I am new to cake decorating and I have a dumb question, when you do a tier cake, do you take the cake board off the 2nd or 3rd layer prior on top of the other cake.
thanks,
Pat

Yes, leave the cardboard round under the cakes. You dowel each tier (except the very top layer) and each tier has a cardboard round underneath it, otherwise the cake might sink into the layer(s) below.

No question is dumb!

The cake board in conjunction with the dowels is what supports the cake. If you removed the cake board, the cake would still sink in to the cake below it.

Thanks yall, I thought you left it in there but my daughter was telling me I couldn't do that..
Thanks again,
I love this site and I am learning so much.

Pat

I agree no dumb questions...................If the board wasn't left in the dowels would dig into the cakes that were placed on top. Those boards do the work of keeping the dowels from punching through to the next layer. That's how we all learned from asking!!!! You should of heard the laughs I got when they said mix luster dust with alchohol and I thought it was rubbing alchohol instead of vodka. So no you question wasn't dumb.

Can I add to the question????

When you stack the cake - is there anything special that needs to be done, to be sure the icing doesn't come off with the cake board and the layer under has icing missing from the layer above?

You're probably going to have a little bit of the icing come off when you take each tier off, but that's just the nature of the beast. You actually want that icing to stick to the bottom of the cardboard on the tier that's sitting on top to help keep it from slipping and sliding when you're transporting the cake.

One thing you can do (or tell the person cutting the cake) is to take a long knife (dipped in hot water and dried) and slide it directly under the cardboard to loosen it and to try and get a smooth top on the buttercream underneath.

Thank you!

I also drive a long dowel down through all the tiers and boards to keep the tiers from sheering side to side.

THANKS YALL. This information is priceless.

I've never had much trouble with sticking IF you leave the icing crust well first. Sometimes a tiny spot will come off I scrap it with a knife and reapply.

It was a little unnerving for me the first time, but it really works. Once you give it a try you'll see that it is much easier than it sounds.

Yep I would never travel with my cakes stacked but I use this method and take 4 tiers all the time it does work. Also , I do the dowel for people taking 2-3 tiers stacked home and no one has toppled one YET.

I also use the center dowel thru the entire cake. Forgot to say that in my first post. I use the skinny wooden skewers you buy for the bbq grill. They already have a pointed end and they're thinner than a regular dowel so you displace less cake. Haven't lost a cake yet so they do work just as well as a large dowel.