How do you transfer an iced cake to another tier with out wrecking the bottom. I have been freezing them and it works to a certain extent. I have done it with small six inch cakes. I cover any flaws with a border. Now I have to do a stacked wedding cake just smooth. Its 8" 12" & 16".
Any suggestions?

Thanks

Aster,


Are you taking the cardboard circle off the bottom before stacking? When I stack or tier a cake, the cake tier is on the same sized cardboard as the cake. It stays on the cake and sits on the plate (with a little icing to 'glue' it on) that sits on the columns or sits on the dowels you put in the bottom of the stacked cake.

I have never tried taking the cardboard off the bottom of the top cake, seems to me that it would sink into the bottom cake and make it difficult to take apart for slicing.

I put the cake on the same size circle and then put it on a non-slip square on my turntable and then decorate it. Then I pick it up off the turn table and place it on the other cake. I use large icing spatulas to help me pick it up and set it down.

I then let the people who will be cutting the cake know where there is cardboard and where there are dowels in the cake.

HTH

When you pull out the spatulas how do keep from messing up the cake underneath?

LMAO!!! I know those gods!

Aster~
This is how I learned to do it & it is VERY simple. When you stack a cake you need to put the cake board underneath the cake, same size or a little smaller. I do a little smaller. Put dowels in the cake on the bottom to support the top cake. Don't push your dowels into the bottom cake all the way. Center the top cake where you want it, sit it on the dowels & let it go removing your fingers semi quickly. The cakes weight will push the dowels all the way down. If not just press the top cake lightly. It's very easy if you do it this way. Never any mess ups. Sometimes I decorate my cake before stacking but most of the time I don't decorate untill it's stacked. Good Luck! You can do it!!

Okay, I like the idea of the cake pushing the dowels the rest of the way in. That sounds like it should take away from the issues I was afraid of.

My next issue is...I have a cake to deliver to a church tomorrow. 14", 10", 6" stacked...I'm supposed to do swirly type decorations. I think I'm okay with the swirly things cause I got the pattern press set. But...do I stack and decorate at home and deliver finished or do I take everything there to stack and decorate. I'm a little worried about the car ride but I also don't want them to see what a nut job I am when I work.

mjrjooligan- For a cake like this I usually board all of my cakes and decorate. of course this helps if you are putting a border around the bottom of each tier. Depending on the cake I will stack the bottom two tiers (i never stack more than two high) and put them in a container/box with handles and non-slip shelf liner on the bottom of it. then box the top tier seperately. Place more non=slip shelf liner between the box and the floor of your vehicle. Once on location set top tier onto rest of cake and finish border around that tier.

You can also transport all three decorated tiers and then stack on location and add your borders. Just make sure to take an icing bag of all the colors used on the cake incase you need to make a few final adjustments.

Hope this helps. I can go into more detail if you want.

Tcturtleshell, what a good idea. I totally wish I had read this before I doweled the cake! I still haven't stacked it. I will definitely remember that tip for next time.

I learned that way from where else... CC!!

I transport a cake stacked & finished. I've never had a problem but just in case I bring extra BC because you never know. As long as you use the non-slip shelf liner under your cake it shouldn't move unless you have to slam on your brakes or get hit (hope that never happens). Don't be so nervous about transportating cakes. It's actually pretty easy.

I transported a three tier cake, with the non slip liner with no problem. The last block before delivery was a VERY STEEP CROOKED Street. I thought I was on the crooked st. in San Francisco. I prayed to the icing gods debated on whether I should try to find an alternate route, but in the end, went up the hill. Cake was fine, I was a wreck, but all was good.

Cake finished and delivered thanks to the suggestions from you guys!! Doing the dowel thing and letting the cake push them in the rest of the way made putting it together really easy. I went ahead and finished the whole thing here then delivered but I must say the shelf paper was totally awesome. The cake didn't move an inch. We had more trouble finding someone with a key to the church than we did doing anything with the cake. Though I must say that I know my husband loves me because of all the help I get with my insane new hobby that takes over his kitchen!

So glad things worked out great for you mjrhooligan!! I knew it would!! I wish I would have invented that shelf liner!! I'd be a rich chick!! The next time you have a cake to transport you'll be alot calmer! It gets easier with time~

I had to laugh at what you wrote about your hobby taking over hubby's kitchen I made some cookies for my hubby's shop last week. The guys there went crazy over them. They were valentine cookies. They couldn't believe that I did that (hello I'm a decorator!! ). DH told them that when I decorate I won't let him in the kitchen for days!! He's happy when I'm finished with a project! He can do what he wants in the kitchen & actually has some room to do it! LOL~ I pick on him & he picks on me but I have to say DH is a huge help when I'm doing a cake~

My hubby has decided that I have one major disaster with every cake I do. Something happens and I decide the whole thing is awful and I'll hate it and there's no fixing it. He walks in the kitchen, does something that lasts a max of 5 minutes, and walks back out. When he leaves, whatever was wrong with it has now been fixed. I go back to work and finish the cake with no problem. I decide when I finish it to point out at least to myself every little thing wrong with it and don't like it. Three days later I decide that it really was a good cake after all.

When he told me this theory, I had to admit....he's right. That's pretty much exactly the way it goes!

LOL Good thing our hubbies support us through all this! I have a disaster (or think I do) on every cake I've done. Or I forget to add dowels or a decoration. It does get better with practice though. I bring everything on myself. I see pics on CC & say I want to do that!! So I do... sometimes I get in way over my head but it does come out ok in the end~ I have a lot of help from my CC friends when I get in too deep!! Keep at it mjrhooligan!!