OK...so I have a couple of questions.

The bride-to-be wants a 3-tiered square cake with the middle layer turned opposite of the other two. I vaguely remember skimming a post about this, but not the details. What size pans should I use? Or...I guess what I need to know is how many inches in diameter should separate each pan size?


She also wants the cake decorated in BC with metallic silver scrolls on the sides. How do you make metallic BC? I have only used luster and pearl dusts on fondant and modelling chocolate.


Thanks!

...Ok...I figured out the metallic decoration question. You mix half metallic dust with half powdered sugar, then mix piping gel to get a pipeable consistency. Still no advice on the pan size question! COme on...haven't you ever done one before?! HELP!!!!

I can't help you with the tier turned different, I can't picture what you mean, unless it's a topsy-turvey cake? Anyway, I can help you with the metallic BC question- you can use Luster and Pearl dust on crusted BC. Make sure the BC is very well crusted, then mix your luster/pearl dust with a bit of vodka, everclear, lemon extract, etc (something clear that has alcohol for evaporation), make a thick paint out of it, then using a clean brush (I use a blush brush), paint it onto the icing and let it dry. I did two whole tiers of a large cake I did last summer this way, and it turned out good.
thanks
Kerri

the size pans will depend on how many servings she is paying for

I'm assuming that this is a square cake, so that being said, I would measure the diagonal between the center of one side to the center of the adjacent side of the bottom tier and that will give you the cake size for the middle tier. i.e. if the measurement from center to center is 8" you would need am 8x8 square cake. I hope that wasn't too confusing. HTH

Yes...this will be a square cake. I think the "official" name of this technique is called OFF-SET. Thanks for your comments.

Trixie, you need to measure the diagonal of your middle square tier to be able to get the look you need (if how I read your post is correct). Take a look at the picture I made ~ you have to make sure the diagonal of the 2nd tier is no bigger than the horizonal of your bottom tier. The picture shows a possible 10-7-5" square cakes.

HTH!
<Starkie>

There are two ways (maybe more, but I'm talking 2 right now) to "offset" square cakes.

One is shown in the illustration above, which I call "square-diamond-square". An 8" cake from side to side is 8", but if you measure it opposite corner-to-corner, it's 12" .... so you cannot do the square-diamond-square setup by putting an 8" cake on top of a 10" cake because the corners will hang over the edge. I learned this the hard way, which is why I now measure everything FIRST!

Here is one of my cakes with the diamond-square-diamond set up:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=570903

The other way is what I call "slightly askew" .... the tiers are turned just slightly crooked .... some may call it a curving stairstep look. You have a little more flexibility in the cake sizes since you can turn the cakes so they "just" fit inside the lower tier.

Here are 3 pics of my favorite "set askew" cakes. When I put the first one on my website, it became my most requested design overnight. Notice how the spacing is tight, so I want you to notice the borders on these cakes and how crowded they can look. While borderless is actually more work for me, I recommend to my brides that they do a bottom border on each tier, but have a smooth-no-border on the top of the tier.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=303543
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1199535
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=534443

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! What would I do without my fellow CC'ers?!

I've done the offsetting pattern similar to the square/diamond/square, but with the hex set and it comes out beautifully. That allows a nice "shelf" that is ideal for flower placement. I highly recomend this.