So, I realize this may be an incredibly stupid question....but how on earth do you stack buttercream frosted cakes on top of each other without ruining the tier below it????

I have only done a handful of stacked cakes. The first few I just stacked without any cakeboard between the tiers (two layers....10'' and 6''). The problem I run into is that it's very messy when trying to cut the cake, and the bottom tier ends up having no frosting on the top.

After that happened, I attempted to stack them with the top tier on a cake board. I thought I let the frosting crust enough before putting the top tier on, but the next day at the party when I removed the top tier all of the frosting from the bottom tier came off with it.

Is there something I am missing??? I have a birthday cake to do for my nephew in a couple of weeks, and I really want to get it right this time!!!

This should help you http://cakecentral.com/articles/81 Just make sure all of your supports (dowels) are the same height.

Someone more tech savvy will probably post a link with the steps but in the meantime, if you cut the dowels a hair longer than the surface of the frosting, the upper cake on its cardboard will be sitting just at (or a little above) the surface of the lower layers frosting, not right in the lower cakes frosting. Also, let it crust before you add the top tier and some people put a little powdered sugar where the upper cakes cardboard will be to also help. A border will cover the little space if it shows. Hope this makes sense for you.

Honestly that happens to my cakes all the time , I do use cake boards everytime I stack though (I always cover them in foil)

I figured thats just how it is lol !!

Tiggy posted a link to steps even as I was typing my answer!

I asked this same question last week and someone suggested that I use waxed paper between the layers, so that's what I did...I can a circle the same size as the upper tier and put it between. When I disassembled the cake, there was no mess. Fabulous!

Also, (this may be in one of those links...) if you sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the top of the bottom cake, put a wax paper circle, then the next tier, it won't peel the icing off the bottom cake.
HTH!

Are you giving the tiers time to crust before you are stacking them? If you are using a crusting buttercream and frost wait til they crust and then stack them the frosting shouldn't come off with the cardboard.

Thanks everyone!! I will definitely try the wax paper/powdered sugar method since that seems the easiest. Sometime I don't even use dowels and the cake is always fine....probably because it's just two layers. Thank you again for all of your helpful suggestions!