I'm having cakers block today and hope you can offer ideas! A customer wants a half chocolate/half vanilla cake. (The bottom half is chocolate/raspberry with chocolate frosting and the top half is vanilla...she's still deciding on the filling with vanilla frosting.) She doesn't want a tiered cake where the bottom cake is larger than the top; she wants both cakes to be the same size, with one flavor on top of the other (separated by a cake board, of course). Both cakes will be covered in smoothed buttercream, no piped borders...very "clean" cakes...with 70s-style "mod" square fondant accents.

Simple enough, but I need ideas on how to "join" or hide the seam between the 2 cakes. First thing that comes to mind is a satin ribbon. I tried it out and it looks OK, but I'm doubting myself on this one. I don't know if it looks odd having a ribbon around the middle of the cake. If I do that, I would definitely have to anchor the cake with a ribbon around the bottom.

Actually, I would like to not hide the seam at all - just have one cake sitting on top of the other - but I don't think I could get the seam clean...the 2 frostings would mix when I tried to smooth them.

Any other ideas? Thanks!!

Does she want two tiers of the same size, one flavor for each tier, or just two flavors in the same tier? i'm confused.

If they are covered in smooth buttercream, why not just ice them together as though they were one (very tall) cake?

I'd stack them, then ice them together.

So it's going to be a big cylinder? I know you said no borders, but I would hide the seam somehow, with a ruffle, or fondant decorations, or the ribbon idea, like you said, but you could do it in fondant to keep with the minimalist look. Do it top, middle, and bottom. Or the same border top and bottom and a coordinating one in the middle.

They want the top half to be vanilla frosting and the bottom half chocolate frosting. I will frost and smooth each cake separately, but when I put the vanilla cake on top of the chocolate, I won't have a smooth seam. If I try to smooth the seam after they're put together, it'll mix the vanilla and chocolate frostings, which I don't want. I could do this cake easily with fondant, but they want buttercream.

That sound more complicated.

Sorry if I'm not explaining it correctly. (No wonder I'm having cakers block....I can't even explain what I'm trying to do!) It's going to be 2 flavors of cake, but "one big cylinder." The top half will be vanilla with VANILLA frosting and the bottom half chocolate with CHOCOLATE frosting. Would be simple if they wanted the same frosting on the whole cake, but they want 2 different frostings. (Picture a black and white cake.) Would also be simple if they wanted fondant, but they want buttercream. So I'm trying to decide how to cover the seam where the 2 cakes meet. I wish I could make the seam perfectly smooth and not hide it at all, but I think the 2 frostings would mix together if I tried to make a smooth seam. So...I'm thinking I'm going to have to cover the seam with a ribbon, unless someone can suggest something different.

I'm thinking the clients are being a pain in the ass LOL. Good luck! I'd love to see what you come up with.

Do you have one of those large cake icer tips? You could stack the filled cakes and then use the large tip to add the icing to the cake, in rows, chocolate on the bottom and vanilla on top. Once it crusts you could smooth and your "seam" should come out close to perfect. I would suggest Melvira's method of smoothing. Let us know how it turns out.

Ok- now its clear!

Ice one part (doesn't matter if its top or bottom first, but I'd probably start at the bottom. Set it in the fridge/freezer to firm up. Once firm, take it out and put a strip of wax paper covering the part you've already iced. Then, you can ice the remainer without worrying about getting any on the bottom part of the cake. Once you're finished, you can gently peel off the wax paper. Similar to using painter's tape.

This should give you the best look with the best seam. YOu might still need to do something simple for effect.

What about using the square fondant pieces to cover the seam? I've seen some beautiful two-tone cakes here using that method. Good luck and post pix of what you end up making!

I agree with nonilm...if the icing is crusted and chilled on both cakes when you stack, you could simply go over the seam (I'd use just vanilla, I think, less messy) and then pipe around cleanly in a line. Then smooth. If both cakes are crusted/chilled and you make a mistake when adding the seam filler, you can fix it more easily. Sounds challenging but entirely possible. Good luck!

jillmakescakes, that is an excellent idea!!! Genius!