. They look like a empty can with both ends open. (most cans are to tall, but they are food safe) You just push them down in the center of the cake and sit the next one on top. If you have a good cake store near you it will be worth the trip. I have had mine for about 5 years LOVE them.
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post #11 of 21
9/11/12 at 11:53am
Is it too obvious for me to point this out? With real cake, as opposed to dummies, if you do use the dowels (though I recommend the SPS), each tier is on a cake board when you place it on the dowels that are in the tier below.

I hope I die before "your" is the official contraction of "you are."

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I hope I die before "your" is the official contraction of "you are."

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post #12 of 21
9/11/12 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BettyRWalters

I use the stainless steel cylinders.I hate the wood post and the plastic one I can never get them cut the same size, and on large cakes you end up with a bunch of holes in the cake. The cylinders are wonderful. They look like a empty can with both ends open. (most cans are to tall, but they are food safe) You just push them down in the center of the cake and sit the next one on top. If you have a good cake store near you it will be worth the trip. I have had mine for about 5 years LOVE them.



These scare the crap outta me since the place I used to work used them. One time, the outer edge of the cake split in two places, and the decorations pulled it down! Of course, it damaged the bottom two tiers as it rolled down them onto the linens. The remaining wedding cake was a perfect top tier, with a steel ring covered in chocolate crumbs and filing for the second tier, and the third and fourth tiers were partially stripped of icing and decoration, red velvet cake and yellow cake exposed, and there was an explosion of crumbs and pristine white icing and fondant cherubs and Baroque swirls on the table cloth. It was truly horrible. Nothing to do but stare with your mouth hanging open in horror, eyes bulging... The MOG running off....When the bride came running in her dress, face all red, with the MOB and MOG behind her, i split! I allowed the owner, who was with me during the delivery deal with it, as she was the one who stuck that thing in the cake... It was never spoken of, since the owner was very proud (ROYAL WITCH, with a B), but we came back, in silence (she would yell at people for no reason when they opened their mouths after something bad happened), and she left again with the checkbook, and a dusty, faded dummy cake. I presume the cake moved to the back and served, while the dummy was put on display....

I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

Reply

I would rather make 1 cake for $150, than 3 for $50 each.

The person who works for nothing will always have plenty to do!

My sarcasm is good-humored. People generally really like me, in person ;-) 

Licensed, inspected, insured, home-based commercial...

Reply
post #13 of 21
9/11/12 at 1:30pm
The cylinders come in all different sizes and they used one that was to big. What I do is use the cylinder that will fit inside the little legs (the pillar post thingies) that come on the bottom of the separator plate. The cylinders do need to be in the middle and a few inches from the edge's of the cake. I have never had that problem. The cake's are sturdy when you move them. As I said I Love them would never go back to the old way.
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post #14 of 21
9/11/12 at 2:31pm
I can't stop thinking of the poor little cherubs, swimming for their lives through white icing. icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

I hope I die before "your" is the official contraction of "you are."

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I hope I die before "your" is the official contraction of "you are."

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post #15 of 21
9/11/12 at 2:42pm
I use the plastic dowels and a mitre box to cut them all flat across and the same length. NO problem with any kind of cake even plain old fluffy cake mix...one ring of dowels per tier will do but ONLY if you put them in the right place. You have to mark where the next tier will go to make sure the dowels can do their job. On the bottom of five tiers, a few extra dowels in the middle.

On stacked cakes, I use two cardboards back to back with a dab of icing in between. The under cardboard has the greaseproof side down onto the icing. For 3 tiers no central dowel.

Chill each iced tier overnight BEFORE you deliver or stack it. Stack only onsite. Then the cake will be stable. As I only make buttercream cakes, that means the tiers are chilled at all times except when I am decorating. Maybe that's why mine never collapsed.
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