Alrighty I am attempting to make my very first "topsy turvy" cake this weekend for my sisters birthday and i am starting to freak out a little bit!
Does anyone have any good pointers or tips? I really want it to look great for her but im so nervous!
Any pointers or words of wisdom would help alot!!
TIA!!!

i too will be making my first TT cake for next weekend. there is a couple of really great tutorials here that i have read and re-read...i feel ready for the challenge! good luck to you, can't wait to see your pics!

I read the tutorials here and I also bought Lindy Smith's book. Both were really helpful. I found it easiest to carve the cake when in was frozen. Don't get disouraged. and make sure to use support/dowels! I didn't support my first TT, and the top tier started to sink into the bottom. Ooopies. Lesson learned

oh i have read to much and watched so many video's (just a little bit intimidated)..
what type of fondant do you guys use?
I use MMF, should that be okay? What i am the most scared of it putting the fondant on once the cake is carved, im scared it will rip or tear or i wont have made it big enough! eeek!
(at least it's for my sister, so if it goes wrong i wont feel to to bad )

Hey, guys, I'm working on my first TT cake right now!
I have actually dreamed about it for the last week...or should I say I've had nightmares!
I just finished stacking and carving and crumb coating them. It has rained here for the last week, and the humidity is killing me; my crumb coat won't crust.
The friend I'm making this for wants butter cream, so I'm a little uneasy about getting that smooth and stacking without sticking my big fingers in it somewhere.

How cool that we're all taking this "journey" together.

OH you will have to post a picture of the finished product!! I dont have to actually put the cake together till Monday! so i have a bit more time to prepare!
Good luck with yours!!

Well, I have had a cake-tastrophe....
I probably rushed it. I torted, filled, sliced, and stacked while they were semifrozen. (It was only 2 tiers) I let them thaw then crumb coated. After about 2 hours I started to frost with butter cream. That worked pretty well. My shapes were good, and I had support in the lower tier. When the buttercream finally set up, I stacked the top tier. It was fine for a while, then the lower tier started to split. I'm thinking maybe my cut-out on the bottom tier was a little small or else I didn't hit the exact center. Anyway, I am baking another cake as I type. I think this one will be just plain ol' normal tiers.

I did my first ones a few weeks ago (both all buttercream) I did not freeze mine though. I just baked them a day ahead of time and let them set overnight to settle.

I used the tutorial on here by BKeith - it worked out just fine. Make sure you cut the hole for the upper layer to set in big enough. that was the only issue I had.

Mine are in my pics if you want to see them.

Here's a video I made that might help you get a visual of how to make them. Hope that helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHY_F53ClJ8&feature=channel_page

[quote="jsmith"]Here's a video I made that might help you get a visual of how to make them. Hope that helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHY_F53ClJ8&feature=channel_page[/quote]

just wanted to say, your cakes are absolutly amazing particularly your carved ones and your gumpaste roses are exquisite - they look like antique china

Thanks so much Cathy! You just made my day. You're cakes are very beautiful too!

YAY it worked!! Thank you so much jsmith i actually had watched your video before on you tube! and i also watched it during the process of the carving! I actually think the carving was the hardest part (my arm was really tired after). I travelled with the cake for about and hour and it was all good! Thank you so much for the tips! My sister loved the cake!!

I'm glad it helped. Your cake turned out beautiful.