Hi - new to this site and its awesome!! How do you stack a wedding cake tier on top of the other one without ruining the sides of the cake - meaning, how do you "drop" on tier on top of the other. My fingers always get in the bottom sides and then theres so much work to do onsite.
THANKS!!

i use a method where the dowels stay sticking up a bit, and then you place the upper tier on them and let it sink down. no finger marks!

Sharon has a great DVD out on stacking....check it out!

Jen

I have to 2nd Jen's suggestion:

I've gotten each of Sharon's DVDs and they are worth their weight in gold !! Start with the " Perfecting the Art of Buttercream" and "Flawless Fondant," which are the foundations for ALL you'll need in the future.

I just hold the cake underneath and quickly slip my fingers out and let the cake fall. If the area is straight the cake should fall straight down. The secret is to do it fast don't hesitate.

Wow - that is weird - I just ordered Perfecting the Art of Buttercream and recieved and watched it yesterday - I didn't know there were additional videos by Sharon - THANKS FOR REPLYING PERSONALLY!!
I will be ordering Successful Stacking today!!

Thanks for the dowel rod tip. I will try this next time. It seems so much easier than how i have done it in the past!

There is a very good video on youtube from Epicurous.com about stacking cakes. The title is "Assembling a Wedding Cake". I'm going to try this when I due my 3 tiered cake in June. Please let me know if you try it and if it works for you.

B2B

I don't use wooden dowels, so my method is a little bit different.

I use Bakery Craft SPS which has the support legs locked into the plate that the tier rests on.

I put both hands under the cake (the sides) to transfer it over, I set one edge of the cake down onto the plate, and slide it into place until the hole punched in the cardboard is even with the plate "nub". (I take a bright red sharpie to the bottom of my cake board so I can see the "bull's eye"). I then replace my hand with a large icing spatula to gently drop the cake onto the plate.

I really like this system because as long as the plate is centered, your cake will definitely be centered! No worry of having to move the cake if it did not drop in center (don't scoot a cake against dowels, you can grab the dowel and scoot it with the cake....causing the dowel to lean)