I am doing a cake for my aunt's wedding in April as a wedding gift. She only needs it to feed 100 or less. Thought it would be awesome to do something like an 8 tier! I have seen where people have done Styrofoam cakes for display and am wondering if anyone has ever done a tiered cake with Styrofoam and cake layers? I am also a little nervous about doing this as I am delivering the cake 2 hours away. Any tips?
Hi Abrewster,
I've done a 3 tier with the biggest tier being cake. I made the styro foam tiers in advance, used shortening to attach the fondant to the foam. I did not use dowels anymore as I covered the entire 2nd layer with fondant, and just brush a little water on the first layer to stick the second one on. For the bottom of the third I used shortening as I did not cover the bottom with fondant. I opted to stack the styro layers to the cake at the venue just to be sure. Though I could have delivered it stacked if I wanted to. Hope my answer helps.
I have done a 3 tier cake with the two bottom tiers being styrofoam and made it pretty similar to how WeekendBaking did it. I was transporting it from 2 hours away, so I covered my fake tiers with fondant ahead of time and transported all the layers separate and then covered the real tier when I got there. I would see if the venue has a kitchen that you could do that in if possible. I also just attached the fondant to the foam using shortening and it worked great! I would recommend taking the tiers separate and then do the stacking and finishing touches on site, especially if you are doing a bunch of tiers. Styrofoam tiers do not need doweling, although if you are doing a ton of layers I would suggest getting one super long dowel, sharpen the end really well and insert it through all the tiers at the center. This helps reduce the chance of anything shifting around when you move the cake.
AHi, ive made 2×3 tier cakes. The 1st 1, the real cake was the bottom tier. I just used water on the styrofoam to get the fondant to stick. And the 2nd time, the top layer was the real cake. I covered the dummies beforehand. Didnt use any dowels at all. But, your cake being 8 tiers, I think you should go with dowels. I transported them separately and set it up at the event. Hope this helps
done lots of them, just treat it like a normal wedding cake. I would stack in combos of 2-3 layers at home and then complete the stacking at the venue. an 8 tier cake will be very tall, so it might not fit in your car all stacked. Only dowel the real cakes, the Styrofoam will be fine.
8 tiers!?! That's really ambishous(sp?) :) Yes, it can be done. I have made many, many wedding cakes combining styro & real cake. My suggestion is to make the largest &/or biggest tiers from styro, allowing the smaller/top tiers to be cake. Styro is a great support:) You can completely decorate all the styro tiers, stack it and transport it completed that much. You can even put one tier of real cake on that 'stack' - all completely decorated.
Take each real cake tier seperate, boxed, then complete the cake at the venue. The stacked styro cake will travel well/safely. All you need to do is put a towel under it and drive like you have a car full of eggs:) Don't be a show on a race track LOL.
Make a list of *everything* you can possibly need to complete the work at the venue. Check it more than twice because it's a L O N G 4 hrs trip to retrieve something.
Give yourself plenty of extra time to travel & to work on the finishing up and still enjoy all the festivities.
As we're on the topic of styrofoam tiers, how much does one charge for a cake with foam tiers versus one that is all cake? Is there a big difference?
As I am doing this as a gift for my aunt and fiancé I am not charging for this one. With that said, I think that if I do one again I would probably just charge for the actual cake and whatever the cost is for the foam layers and maybe a little for the details or work involved.
I did my wedding cake, 5 tiers on pillars. the top tier was a fruit cake and the other 4 were styro. (6, 8, 10, 12, 14) I cut a wedge out of the bottom tier for cake cutting. we had slabs of cake on the dessert table. Depending on what decoration you will have will determine how to cover the styro. I did a filigree design so it covered a lot of the surface. I just brushed the styro with some piping gel and covered in fondant then with decorators icing. good luck
It takes just as much, if not more, work to complete a styro/fake cake as it does a real one. There is little cost in real cake itself. Most of us have decided it should cost just as much as if the whole thing was real. Remember, icing is not cheap and you use a lot on such big cakes. Get paid for what you use and the work you do :)
Thanks for the advice Kakeladi. The reason I ask is because I've had clients who would reason out that it should be cheaper as there'd be only 1 real cake layer. I often say that it would if I'd just plop the styro on without any decoration :-D
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