I'd like to say this was my last question, but I know better - please bear with me today as I assemble this thing!

Dh just finished a nice wooden base for me. I will be starting with an 11x14 cake. I have a roll of cake foil to cover it with (actually I was going to wrap with paper to make it seem thicker and then the foil to make it look more like a wrapped gift to go with the rest of the cake). Can I (should I) put the bottom cake right on the foil? Or should I put down a thin cake board first? Can I assemble and frost the cake right on that base then? I could tape down some freezer paper to protect it from a mess...

I regularly make my own boards and cover with foil, then place/decorate the cake directly on the foil. If you are covering with paper first tho, it might be more prone to tearing/puncturing?

The base is just made of raw wood... I thought if the cake foil tore then you'd see that - figured that the white paper might help... I don't know. Maybe aluminum foil would be better. But if I can go ahead and put the cake right on the cake foil, that should be good. At least I won't have to worry about a cake board sliding the whole cake off the base en route. Should stick good.

Ideally, for ease of moving the cake around & even for decorating, the cake should be on it's own board, the same size as the cake tier.

I never put the cake onto the decorative base board until it's got it's finish coat of icing on it.

Rae

If you don't have a big glob of icing on your board before you put your cake on it, you're asking for trouble. I generally always put my cake directly on a clean, food safe covered board. If I'm not using a ready-made covered board, I cover my board with white freezer wrap (shiny side out). Then I frost it, stack if it's tiered and decorate. The glob of icing underneath will anchor your cake.

Don't ever use kitchen foil. Nothing looks cheaper or detracts from a cake more IMO.

When ever I make my own board I always put a cake board under the cake. I use the same size as the cake (10 inch cake on 10 inch board) If its a large cake I run a dowel all the way down and into bottom board for support and I put 2 face tap down between cake board and my decorated board. This helps keep it in place. Hope this helps.