My Stacking Sucks...what Am I Doing Wrong?
Decorating By babyblue113 Updated 10 May 2010 , 11:55pm by mamawrobin
Hi everyone, I have a question, whenever I stack cakes, the cakes at the bottom start to bulge and look 'fat'....I use wooden dowels on the cakes below but this doesn't seem to help...Does anyone have any tips for me please. Thanks.
One of the biggest tips is cut the dowels slightly longer than the top of the cake.The cake is buldging because pressure from the top tiers are pressing down on it causing it to squeeze.If the dowels are a bit longer(No much you don't want a big gap) the board ontop won't squeeze the bottom layer.Also having level tiers is a must.I use a small plastic level to check.
You might consider increasing the number of dowels you are using also... the heavier the cake is, the larger gauge the dowel should be. You want to make the base cake as strong as possible to hold the weight of the upper cakes. Good luck!
Thanks ladies! I've never cut the dowels a little longer than the top of the cake I always cut just beneath the top! So cutting it slightly longer now makes sense.......Also what is a plastic level, I've never heard of this.
I have heard a few people prefer to use bubble tea straws instead of dowels when they stack cakes. The reason is because dowels will displace cake, but the bubble tea straws are hollow so the cake just stays inside the straw rather than being pushed elsewhere.
EDIT: I've never heard of a plastic level either.
A plastic level is found in a hardware store; the kind that have the bubble inside of a bit of glass in the middle of the level. There are two vertical lines in the glass and with when you place the level on a surface that is level, the bubble will sit perfectly between the two lines.
Or to put it simply, the kind of level that carpenters use. 
Ooooooh ok.....now I know what a plastic level is. I now plan on getting one soon.
Ok so how exactly would I use the level? once the cakes are all stacked what do I do with the level or would I use the level after each cake is stacked?
Ok so how exactly would I use the level? once the cakes are all stacked what do I do with the level or would I use the level after each cake is stacked?
I check to see if each tier was level before stacking. 
I also use straws instead of dowels as my supports. I have a couple of stacked cakes in my photos and I used straws for supports in all of them. I cut mine just a "hair" above the cake. You don't want to cut them too much taller than that.
If your talking about the plastic level, you place it in the center on your cake. The little bubble in the middle will be centered if your cake is level.
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