Help...I need to do a poke cake and the customer wants it stacked.  I plan on doing a 6 in. red velvet cake stacked, and poked.  Any recommendations how to do it??  Should I...

1.) let the baked cakes cool first in the pans then poke and drizzle my liquid over it and let it soak in then take it out of the pans and stack...

2.) let the baked cakes slightly cool (like 10 minutes) then take out of pans then drizzle my liquid over it then stack...

3.)  let the baked cakes slightly cool (10 minutes) then take out of pans, cool, torte, stack, then drizzle liquid over the two layers??

4.) open to suggestions...

I must be a little off on this one... possibly because I don't really know a whole bunch about poke cakes...

Aren't they the cakes that you poke holes in and pour jello into?

I guess that is the way my mother made them when I was growing up... I can't imagine trying to stack them...  she always just left them in the pan... 

You would have to take it out of the pan to level it for layering... so does that work with your recipe?

If you layer it, wouldn't the filling prohibit the bottom layer from getting the liquid?

Sorry I am not much of a help...

AI too think of a poke cake as a cake with holes poked in it and pudding or jello poured in it. I cannot imagine attempting to stack a cake that moist. If I were to guess, I would probably stack it then attempt to poke and pour. Best of luck whatever method you choose. Please let us know how it turned out.

It actually worked!!  This is what I did.  Like I mentioned in the original post, i made a 6 inch round red velvet cake.  I let both cakes cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes or so.  I flipped them out of the pans after that cooling period, and immediately leveled them. Yeah, I know, i was scared too!  But it did pretty good!  It hardly tore.  I was being very careful.  After that, i immediately poured my liquid (in this case, it wasnt jello or pudding, BUT sweetened condensed milk right out of the can) all over both cakes (seperate) after polking holes in them.  I had them resting on waxed paper, so the sweetened condensed milk would run all over the place, and also so i would be easier peeling off the wax paper when it was time to stack them.  I then let the cakes sit for probably around 45 minutes or so (i didnt time it).  I then put the first cake on my cake board, put the cream cheese frosting on it, then put the second cake on.  I iced the top smooth with the cream cheese frosting, and then for the sides, i did a quick crumb coat, then made vertical cream cheese zig zags up the sides.  That way i figured less stress on the cake.  I wanted to touch it as little as possible.  Turned out great!!  Man, i was sweating it!  I really didnt know how it was gonna turn out.  But i am pleased with it!  I would do it again!  I dont know how well it would work with bigger cakes.  I know it worked with the 6 inch round though! Yeah!!!

AAwesome! So glad it worked for you. The sweetened condensed milk sounds yummy.