Someone just requested a top hot cake:

http://www.yourchildrensbirthdayparties.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/dr-facilier-hat.jpg

It looks like basically a bunch of layers stacked together. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this cake? Should I insert a dowel to support the cake since it will be so tall? Also, She wants it to be covered in buttercream. How do I get it that black?

Click on the link and scoll down a bit -
http://www.easy-cake-ideas.com/black-buttercream-icing.html

It tells how to achieve Black buttercream...

How tall are you talking pag41989 ?

Bluehue.

Thanks! She only needs it to feed 4 people so I am planning on making a mini cake. I just need it to be tall enough to achieve the top hat look.

The smaller the dimensions of the cake the more vertical it will look when stacking, so if you're going smaller you may not have to use as many layers to get the affect. This one looks to me to be 3 double layer tiers the same size placed on top of each other. If I were doing this cake I'd make it this way and be sure to dowel the double layers to support the weight of the next tier, then before I frosted I'd dowel the whole thing to keep it straight and vertical....preventing shifting of the tiers. Very fun looking cake!!