Okay, Now I'm Panicking Big Cake, First Time
Decorating By keflyn Updated 16 Nov 2009 , 8:54pm by snocilla
....okay, i'm scared. I'm making the cake for my grandparent's anniversary. it's a big affair, and I have to serve 120 people. The cake is supposed to be 3 tiered, I don't know how to cut the cake, and I have to have it all completed before saturday (day of party) which means I have to bake on friday, and maybe thursday. it's not a complicated cake, but it is large. How do I support this thing? I'm so scared.
Calm yourself, grasshopper.
3 tier to serve 120: per wilton chart, use a 6, 10 and 14 in round.
that will get you 116 servings. Pretty close.
Check out this cutting guide: http://earlenescakes.com/cakeservinst.htm
I usu bake all cakes, cool them, fill and crumb coat them on Thursday. Wrap well in plastic wrap. Frost and decorate on Friday. Deliver Saturday. I use non-refrigerated frosting and fillings.
Support this with SPS. Go to either globalsugarart.com or cincinnaticakeandcandy.com and order the sizes plates (same as pans) that you need and a pack of legs. You will need 2 plates and 8 legs. There is a sticky on this site on how to use them properly. It is an extremely reliable system and inexpensive, so I strongly recommend it. It makes transporting stacked cakes (almost) worry free.
Good luck to you! 
Here's a link to IndyDeb's site. Great tutorial for cutting cake!
http://www.cateritsimple.com/id10.html
snocilla wrote:
Also, by my calculation, by Wilton, wedding servings for a 14, 10, 6 is 128.
She knows that, she's giving "the closest amount"....that's what most of us have to do. Rarely ever does what the person needs work out to an exact serving amount.
I know but she said it serves 116 and that was pretty close. I was just trying to reassure the OP that it would be enough.
Edited- Sorry Jamie, posted before I saw your edit 
you all are amazingly helpful, thank you, especially on the serving size and the cake cutting tips. I was so worried I would make too much or not enough cake. I think I should be able to pull this off, I'll probably assemble on sight. This will mean so much to them that I made the cake (plus it saves us money, that wasn't meant to sound rude, I do want to make this cake for them, grandma taught me how to bake. this cake was the reason I joined this site). I guess I'll update this as I need guidance....thanks everyone on here for putting up with me...I am very new at this.
now for my other questions
1) how do I disassemble/assemble the cake (how do I get the buttercream tier up on the cake)
2) can I make the buttercream ahead of time? like a day or two? I use buttercream dream.
thank you all and God bless!
1) how do I disassemble/assemble the cake (how do I get the buttercream tier up on the cake)
If you use the SPS, you can just lift the tier by the plate.
2) can I make the buttercream ahead of time? like a day or two? I use buttercream dream.
Yes, you can make buttercream a few days in advance. Just keep it in a sealed airtight container
Be sure to post pics, we would love to see it!
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