Hi everyone! I haven't posted in a loooooong time - after getting a virtual bakery off the ground in 2006 I developed a nasty flour/dust/wheat allergy and had to stop cold! Boo!

I still occasionally make wedding cakes for friends -- but I buy sheet cakes from bakeries that make scratch-tasting cakes, and then cut, split, fill and cover them myself. Totally eliminates the wheezing, coughing and joint pain I would get if I made it myself.

I have generally done that to make square cakes, but the bride I'm working with right now insists on a round cake with 14", 10" and 6" tiers. I ordered 2 full sheet cakes from my favorite bakery and I'm trying to determine if that will be enough cake.

What do you think? I'm pretty sure the dimensions are 24x16, so technically I should be OK, but I was just looking for some other opinions in case there's something I'm not considering.

Thanks!
lkab

www.cookiebottomcakestudio.com

well, IF it is the size you say -- the to-scale diagram below confirms you will be able to get one layer of each size from one sheet.

however it is a very tight fit for the 14" and 10" -- so if the sheet ends up much smaller, no go and you will need a third sheet.

Thanks, Doug! What fantastic diagram, this really helps a lot! YOU ROCK.

I was also thinking that if I pick up the sheets and they're not able to accommodate all three tiers, I can don my gas mask and gloves and just bake the 6" layers myself. Or get my mom, an excellent baker who will be in town for the wedding, to bake that tier.

I've already got my choco-pan, plates, dowels, cake drums and so on ready. Wish me luck - I'll take photos!

If they don't fit, you'd probably be able to get the 14 and 6 inch tiers out of it, but need to have someone bake the 10" tier for you.

So...if you have a wheat allergy, which is pretty common, have you thought about starting a wheat-free bakery? It might take some real tinkering with the recipes, but I bet it would be a success.

Hey Texas Rose -
I have thought about that, but I have never found a wheat-free or gluten-free recipe I liked enough to sell. There are lots of allergen-free cookbooks out there and it's not out of the question, but so far...no dice.

lkab

Just curious.. why didn't you ask the bakery to bake the rounds in the sizes you need?

Hi Ginny -
That's actually what I'd prefer to do, but I have been too chicken to try it because a pastry chef here in Philly told me that they'd think I was another bakery passing off their cake as my own, possibly even for competition. It would be *so* much easier that way.

Do you think I should give it a go? If I call back and they get mad, I'm worried that they won't sell me the sheet cakes either!

Did they ever ask what you are doing with the sheet cakes? Do you get them iced or plain? If you have an ongoing "relationship" with this bakery, maybe you could explain your allergy.

Wait, duh...totally forgot -- this bakery's largest round cake is 12" and I almost always use a 14" as my bottom tier. So this time around I definitely have to go with a sheet.

The other thing is that recently, I've only been asked to do square cakes, and this bakery only sells sheets or rounds, so I had to buy and cut sheet cakes.

But yes, buying them as rounds would be way easier. If I can find a scrumptious bakery that sells 14" rounds, I'll go for it!

@Doug - another idea with a lot of potential!

@Ginny - I meant to also say they have not ever asked why I need the cakes. I never get frosting but they won't sell them to me naked, so I have opted for a light glaze that actually seems to help seal in the moisture.