Hi everyone! I have a 3-tiered square cake coming up that I'm so nervous about. Thankfully, it's only going to be 10", 8", and 6". Is there a special technique to stacking square cakes? I guess what I'm most nervous about is how to prevent the edges and corners from sagging. The cake is all in buttercream. I would love some helpful hints on how to do this. I'm such a beginner!! Thank you: )

I assume you are using sufficiently strong boards. not sure why the corners would sag if you have boards under each tier.

Make sure your layers are COMPLETELY level, that way your corners won't be low.

I prefer for my cakes to bake over the pan about a 1/2", I don't get a hump because I bake at 325 and use bake even strips. I also use Magic Line pans. If the cakes are a little low on the corners and the cakes bake over a bit, I can still completely level the cakes.

I use an Agbay leveler, my layers are perfectly level, love that thing!!

When I ice the cake, I use a sewing gauge that I set at 4 1/16", and make sure the icing is exactly this height all the way around (I like my finished cakes without the icing on top to be around 3 3/4"). If the cake is to be fondant, I decrease the amount of icing on the top to allow the thickness of the fondant. I then use the Bakery Craft SPS system with the 4" pillars for my stacking. The plates settle in the icing just a bit but not on the cake itself so there is no pressure on the cake but there is also no gap between the plate and the cake. Most of my brides only want a teeny tiny border or only a fondant ribbon so I can't put a big border on to cover up a gap.

If you use the dowel support system, I place the dowels near the outer edge of the upper tier, near the corners. If you're really unsure about it, put the upper tier on a plate (I did it this way for years, until I learned on CC that plain cardboard is just fine).

vdrsolo-what is a sewing gauge?

Sorry, double post I can't delete for some reason.

The only time I had a problem with my corners seeming to fall in the middle I had used a Wilton pan and it was those rounded corners. It was the bottom tier so I know it didnt sink, but it turned out ugly. So I just suggest using magic line pans, or even Wilton is coming out with the new square edge pans. I suggest making sure your batter gets all the way into the corners too. Push it with your spatchula and drop it (gently) on the counter.

I've used plates and dowels, and plates with dowels. The only problem I've had was I accidently put a dowel where the plate went into the cake and I had to adjust the dowel while trying to balance the tier without it pushing into the back. But my corners seemed fine.

vdrsolo-how clever you are!