I was wondering.... I was reading the instructions here on m,aking a whimsical cake. Is that the only way to do it? Is that how they are all done? It's all an optical illusion and the cakes on the bottoms are cut out so the one on top sits flat in it? Seems difficult and now I am afraid to try one Any tips or different ways? Thanks

This is the only way I've ever done it - the whopping two times I've done it! It's not so bad the second time haha, I felt a little more like I knew what I was doing. I would suggest, for sanities sake, depending on your skill level of course, go with straight sides first (instead of angled sides)until you get the hang of the method of cutting the middle out etc.

I would imagine there are probably other ways to do this, but I haven't seen it and honestly - until I master this one way, I'm not looking anywhere else haha!! =)

Some people do not cut the cakes at all. They put a wedge under the layers to give it the tilted effect. I have never done this, but here is a great example by spottydog - LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake!!!

I tried my first one yesterday. The top tier just fell apart. I decided to just stack the bottom tier. Luckly, this was for a family birthday.

The whimsical Bakehouse just does it with icing and their cakes look amazing. I saw the other way too and thought it seemed difficult.

Tracetjade,

How do you mean they do it with just icing? Can you explain how they do it?

They make a "ramp" on one side, I have to find my book to explain properly. But to try to explain they pipe buttercream in between layers so that one side is alot thicker, so it goes topsy turvey.

Colette just stacks hers right up and dowels the heck out of it. Haven't done that yet, but I did a three tier with the wedges AND angling, unlike the STUNNING above cake. Amd I did a two tier using the method on here that was easy.
The first time I tried the method on here, I lost my middle tier due to the fact that I did not trim it smoothly enough and the weight of the icing brought the top edge of my cake tumbling down.........

I have used both methods (wedge and the cutting out of the middle). The wedge to me wasn't as stable, but I probably could have doweled more. When you use the wedges you also have to watch the angels of you wedges. To much of an angel will put to much pressure on the bottom edge of each tier.

Cutting out the centure was a lot easier then I thought it would be. I asked a lot of questions from different people and found it fairly easy. Make sure your cake is frozen when you go to carve it. Use a cake board that is 2 inches smaller then the cake you baked and use it as a guide for your knife to give you the angled look. Then just use a cake pan (2 in smaller then what you baked for the next teir to be placed on top) to press into the top of your tier to get the size circle you need to cut out so it will sit on a flat cake surface. I use to SFS system and it made everything really easy support wise. Sorry so long Hope this helps

The Whimsical Bakehouse does a dam of buttercream, then on one side they do a second ring on top of the first. Then they fill it and stack the next layer on top, and "voila", it's topsy-turvy.

I have done it and it turned out fine.

i too, have the whimsical bakehouse book... i like the way she does it.. haven,t done one yet though. i sat in a demo of the one that you cut away a lot of the cake. it is also on this site... i don,t like that way... but again i haven,t done it... geraldin randlesome does it a great way... i have her directions in several american cake decorating books... she stacks 2 layers and angles the third layer... the next tier, she stacks 2 layers and angles the third layer the opposite way.it was hard to figure out at first... then i got it... now i just want to practice it. good luck with yours geraldine's site is creativecutters.com... she might would e-mail you her directions..

I use that way in a basic version, but I don't angle my cakes so much that i have to carve an entire hole in the cake. When I cut my circle into the cake I only go deep enough that on the low side there's no indention, so basically there's a wall on one side and it's open on the other. I kind of slide my cake in from the side and if there's a little gap where the top cake is floating on the dowels it's covered with trim. A big dowel down the center makes it all work perfectly. That makes it SO much easier to take apart also because you can slide a spatula right under each cake on the 'unwalled' side and take each cake out. I attached a pic of the one I did yesterday, delivered all stacked.

Oh, I'd also say, especially when doing more than 2 tiers, go for straight sides if you can because it sure makes them more stable! I kind of vary the shapes so I can have some straight to keep stability.

Beckysue....That's my favorite cake. I've not attempted one either because I don't want to carve it out. The wedges make more sense to me but how did they get the styrofoam not to dig into the cake is it sitting on a board or something? Thanks

Okay, so with the wedges, how do you keep it from sliding off? I'm sure it's simple, but it just baffles me. I have visions of cakes slipping and sliding.

I use the hole technique..but the wedge depends on the tipe of cake..
Edna

Hey Edna can we have a tutorial on that? J/k that would be too time consuming, I ABSOLUTELY love that white wedding cake topsy turvey you did. I just don't get the carving out how that makes the cake look tilted.

I never cut the hole. Just make sure each tier is 3 layers tall and only cut the top layer at an angle. I only know this because my first few attempts were 2 layers and they looked really squatty Then just dowel, stack and voila!

What do you guys think about the TT cake pan sets? I just found them online and I'm debating about buying them... I only bake a cake a week, so I don't know if I can justify $120 for the set... especially if I've never made a TT cake before! Anyway, they have round and square sets, and I was wondering if they are worth it?

DUH! Here's the link...


http://www.icingonthecakeonline.com/index.php?cPath=48_100&osCsid=3a44b12b92ffb3a449233c76eb9843d3

Those pans look so cool! I don't know if they'd be worth the investment though unless you made that kind of cake regularly. I'm going to try a topsy turvy in a few weeks for the first time and I plan to make three layers for each tier and cut the top level of each tier at an angle. I don't know if it will work but there's a first for everything.

i love TT cake pan sets! i can´t buy it because i live in europe and here there is nothing similar. probably in my next trable i´ll buy it.

I want to see when someone buys this how easy it is going to be to bake the cake that thick to get it to cook and not be dried out. Any ideas?

I want to see when someone buys this how easy it is going to be to bake the cake that thick to get it to cook and not be dried out. Any ideas?

Maybe Is me but, but I never liked the shape of the pans. Something trows me off wit the shape..
Edna

The TT pan sets aren't worth it.. it's a pain to bake a cake that thick, and then you still will have to torte it unless you want to serve a giant hunk of just cake. It is really not hard to stack and carve 3 layers of cake. Carve them before you fill them and it's really easy.

Thanks jkalman...I am not alone!... I honestly dont like them..