I am making a cake for my nephew's weeding this saturday. Four tiers. 3 dummies and one that has a section cut out for real cake...has anyone done this before? This will be my first time attempting this. Any secrets?

Why not just make the top tier a real cake and have them cut that? I think it would be hard to get the real cake the same height and shape as the dummy? Will it be covered in fondant or buttercream?

It's funny because I just did this for the first time for my sister's wedding in December. The top three tiers were dummy cakes, and I cut out a section in the bottom dummy for the real cake.

One tip is that I cut a large (probably 5" or 6" wide) slice out of the dummy and made the real cake the same size. I wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally cut into the dummy.

Mark the board you are decorating on somehow, so you remember where you put the cake slice after you cover it in fondant.

Don't forget to mark the decorated cake so the couple knows where to cut.

As sillywabbitz mentioned, it is a little tricky to get the cake the same height as the dummy. I thought I had it at the right level, but it settled. I ended up adding two extra (half) layers of cake to match it up with the dummy. I would suggest inserting the cake into the dummy the night before you will decorate, and add more cake if needed.

Matching the curve of the cake wasn't too bad. Just build it up with buttercream and you'll be fine.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

This is the cake I made. The bottom tier is the one with the slice of real cake inserted into the dummy.

http://letsgetcaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/beccas-wedding-cake.html