Top Wrap Or Not To Wrap Cake Boards?
Decorating By tcturtleshell Updated 11 Mar 2005 , 8:25pm by ARUAL37
Ok.. I know this question has been asked millions of times.. I'm asking it again.....
On stacked cakes... do you cover your cake boards? If so with what? Tinfoil? If not then what? I'm making my practice run wedding cake today & tomorrow. I've already made 4 cakes so far. I wrapped the boards w/ tinfoil & it looks bad!! What do I wrap them with? I read somewhere you were supposed to wrap them because they get soggy from the cake on them & they will bulk or be too thin for the cakes weight. By the directions on the wilton tutorial they don't wrap the board w/ anything.
How will you get a dowel rods through 2 cake boards & tinfoil???
Thank you!! I will have more questions in a few minutes.... 
Thanks, that's better then wrapping them! The boards your talking about are bendable right not the hard plastic boards. What do people who wrap their boards wrap them with?
Right...the grease proof boards are cardboard, just like a regular cake board but they have a wax coating on top which makes them greaseproof!! If I wrap a cake board I use the Florist Poly-Foil sold in rolls. It is technically not FDA approved to be used with food but that is what is sold in the cake deocrating stores! I don't think anyone died from it yet! 
The boards should have any area that is exposed to the cake, wrapped. So this means that you can take two boards, the covered kind, and have them with the covered side outwards so that the cake sits on the covered board. I prefer completely enclosing them in either tinfoil or a foil type of wrap. I am a little lost as to what difference it makes what they are covered with - as in the tin foil not looking good, because you cut the boards to fit the cake and then hide them with borders.
The reason for covering them is that the boards can absorb moisture from the icing and cake causing them to warp and causing issues with the cake.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes
I buy my poly-foil on eBay! There are a couple of dealers there and when I need more I just email them and tell them how many and of what color I want and they quote me a price, then They list it on ebay (emailing me so) with a buy-it -now and I buy it. Way cheaper then going to the florist/florist supply for it. Also as a base on stacked or even really heavy cakes (I do scuplptures) I use a foam core board, about 1/2 inch thick, light weight and strong! Since most of these cakes I cover the board in fondant, I just use a ribbon or decorative (scotch type) tape for the edge. Ok, I' giving away my secrets now!!!! 
I'll have to try the contact paper trick.
Hhmn, don't know if you mean you are using the foamcore in addition to cardboard, or on its own, but...
I looked into this product awhile back. My brother-in-law manages a commercial building supply department of a large building supply store. He was involved in commercial construction. Anyway, he investigated the product and spoke with the local representatives and they were a bit horrified that people were using foamcore for this purpose. You see the product was developed to be flexible, which is really what we don't want it to be for our purposes. So much so that the weight in relationship to the size or expanse, is really an issue. Basically the larger the piece, the more iffy whether or not it would hold up.
Long story short, they did not recommend this application of their product. In terms of strength, it is even lower on the scale than thin masonite. 1/2 to 3/4 inch plywood is best for anything of a larger expanse or heavier weight.
You could probably get away with it for smaller lightweight cakes. However there have been more than a few instances of these foamcore boards causing cracking in the cake icing because of the flexibility. There have also been cases of them just snapping and breaking.
Just thought you would like to be aware.
hugs Squirrelly Cakes
Thanks for answering that question everyone. I hope I get other ideas too. To Squirrellycakes... I've been busy w/ my kids for the last few days! I will email you hopefully tomorrow. OH, & mail the pictures again. I will mail them through my aol address so look for turtleshell67. Catch you later~
When I worked at the bakery we used the carboards under each tier without covering them. We never had a problem with them getting soggy. I'm sure if it ever caused a problem customers would have complained. It probably depends on your cake's moisture content, but I doubt you would have a problem. When I do cakes from home I don't always buy the cardboards that are sold for cakes. I make my own so then I cover them with foil to make sure they are clean. I have doubled them and then when putting that long dowel down through the whole cake I have to work a little harder to get it through. I use a small hammer and pound the sharpened dowel through. I sharpen it to a really sharp point, then it goes in easier. Don't worry too much about it, it's easy 
It depends on what the cardboards are, if they are greaseproof or what. Some people are using the boards that have the foil covering only on one side and this is what I am referring to. After all, cardboard is really only paper and paper will absorb moisture and grease. Even the little cardboard circles that I have used that are wax coated, well the ones I got were only coated on one side. Some of those available that are coated on both sides have the edge exposes. Now in a stacked cake situation, this edge will be hidden by your border, which means that the icing is right up against the area where the corrugated cardboard is exposed, thus exposing this surface to moisture. So because we are never sure what people will be using, it is better to tell them to completely seal the cardboard circles rather than to risk any issues. The problem is, the home baker does not always have access to the proper materials or what is used in the commercial industry and sometimes they are just not informed.
