Hello,

I have tried searching high and low for a complete answer my problem, yet despite finding bits and pieces of info on the forum to help me, I still need some more advice:

Ok so I am planning to make a 3-layer 8 inch round cake (mocha espresso cake, filled with 2 layers of espresso buttercream, covered in chocolate ganache and then covered in fondant).

First, for the 3 layers, is it alright to simply stack the 3 layers on top of each other (with the BC alternating between the layers) without having a dowel/other support going through the middle of the cake? I've never actually made a cake taller than a simple 2 layer 8 inch round so adding support is new for me. 

I would have kept this cake a simple 2 layer 8 inch round, but I want to add a different colored fondant border around the cake, and from the looks of the stencil, the border itself seems to be about 3 inches high.

So assuming the cake will be 6" high x 8" across..how much fondant would I need? I know I should be able to roll it out to about 22" wide, give or take. I have a 2.25 lbd pack of pre-made pink fondant I was going to use to cover the cake. Then to make the border I was going to make a new ball of dark green fondant to make the border (which by the way I plan on stenciling in lustre dust) and have that going around the cake over the pink fondant.

Basically, will the 2.25 lbd of pink fondant be enough to make the initial fondant cover of the cake? I would hate to find out the day of the event that it is NOT!

Sorry for such a long post - just want to make my issue clear so that its easier for anyone who can help to understand.

Any help with these dowel/fondant issues would be greatly appreciated.

First, for the 3 layers, is it alright to simply stack the 3 layers on top of each other (with the BC alternating between the layers) without having a dowel/other support going through the middle of the cake?   YES.

The Wilton chart for fondant suggests that an 8" round x 4" high cake requires 24 ounces of fondant.  If you add 1/3 to that, you will need 36 ounces of fondant.  Keep in mind that there can be a HUGE difference depending on how thin or thick you roll the fondant to cover your cake.

2.5 POUNDS should come to 40 ounces (2.5 x 16 ounces), so you may have enough depending on how thick you roll the fondant.  

Personally, I have learned the hard way to always error on the side of too much rather than too little.  Every single time I've prepared a cake using "what I have already", I've ended up needing more and the quality of the cake suffers.  BTW, I only hobby bake.   The less experience you have, the MORE ingredients you will need to have on hand for mistakes.  

p.s.  You should also use a heavy-duty base for your cake--it will be heavy.

Thanks for your response Apti. One idea I had was just to make some more hot pink fondant and add it to the pre-made one. I think this would be ok??

I start with about 1 pound but end up with less then 12 oz of fondant on my 8" cakes after I get it stretched on there, and my cakes are always 5" high.  It really depends on how thin you roll your fondant and how practiced you are at putting it on.  To me, it sounds like you have way more then you need, but again, I roll extremely thin (1/16").

Good luck!

Oh, and as for dowels - most will tell you that you should dowel, but if it was just a 6" tall cake with no tier on top of it, I'd just make it with no dowels.  As I said, I make 5" tall cakes anyway, the extra inch isn't going to do a thing, especially if you are ganaching.