Hi! My boyfriends 21st birthday is coming up and I am new to cake decorating. I have taken my classes but I haven't got to take my sculpting and stacking one just yet. Does anyone have any idea how to make a beer cooler cake? I would prefer not to use fondant... just because my boyfriend isn't a fan of it. I am going for an Oregon Ducks theme so the cooler itself will be hunter green. Any help on stacking the cake and what I should use would be amazing! I thought of using dowels but I wasn't sure if that would support the cake enough. I want to do half a sheet cake long and a few layers high. Any suggestions will be great! Thank you so much

The simpler you keep it, the easier it will be on you. I don't know your skill level but you say you are fairly new, so I would not try to make the cooler with a hinged lid. Either make it with the lid closed, or the lid off. If lid off, you can make a well in the cake and fill it with sculpted (or real I suppose) beers.

Some coolers are sloped like this "\\__/" so you could carve the sides down a little. Covering in buttercream should be no problem, although it might not be as smooth as fondant.

As for stacking, there are lots of schools of thought here, but I use drinking straws. I deliver 4, 5, and 6 tier wedding cakes every weekend and they're sitting on plastic straws. But wooden dowels will work just fine. My "tiers" are 3 layers of cake. I will place my supports and then put the next tier of cake (on a cake board - covered cardboard is OK) on top of the first tier. For stability, run one dowel down the entire middle of the cake.

Best of luck and just remember that no matter what you make, I'm sure your boyfriend will love it.

Check out my pics. I made one last minute of ra BBQ. Super easy, Just two 9x13's, jello ice, beers were emptyand cut in half. (Opened them from bottom, emptied them, and used a razor to cut in half)

Good Luck!