Hi everybody - this forum is a life saver! thank you Cake Central!

Okay, so I have to build this big cake and my husband tinkered together a goodly sturdy stand. NOW... how big should those sturdy (I think it's hard or pressed wood boards) be? How much bigger than the cake which already is on it's own cardboard board as per usual. How much should I make provision for, for frosting and fondanting so that the whole cake is flush with that uh mmm big ol' board? YES, it has a stake down the middle - that I don't care about - that's the men's job. Once I put the crumb-iced cake with it's little cardboard underneath onto the hard big board to ice further for a flush, neat looking effort? WOULD SO appreciate any help here. (the fully iced and fondanted cake gets the hole in it afterwards. Don't know if I'm making any sense. Cheers everybody

AYour question is a bit confusing - do you want the drum that the cake sits on to be flush with the edges of the cake? Usually there would be at least an inch all round the cake, I often have a lot more if the board is to be incorporated in the design. And if you do want it flush, you need to allow for whatever thickness of undercoat (buttercream/ganache) and then the thickness of fondant you usually use.maybe 3-5mm ganache for me and then 2-3mm fondant, but you're a different person, you may use different amounts,

I think I understand your ?

You want to be sure to have enough room for border etc so I suggest at least 2" larger than the cake.  In other words, a 10" cake is 1st on a 10" cake circle then placed on a 12" stand board (your wooden one). 

If this isn't what you wanted to know sorry.

Oh, didn't read to the end.  You want the finished cake flush with the stand board size.  In that case, I suggest not more than 1/2"  That is going to be hard to know because I don't know how thick you roll your fondant.  Back to the 10" example.  All cakes shrink a bit as they cool.  Adding fondant to a well cooled 10" round still should come out to 10" - maybe just a bit more depending on how thick the fondant is.  I'm not sure you will be able to make it *exactly* flush because you can't bake a cake 10 & 1/4" or 10 & 1/2".  You will have to make the fondant thicker to make up that difference.    It also probably will depend a bit on the recipe you use/type of cake baked.