Incidentally, this has happened to a number of people on the Wilton site.
I can tell you from personal experience that if you freeze a cake on a foil covered board, even when the board is enclosed in plastic completely, that the board can warp during the thawing out stage.
And actually regarding the cardboard issue, this is also noted in the Wilton books.
Page 82 from Wilton Wedding Cakes, A Romantic Portfolio 2002 Wilton Industries Inc.
An Exception - Using Plates to Separate Stacked Tiers
The type of cake sometimes dictates what is placed between the layers for support. Some decorators prefer using separator plates between stacked tiers instead of cake circles when the tiers are heavier than usual (such as fruit cake and dense chocolate cake). This prevents the possibility of the cake circles warping from the excess moisture and weight, thus causing the layers to shift.
thanks, thanks, thanks!
The problem I'm having is I put 2 cake boards together, wrapped them in tin foil & it made them really thick & also look ugly shaped not really circle shaped. It's just too thick w/ tinfoil. I guess I should use the foil in the cake isle in Michael's or Hobby Lobby.
Kate, I will not use foil on my practice cake just to see if it warps.
Squirrellycakes, just using foamcore or cardboard not both. I know I'm stressing out too much over this cake. I've gotten a lot of info from you, calidawn, m0use, kate, mrsmissy, cookieman, jscakes & lots of others!!!! I'm so thankful for every bit of advice!!!!! Thanks to all!!!!! I'll be asking more questions I'm sure of it!!! I will be so glad to have the practice cake over & done w/ so I can rest easy for a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is going to be great I know!!!
Heehee,
Ok, refresh my memory please and sorry! Haha, I have E-mails from 4 different sites and sometimes it is hard to keep track of who is doing what and why and also what name they E-mail by and what name they use on the various sites.
So is this a practice cake for your Wilton course? How big is it?
See where you get into problems is with say a three or four layered stacked cake, usually covered with fondant or possibly with buttercream. The thing is, the size in diameter and height of the cakes has a bearing on everything. So if you are talking an 8 and 4 inch cake, 3 inches high each, well that isn't a big deal. However 5 or 6 inch high cakes, 8, 12 and 16 inches, well that is a big deal.
So covering with tin foil, well if these are small cakes, then just single board them and seal them with tinfoil. Just make sure that the base is good and strong. Ok, so to cover with tinfoil, you are going to only slightly overlap underneath with your tinfoil and then trim away all excess. Then for the other side, you are going to cut a circle the same diameter as the board and glue or tape that on one side. Even easier if you get two circles that are already covered and just tape or gluegun the two together in the centre.
Don't use the heavy duty foil for this, you only want the cheap stuff, it is very thin.
For smaller cakes to board the upper tier, the foamcore should hold up, just don't use it to support or be the base for all of the cake.
You almost upholster the board, you don't just crinkle it around the edge, does that make sense? In other words, the piece that will overlap the bottom of the board, well you cut it just slightly larger, about 1/2 inch so that is will cover the side and extend to the other side. Then you are going to pull it up at four places, and temporily secure those 4 places. Then you are going to sort of gather it in between and smooth to the back and secure the whole edge. Then you place your circle over this to cover it after you have trimmed it as close as you can.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes
Wow, lots of ideas as to how to do a stacked cake. I've had zero trouble with putting my cakes on cake boards. I wrap my cake up and either freeze it and then thaw in fridge for 24 hrs or just refrigerate it depending on when I need it. I trim the cake board down to the size of the cake and then I hot glue the cake on the board to a separator plate. I have had NO success trying to hammer a dowel down through multiple layers of a tiered cake and I can imagine it's only meant for two maybe three layers depending on the thickness of each layer. The dowels aren't that long and the whole process is just plain ol' messy! I use separator plates and the hidden hollow plastic dowels to stack my cakes. You can't do this with the Wilton items the way they are. I altered mine. I cut the feet on the bottom of the separator plate to where they fit snuggly inside the hollow plastic dowels. This works perfectly. The separator plates are the same size as each tier so the separator plates do not show.
