Hi,

omg - now I feel like crying. I just put my tiers together and measured with a ruler and they are indeed 4" high - but I find they look ridiculously tall.

Now I'm redesigning my cake because to do 3 tiers at 4" tall will look funny, I think.

On top of that, I've had a few cancellations, so now the count is 13 kids and 15 adults. Do you think that I'll have enough cake with an 8" round and a 6" round?

I am beyond stressed.

Yes you will have plenty of cake--my cakes are very very tall--even 5 inches--no worries.

Try & let go of your mental expectation--just slap a cake out there--the best you can do with the time & expertise you have and let the rest go.

(((big hug))))

Thanks K8memphis. I'm taking deep breaths.

I will post pics when this ordeal is over.

I have not done a cake over 4" but I have seen many of them on CC and I really like the look of them.
go for it!

Oh I love 4" tall tiers...if mine are not at least 4" tall I feel that I've skimped out.

What you will find is that on a 4" or more tier height, you can get by with smaller serving sizes. I made a 9" by at least 5" tall Cheesecake factory style red velvet cheese cake for a family gathering and I know we served at least 30 people and had some left over. You will have more than enough cake.

Not to add to your stress, but I am confused as to why you think 4" tiers are too tall. That is the standard size of my cakes and pretty much a lot of cakes, I would think.

I mean an 8" cake four inches tall can look a little extreme if you're not used to it.

But I mean Margaret Braun makes two inch cakes four inches tall*.

And I like to make my bottom tier taller than the other tiers for eye appeal. Because if they are all the same height the bottom tier looks short to me.

It's alll good.

*page 124 of her pretty gold edged red book

Cakesbycathy: I guess I have never made such tall tiers before. I know that some of my tiers on previous cakes were too shallow, which is why I aimed for 4".

I agree that if the bottom tier isn't taller it can look shallow.

I'll post pics later. They are iced and ready for fondant but my kids are melting down with dh so I have to stop for a bit.

On another note I tried some of the cake scraps and filling/icing combo and it rocks! Thank God for that!

My tiers end up being about 5 inches tall once all the icing is on..I don't think they look odd...They would look squatty if they were anything under 4 inches..

Ok, so I successfully covered the 2 tiers with fondant and now I think they look pretty good. I used satin ice buttercream flavor for the first time. It rolled out beautifully.

This cake is creating a roller coaster of emotions! I'm leaving the rest of the decorating until the kids go to bed because dh will have a fit if he has all 3 kids to watch for much longer.

Not that you need any more stress but shame on him!
He should help out with the kids if you're busy like this.
This is crucial time here.
I mean there could be extenuating circumstances but him having a fit about it ain't one of 'em!

We have 3 kids under the age of 6 (all boys) so they're a handful. Dh is fed up with my cakes because I end up spending an entire day on the weekend caking while he takes care of the kids. I would have been better organized, but I was sick this past week. He's really good with the kids but they are a handful.

I have a cake next weekend, but I won't be decorating while the kids are awake. It's also a much simpler design than this Blues Clues cake!

Even if you've only ever bought a 2-layer cake at the grocery or bakery, those are usually in the 4" tall range, so unless you're just used to seeing sheet cakes .......?

See the link in my signature on how to cut round or square cakes for maximum servings.

I think until I fill my cakes with bc and frost them top they are atleast 5 inches.....and if they are taller...yummmm just means more to eat lol

Now that they're all done I think they look good. I will post pics after I stack in the morning.

I think I was just in anxiety overdrive as there were lots of problems getting to the finish line with this cake.

tsal, I don't know how anyone can do this with little kids, I know I could not....so my hats is off to you kiddo....I am sure it will be great...don't sweat the small stuff.

The taller the better! - I find short tiers somewhat underwhelming.

You go girl!! It will work out!

Here's the finished product. I *totally* stand corrected as I think this is my most professional-looking cake in terms of tier height!

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1852903

You *totally* ROCKED it!
<insert clapping hands smilie face>

Nice job!

you did a great job and I love the height of the tiers

This cake is Perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great job.....

Great looking cake! Your appliques may have taken "forever", as you put it, but the result was well worth the time and attn to the details! As someone else said, You Rocked This!

Ya I think my tiers tend to be a little over 5 in since I do three layers of filling. But ur cake is awesome how did u do the appliques if u don't mind sharing?

I agree with everyone else, the cake looked terrific!!! Great job!!! You should be very proud.

All of my cakes are always taller than 4", usually anywhere between 5" and 6". Anything shorter than 4" just looks short.

And hubby needs to chill and help take care of the kids for as long as necessary. Keep up the great work!!

Well done! my youngest is such a huge Blues Clues fan I may have to steal some of your ideas on this cake!

Tell your hubby when you become famous you promise you will give him the kudos when Oprah is interviewing you. You'll tell everyone that he was such a big help in supporting you. That his support allowed you the artistic flexibility you needed to get where you are today!!!

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Luffie: PM me if you do decide to make a cake like mine - I would love to see it!!

Durell: Here's how I did the appliques:
I found pics on the internet of the characters and resized and printed the pics to the size I wanted. Then I outlined the characters with a black marker, placed a sheet of graph paper over it, held it up to the window and traced it. Then, I had my template. Some templates had a few components that had to be cut out individually (you can see that Periwinkle the cat has 2 different colors in his ears so they had to be cut separately and then put together like a puzzle). I cut out the template pieces, rolled out my gumpaste thinly, then placed the template on top and cut around with an exacto knife. I then let the appliques dry on a piece of waxed paper that was taped to the side of a round pan to give them some curve. You can PM me if you need any advice about it!