I usually buy my boards at Walmart and they are wax covered. Recently I picked some up at a cake supply, and they are not waxed.

What kind do you use? Does it matter?

The non waxed won't get soggy?

Thanks.

I cut my own from 3/16th inch foamcore and wipe on a coating of edible soy wax.  I do find that the unwaxed cardboards--which I haven't used in 7 years--do get soggy unless you put several together.

I mean to use as the base for tiers, not as a cake base. I think I'll get some waxed ones to be safe.

Unwaxed will definitely get soggy and they will LOOK terrible once that grease soaks through! Wilton boards are actually very high quality compared to most. 

A tiny smear of butter cream, and a cake will never slide off a waxed board. I always use waxed, but from what I have seen, the unwaxed hold up just fine without getting soggy, but they do stain and look a little worse for wear.

I put a smear of melted chocolate or candy melts between the board and the cake. Once dry, your cake ain't goin no where!

Thanks for your responses.

This one will travel 5 hours and be made a couple days in advance of the wedding, so I'm thinking use waxed, but melted chocolate to adhere it to the board. I'd rather it look nicer.  I'm not stacking until we are at the venue.

Also, the grooms cake will be a fishing tackle box, It is 9x13, I think 5 layers tall, (hoping 4 will be enough) but the layers are not a full 2 inches,,so I'll add a support board there, would it be better to do 3 and support then 2, or 2 then support 3? - reguarding stability for a long ride?

I have used buttercream to attach to boards in the past, I delivered it about an hour away. I thought it was level on my car seat, but looked over and it had slid toward the back of the board. I turned it the other direction, and it slid back! lol..

Then I got it level for the rest of the ride.  Phew! Ever since I always make sure it travels level.  But the chocolate idea just may hold it better.

I prefer to used the waxed boards myself due to the other boards becoming flimsy at some time or another.  My main reason for writing a reply is to state that a cake should never be transported on a car seat. As you have already found out they can shift and although your cake shifted back it is not a given that they will and be fine.  Move your front seat back as far as it will go and transport your cake on the floor. I found using the weaved shelf liner keeps everything right where it is supposed to stay, no sliding on the floor mat. Good luck!

Thanks. That's good advice. and on a single cake that works, I'll probably do that with the groomscake. But the brides cake, transported unstacked, Will have to go on the back seat. Not enough floorboard for all of them. It's a 4 teir.

But I ALWAYS put something under them against the back of the seat to make them sit level after that scare.

And for anyone else reading.. use a level to check because what looks level, May NOT be! lol.. found that out the hard way.

I'll have a passenger in the front.. so hoping there will be room on the floor behind for the groomscake. The board will be larger than the cake to hold 'fishing accessories'.

A

Yes, I know what you meant---and my response addresses that. I cut my own boards for each tier, just as I described.

For base boards, I use either pre-made 1/2" or 1" drums, but if sizes aren't right, I cut my own from 1/2" foam core.

Thanks. Wish I had time/ or had some soy wax! I live in a rural area and we have to order almost everything. There is a small cake shop, but limited supplies. So I'm often stuck with what our "hometown" walmart has to offer.

I often cut my own base from foam core, but I get the thin ones and stack them since that's what is available to me.

I usually end up trimming my waxed cardboards to fit the cake, seems my cake always shrinks a bit and is smaller than the precut boards that are supposed to fit.

You want the cakes to be slightly smaller than the boards they sit on. Unless the way I ice my cakes isn't common, but I cut my boards so they're definitely bigger than the cakes Im going to ice. How else would you get a good layer of icing on them? I ice the cake, and scrape the excess off with a bench scraper, flush against the edge of the board, and the icing fills that space. How else are people doing it?

AAZ, do you cut all of your cake boards yourself? How much bigger do you cut the boards versus the size of your cake? I use the same size boards as cake and trim the edges. I HATE trimming cake!

Yeah, I don't trim anything, if I can help it. I usually trace around a pan, and that gives me a nice space to work with. If I want a lot of icing around the edges, I flip the pan over and trace around the lip.

If I want perfectly naked borders, I cut two boards. One slightly smaller that the cake sits directly on, and one a bit larger. I put the cake and it's smaller board on the larger board, ice it, chill it well, and pop it off the larger board. Voila....perfect clean bottom, with no need for a border, and no cake board can be seen.

I do exactly what Maybenot describes. I order boards in bulk, in cases. Otherwise, the option is to buy the single sheets from the hobby shops, and I don't want boards that people have been touching, or fell on the floor, or anything else. I want them straight from the factory, touched by as few people as possible, into the case they go, and they come out when I open the box.

AThanks, AZ! Last stupid question, how do you neatly cut your boards? My one and only attempt was a disaster.

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3238425/width/200/height/400[/IMG] With this baby. The pressure you can exert, and the angle you can hold it at at isn't something I can do with a regular exacto. It's just right. I keep myself stocked with these.

ASmooth uninterrupted cuts.

I generally use buttercream under my fondant. If it's that thick, the amount of space left, the fondant tends to slide more and the edges are too pillowy. I think that's the method to work with ganache, but for me it's too much space for buttercream.

But I may try leaving a little extra space and see if that works better. I had been trimming them even with the cake. Hmmm.

AIt's not any more bc than a cake without fondant gets. I think one of the reasons a lot of people screech about not wanting a fondant covered cake, is that the fondant covered cakes they've had previously didn't have much bc underneath. Fondant should [B]NOT[/B] be a replacement for bc, in my opinion. I'd be ticked off if I paid a lot of money for a custom cake, and it barely had a smear of buttercream on each slice.

ASo couple the fact that the cake has no more than a crumb coat of buttercream, [B]with[/B] gross fondant (let's just say the fondant is gross, and not yummy fondant), and you basically have a worthless cake. Just my opinion, but that would definitely turn me off to ordering from that person again. I give them a generous layer of icing, truly tasty fondant, and fairly decent decorative skill. I think that's only fair.

I give a nice layer of buttercream. Just once I wanted to really give a good thick layer, and it didn't work so well under fondant.

I think my issue is that the cake shrinks. I use a mix for my base recipe, (I'm  a hobbyist) I always add an extra egg,  A little more oil than called for and a little less water, and some flavorings.

I usually torte and use fillings .

I do make my own MM fondant. I flavor that with butter and/or almond flavor. It's quite yummy. :-)

I always get lots of compliments on the taste of my cakes.

I cut my boards out of cardboard.  Double the cardboard.  Cover in freezer paper.