I did a purse cake the other day that seemed simple enough until I tried to get it to stand up. I had watched a video of the cake and thought "great this will be easy". Little did I know that it would end up frustrating me to no end. I gave up and decided to just lay it flat. It turned out ok, but I'm still disappointed. This was my end result as I was running out of time.

Is there a secret to getting it to stand up? I used 2 8" rounds, cut off a bit to make it flat and used buttercream in the center. I had thought later that maybe I should have put the buttercream between the layers and let it chill for a few hours, although I'm not sure that would have helped either.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I want to make one that actually stands for a friend's birthday.

Could be a question of what kind of cake recipe were you using? You need one that's a little denser and sturdier than most fluffy sponges out there.

I also add buttercream between the layers, crumb-coat with buttercream and then freeze it for a few hours before applying the final coat of icing/fondant. Much easier!

I agree, maybe you need a thicker cake. If you use box mixes, add a half pack of pudding to your mix right before you put it in the pan. That will thicken it up and make it easier to work with and carve. I have also found that a bit of Meringue Powder in my buttercream helps hold things together better. Maybe a tablespoon? I am an eyeball baker! lol Good luck!

Thank you all so much. I checked their recipe since I didn't use it the first time but it just calls for their regular moist cake mix. I think I'll follow the advice to use or make a denser cake.

Although it's not standing it's still very cute. Hang in there and try a recipe made for carving. You'll find completely different results.

You might also want to make the bottom of the cake really wide. ( I can't tell how wide the bottom of the cake is laying on it's side). But the wider the bottom is, the easier it will be to stand up.

Good luck!

I have only made one purse cake and it was for my dds 21st birthday.

I made the cake in an 11x15x2 pan and instead of triming it to make it flat I smooched it down with a towel on top which packed it a bit.

Then I cut the cake equally in 3 pieces.

I did a simple buttercream between the layers( the cake was 3 layers tall so buttercream between 2 layers) and then I trimmed the cake like a rectangular pyramid with a flat top. After that I buttercreamed the top and sides.

I used 3 evenly spaced dowels as it did have to take a short car ride over to my sisters house for the party.

Finally I covered the purse in white MMF and used blue MMF for the flap on top, the border edges and a few flowers were blue and white in assorted shapes.

For the handle I took wire from beading, wrapped it in foil, covered it in blue MMF and then pressed it into the cake. It did stand up and stayed up until the cake was cut.

I am sure I did it all wrong but alas LOL It worked for me!

I am just the family b-day, grooms cake, party cake maker and NOT a cake professional by ANY stretch of the imagination.