How do I make this tiered cake? - Page 2

sometimes i like to insert a center dowel that's too long and it sticks up outa the top so i can have a handle on the cake--for stacking on site

 

then after stacking i remove it & patch or cut it off shorter so it disappear or place another tier on top--so one hand under the cakeboard and one on the dowel, like a 'delivery handle'

 

i like to do this especially with topsy turvy cakes and sometimes for big tiers that sit on a cake board that is almost the same size as the tier--

 

for a 12" or 13" or 14" tier that's going on top of a 16"  where if i stack those two for easier delivery it's too heavy to carry

 

but i don't wanna bigger cake board under it either--because of the design--like if i already applied a fondant ribbon border--

 

i want a small dot border or no border-- i don't wanna try & cover a big ole piece of cardboard sticking out--

 

so the 'delivery dowel' gives me some leverage to handle it better.

 

can't yah just see it flipping outa my hands without the 'handle' or me grabbing a big glob of cake <shudder>

 

10,000 ways to do this--just whatever method/s feel best to you

Yeah, i want to see the destruction:grin:

4 tier was supposed to look pretty much like this dummy I made, but with a couple changes to make it more cohesive with her decorations.

After it came crashing down, this is what the top tier looked like.

And the other two that cake off weren't as bad, but was all cake mush inside the fondant, so I smoothed it with fondant smoothers, smearing all my meticulous piping, lol. It was too mushy to hold the bubble straws so I pulled them all out and grabbed my Wilton floating tiers stand, and prettied up the tops with tinted buttercream (on fondant tiers, lol) stuck some premade roses on them, and the extra web I made, threw them in boxes and hit the door running! This was the result:

In comparison, this cake had the dowel, and we had to slam on the breaks the same way. It shifted a bit, but held .

Before

OMG, Anna...did you cry?

 

The one time I lost a cake tier (it flipped off a tilting turntable as I was piping an intricate black BC design on ivory BC), I screamed and threw that POS Wilton turntable across the room.

yikes!

I didn't cry, I was too panicked to cry! I got in thinking mode, slam dashed it together and hit the door!!! After I got the cake and cupcakes set up, I watched the bride walk down the aisle (venue was multi use) and slunk out the door behind her. When I got to the car, my knees gave out and my whole body started shaking! I felt chilled to the bone, and my teeth were chattering, lol! My husband had to drive.

When it fell, I was by myself and screamed like i got stuck with a pike! I pulled over, and opened the hatch, and I was picking tiers off my floorboard when a biker pulled up behind me and asked if I needed help. I turned around, hands coved in black and red icing, moved over so he could see the wreckage, and asked if he was a cake decorator, lol! My husband pulled up behind him and helped me put it all on my cart and gave me wet wipes and HE was about to cry! He kept saying,"Oh God, Baby, Oh God! What do we do? What do you want me to do?"

The best thing is, the bride was sweet as could be! She didn't need the servings, since she was going to keep it for her anniversary. She didn't even want money back, and said the cake was still perfect! I gave her a free box of cupcakes in their 2 favorite flavors when she returned my stands, and will also remake the top tier for her for free on their anniversary the cupcakes were silver wrappers and black web wrappers, with red airbrushed buttercream, and silver dragees. 4 of them got swished, but they wouldn't have fit on the stand anyway!