Stacking Cake Dummies Between Cakes

Decorating By arwa Updated 1 Oct 2009 , 7:21am by arwa

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arwa Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 5:19pm
post #1 of 17

Hi,

I want to make a Bollywood themed cake. I don't want to use edible images for the movie star faces, so I thought I could use styrofoam dummies in between the cake and paste the images on it. I want to use a 12inch, 8 inch and 6inch cake and smaller dummies between the layers but I'm not sure if thats possible.

So my question is can I stack a dummies smaller than the cake above it and how do I dowel the cake?

I hope someone can help me.

Regards,
Arwa

16 replies
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amysue99 Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 5:56pm
post #2 of 17

yes, you can. I just did this on a wedding cake a few weeks ago. Here is how I did it (I hope it makes sense):

Let's assume that the sizes from top to bottom are 10" cake, 6" dummy, 8" cake. First, take the 6" dummy - makrk it for a center dowel and start a hole. Remove the dowel. Now, drive 4 dowels evenly spaced about an inch in from the sides until they come through the bottom. Now place the 6" dummy (with dowels inserted) onto the 10" cake. Center it and then drive the dowels through. Cut the dowels even with the top of the dummy, just as you would with any other stacked cake. These are the dowels that will support the weight of the 8" cake.

Next, pre-measure and cut a dowel. It should be the the height of the 8" cake, plus a few inches extra. Drive this dowel through the center of the 8" cake. Place the 8" cake on top of the 6" dummy (which is already secured to the 10" cake), lining up with the hole in the center of the dummy. Place the cake on top and drive the dowel down until it is flush with the top of the cake. This serves as an anchor so that the 8" cake doesn't move around or fall off of the dummy.

If you're using more than 2 tiers, the same method can be repeated. Be sure to drive the dowels through the dummies first, and then into the cake. When the dowels go through, they push out some of the styrofoam - you don't want styrofoam going into the cake.

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arwa Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 7:27pm
post #3 of 17

That was a bit confusing.... Tell me if Im wrong. What you mean, is that I dowel the dummy first and make sure the dowels go through my base cake as well?

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amysue99 Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 7:42pm
post #4 of 17

I'm sorry - it's hard to explain. But, yes.

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arwa Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 7:57pm
post #5 of 17

Thanx so much for such a quick reply....

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love2makecakes Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 8:00pm
post #6 of 17

Is it even necessary to dowel the dummy? Wouldn't a styrofoam dummy tier be strong enough to support the wieght of an 8" cake? I have never used dummies in the middle of a cake before so I really do not know, just wondering... I actually will be doing that this weekend so maybe I should be doing that? I had not planned on adding dowels to the dummy tier.

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MissCakeCrazy Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 8:55pm
post #7 of 17

Crlovescakes, I thought of that too. Someone told me that attaching a dummy with royal icing will do the job. No need for dowels.

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Charmaine49 Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 8:56pm
post #8 of 17

In other words what you are meaning is that you still put dowels into your base cake....plus you put a "centre dowel" thru the dummy and into the cake to stabilise the dummy and also to hold the weight of the next tier on top of the dummy?
What happens when you put the next tier onto the dummy do you do the same and put a centre dowel thru the dummy to stabilise or do you put a
centre dowel from top to bottom tier thru all the layers?

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amysue99 Posted 27 Sep 2009 , 10:09pm
post #9 of 17

In my case, I was working with a 3 -tier cake with fondat. Each tier was pretty heavy. The dummy probably could suppor tthe weight of the cake, but I didn't trust that the cake under the dummy could. Id didn't want the dummy sinking into the cake beneath it. I also used a center dowel for security. After three tiers and 2 dummies, the cake was 20" high. I did not want to run the risk of it falling over during the reception. Also, since the cake was on a smaller-sized dummy, a little tip on the cake, had it not had a center dowel, could have caused it to come crashing down.

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arwa Posted 28 Sep 2009 , 5:43am
post #10 of 17

I'm still confused... rather nervous now. I will be covering the cakes with fondant as well. For the dummy cakes, you only used a centre dowel which went through the base cake or all your dowels on the dummy went through the base cake? I'm planning to set the cake up at the venue just to be on the safe side. I usually use syrup in my cakes so they tend to be very moist n I don't want everything to then sqoosh down ....

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arwa Posted 28 Sep 2009 , 5:44am
post #11 of 17

I'm still confused... rather nervous now. I will be covering the cakes with fondant as well. For the dummy cakes, you only used a centre dowel which went through the base cake or all your dowels on the dummy went through the base cake? I'm planning to set the cake up at the venue just to be on the safe side. I usually use syrup in my cakes so they tend to be very moist n I don't want everything to then sqoosh down ....

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cakenutz Posted 28 Sep 2009 , 6:38am
post #12 of 17

Arwa I was thinking of a way to make this sound easier let me see if I can. First off picture this. Every cake and cake cardboard and dummy has a center hole for a dowel to be placed all the way through each ltier and dummy. I also place cardboard under dummy so the styrofoam doesnt touch the cake. Now as you are stacking your cake dowel each tier as you normally would so the cardboard above it will belevel and your cake will not sink. n You need the center rod to keep your cake from falling over. HTH

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arwa Posted 28 Sep 2009 , 6:43am
post #13 of 17

Now I think I'm getting it. I've never doweled through my cake board before. How do you do that? And also since I will be setting the cake up at the venue, is there a need for the centre dowel ?

Thanx so much everyone!!!

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Charmaine49 Posted 28 Sep 2009 , 6:49am
post #14 of 17

cakenutz.....I was about to type exactly the same thing.

I would take that center dowel from half way thru your 6" cake
all the way down to your base cake to stabilise all your tiers together.
Then, I would also put a blob of frosting on each tier before putting the
dummy on top to also give it more grip.
Just remember what cakenutz has said.....dowel all your cake tiers before
putting the dummy and next layer on!!
Then, your cake should be fine!!
I did a wedding cake over the weekend with a dummy between, but I didn't put a dowel thru it, cause I didn't know that I had to do that.
What has been said here, makes sense and I know for the future...
Thank you all for the info, appreciated!!

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arwa Posted 1 Oct 2009 , 5:14am
post #15 of 17

Thanx so much everyone for your help!!! I will be making the cake tomorrow. I hope it all goes well and the cake looks like what I imagined.

Wish me Luck icon_smile.gif

Regards,
Arwa

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Charmaine49 Posted 1 Oct 2009 , 6:10am
post #16 of 17

Best of luck with your cake .....hope it all turns out well.

And, I take it, you will be posting a picture of the end product??

Would love to see what you have created.

icon_smile.gif

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arwa Posted 1 Oct 2009 , 7:21am
post #17 of 17

Thanx so much!!!

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