I too purchase my poly foil cake board covers from a lady on ebay. I just recently purchased two sheets of each of her 27 colors for $40.00 They are fabulous colors and extremely durable.
Amy
Looking forward to seeing how your practice cake comes out, do keep us up-dated. We never froze wedding cakes on the boards at the bakery. I'm sure you would have a problem with them if you did that. Home refrigeration and commercial are different too which might make a difference. I think it's a really good idea to figure out what works in your situation since everyone works with different equipment and ingredients which can change the end product. The cardboards we used under our tiers in the bakery were just plain cardboard, no wax or foil on them, single thickness too. I would double them by hot-glueing them together sometimes for the large tiers. We did keep our cakes refrigerated which maybe made a difference.
squirrellycakes~ it's Tina... remember you helping me when I first got on this forum... I'm supposed to be sending you pics of our alligator. Your loosing your memory OR just giving too many people advice!! ha ha ha!! My cakes are for a wedding not class. bottom tier 16", then 14" then 12" & I'm going to add a 6" for the anniversary cake. I'm either putting it on the table by the cake or on top. Haven't decided yet. Thank you guys for all your info. Yes, I will post my practice cake even if it looks horrible!!! But I think it will turn out great!
Well, I have covered and not covered. When I did cover I cut the cardboard in the shape of the cake with like only an inch or so exposed, it did ok, and covered it with foil and it was fine, then I didnt cover and you could see an "oil" mark all around the cake and I was just sick! 
I have also gone to our bakery here on base (when we had one) and bought their boards, and paper lace pieces, and even the plastic carrier. I dont have alot of kitchen space here in Germany, so alot of my stuff is back in the states in storage until we get back in July. Once back I WILL get alot of stuff for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think its a matter of your preference. If you dont like it then dont. I hope this helps, but I am almost sure it didnt 
squirrellycakes~ it's Tina... remember you helping me when I first got on this forum... I'm supposed to be sending you pics of our alligator. Your loosing your memory OR just giving too many people advice!! ha ha ha!!
My cakes are for a wedding not class. bottom tier 16", then 14" then 12" & I'm going to add a 6" for the anniversary cake. I'm either putting it on the table by the cake or on top. Haven't decided yet. Thank you guys for all your info. Yes, I will post my practice cake even if it looks horrible!!! But I think it will turn out great!
Haha, I did remember when I looked at the location, I remember the backyard critter, haha! Just when you mentioned "practice cake" it threw me off as a lot of people are doing class cakes and call them practice cakes, haha!
You are correct, you get so many E-mails and I can't save them all, so sometimes it is a question of trying to remember which cake, haha! Which cake, which name, which site name goes with which person name. Which Nancy, Beth, Michelle, Tina, Tammy, Donna, haha! I think Michelle wins hands down for the most popular name on cake sites.
Yes these are big cakes and I would double board at the very least - with the corrugated lines going in different directions, for sure. I would also use either Wilton's wrap or a cheaper version, like the florist foil and definitely completely enclose these sizes of cake boards. One of the cakes that toppled on the Wilton site, was this size. And definitely make certain that your boards are nice and straight and not warped at all. Many of the boards that you purchase are warped. It isn't that this will be an issue for every single cake, it won't be. But if you think of it, about the moisture and the grease, well it makes sense. Another point is, if your boards are not enclosed, then you have cardboard sitting on cake. Well think about it. Don't you think that would cause it to stick to icing? Even when you place a boarded cake on a counter where you have just iced a cake, it picks up grease spots. Plus well, it isn't sanitary. For that reason alone, any board that touches any cake should either be greaseproofed or covered in a material that can be wiped off prior to placing a cake on it. I am surprised at how many people that just pick up a foil covered board from the store and place the cake on it. I always wash the top of those boards with a milk soap, bleach and water solution and wipe it with a clear water clean cloth before placing a cake on it.
You see, stacked cakes are a fairly recent thing, just the last few years really where the trend is towards cakes that are completely stacked. And that presents a whole lot more issues than the typical construction.
You have to think about it like this, would you eat a meal served to you on top of a moving box - without a plate?
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes
Thanks Squirrellycakes!
I haven't sent the pics yet! I keep forgetting!! You are rubbing off on me, LOL!! I'll email w/ them sometimes tomorrow... I'm writting myself a note..... LOL
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