Here is the cake I plan on making this weekend for my daughters 1st birthday, the theme is cupcakes ,go figure..lol

In my mind it did'nt seem that difficult, I was going to make each cupcake individually and then dowel and stack but.... how will I get them all topsy turvy?

Each cake will be made with a place for the other one to sit on so I was think about cutting the dowels so that they created the angle I needed- 8"-7.5"-7"-6.5"-6" and so on, to create a "ramp of dowels" to support the cake and give it the correct topsy look.

Will this work or am I going about it the wrong way?

I don't want to use foam wedges or the cut-out method, I want the cakes to look as if they are teetering on top of each other (basically just like the picture).
Any Suggestions?

anyone?

Here's one that someone made before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7966226@N04/sets/72157600308146968/show/?no_back=1

I've seen another one on flickr...there was a tutorial here about how to do it. I can't find either one right now...but I know they're around somewhere.

CakeMommyTX,
it is workable. I thought about it, you need one center dowel through all three cakes, anchored in the cake basis, but from your picture this is workable. I will send you more, but tomorrow (it is 1 a.m. here and I should be already sleeping). Tomorrow I will make a picture, if nobody comes with an idea in the meantime.
Majka

Really cute & someone has a tutorial on here for something similiar. Let me see how I can attach it.

As promised, back with the how to:

I did move the cupcakes slightly to get all of them more centered.

When going exactly by your drawing, you need following layers: two layers 6" x 2", two layers 6" x 2 1/2", two layers 8" x 2". And now the difficult decision: For the middle layer you would ideally need a cake 7" x 4 1/2" high. You would mark one third and cut across - not parallel to the bottom, but from 1/3 on one side to 2/3 on the other side. If you cannot bake this high, you would need one layer 7" x 1 1/5" and one 7" x 3".
This is the only topsy turvy part, the rest is simply carved and stacked cake.
The stacking goes from the bottom: (6,8 ),(8,6), (7"),(6,6). The parenthesis show tiers of your cake. Worst carving is in 2nd and 4th tier and on the top.
Make a hole in the middle of separator boards, because you need a middle dowel. It will go easier in the cake.

Hope this helps and good luck to you.

And now the drawing:

Thank you!!!!
Thats a big help, I'm off to bake now.
Thanks again.

Why not make one sturdy pvc support that runs the center of the cakes? Secure it to a board and you could let the cakes rest on the stand rather than the cake below it. That way no need for a forest of dowels.

Just a thought.

Great visual Maj