Hi Y'all -- I need some help on this cake commission I just got. Remember Mrs. 6 foot wedding cake ? Well she ended up ordering a fabulous cake from me for the wedding in September (about 4 feet ) and I have some logistical questions on it. First, She wants a 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 inch cake on top of a 16 inch dummy, on top of an 18 inch cake plateau. The cake itself is going to be lemon and white cake with lemon mousse filling. The decoration is ivory fondant with scrollwork and a bead border. Very simple yet elegant. Soooo, my questions are:

1. How would I stack this cake -- using the cake rings or a no-stress support system? What would y'all recommend? I'm thinking cake rings.

2. For transport, because it's a fondant cake I am thinking of stacking the three larger cakes, then the three upper cakes separately and assembling them there. (Hubby said he'd help me transport!! ) If I do transport it and assemble it there, it will be on its own table in the middle of the room. Would you suggest I drive a dowel down through the center of it as well? I'm thinking yes -- I don't trust ANYBODY!

3. She wants a lemon mousse filling. I have to be there early in the morning to set it up (she's getting married at the same place as the reception) but they won't cut the cake until around 8 p.m. after dinner and I am concerned about the lemon mousse itself -- is there a way to make stabilized whip cream to use in the mousse so it doesn't sweat? When I whip cream it starts to become "unwhipped" which can be a problem in a cake that size.

Anyway, any and all help is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!

While I have never used cake rings, they do look very stable. I only stack my cakes at the site, no matter what. Less stress at delivery!

I would dowel the heck out of the base cakes. About 3 inches apart all the way for each layer.

As for the mousse, I'd just whip the cream to the consistancy you like, then gently fold in the lemon flavoring. Once inside the cake, inside the stiff icing dam, I don't see how it could sweat out through the frosting and fondant.

I think my biggest worry would be trying to balance on a chair for those top layers...while still keeping the huge cake in the center of the table!

Best of luck!

if you use the stress free support system you wont need to dowel, the legs are your dowels, you also wont need to use the long center dowel once the cake is set up in place, that is mostly used for transporting a stacked cake. The 2 sets of 3 cakes are going to be pretty heavy so you will need hubbys help and make sure you get a cart to wheel the cake in so you dont have to carry it.

This may be elementary, but I'd be darn sure that the table you are setting this cake on can support all that weight! I'd hate to see all of your hard work end up on the floor because that table wasn't strong and stable!! Good Luck!!

My ?? is can a mousse filling sit out that long safely?

I agree with the table..make sure it is strong enough! That cake is giong to weigh a TON and I wonder if those cheap folding type tables a lot of places use will do the trick.

As far as stacking, I am too chicken to transport any cake already stacked. I never used the stress support system (too much $$ for me) but I have used the Bakery Craft's system for a three tiered cake that was picked up and it worked great! (it plastic legs with plastic plates that have this little sharp nail that goes into the cardboard cake board. I also royal icing the cardboard onto plastic like crazy!)

I also used this system for a couple who wanted to use a very heavy lenox statue for their cake topper. It worked great!

I am also too chicken to use anything with cream in it in a wedding cake. People are too suit happy these days. I know that it is "insulated" but I am still too paranoid. I have several recipes that are mock mouses, as well as I use pastry fillings

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/misc/food.htm#cakefilling

Thanks for all the suggestions -- these are concerns I need to take to the bride's mother (she's the one I am dealing with.) I can give her a fake mousse and we can get around that. I do have concerns about the table though. I will be driving out to the place they are getting married with my hubby and "scoping out the joint" to see the ballroom where the cake will be and the table. Hubby has a good head on his shoulders, so he may be able to offer suggestions. I am also doing a dummy of this cake for the bride and her mother. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm sure I'll be calling for help more and more before this bad boy is done!!

Wow, did I understand you correctly?

You are doing a dummy version of the cake first then you are making the real cake? I hope you got paid (really well) for doing it twice. : )

Best wishes,

I already have the dummies (I brought them in their raw, styrofoam state to Bride's mom's house when she asked how large the cake would be).

I've done fondant cakes before but not to this scale. Thankfully there's nothing on this cake I haven't done before, just not to that scale. Doing the dummies will give me practice.

Just a thought:

My own policy is no mousse fillings with a fondant covered cake. I don't refrigerate my fondant cakes and I would be very worried about it sitting out all day, for structural and food safety reasons.
I would suggest a lemon curd or lemon buttercream instead of mousse.

That is going to be one big cake! I will always steer brides away from fake layers. I hate doing them. I dunno, it's just my opinion, but I think it's a little pretentious to want a huge towering cake when you don't need that many servings.

Could you try to redistribute the weight by changing which tiers are dummies? I did a 6 tiered cake a few years back. The bride didn't need tons of servings but wanted that tower look. It may be beneficial to have the weight more distributed if possible instead of all at the top. I think mine were 6,8,10, 12, 14, 16. The 10 and 16 were the dummies. And yes, be sure the table is strong enough and the legs are all locked in place. Don't forget to get a picture just in case something happens after you leave. Knew a friend that did a perfect set up and found out they had to cut the cake before the couple even got there due to falling. Found out the caterer (?) or whomever, turned the air conditioner off and the room heated up and...A dowel down the middle may have helped her.

The bride's mother was very specific -- she wants two layers White almond sour cream () and two zesty lemon, plus the anniversary cake, so it won't be possible to put more than one dummy on this cake. The 14, 12, 10 and 8 will be cut for guests and the 6 is the anniversary cake, the 16 inch is the dummy.

The Mother sounds like she is going to be a pain.

I bet if you expressed concerns about stability, she may change her mind! Of course, servings can make a difference. If she doesn't mind having leftover, I would seriously consider changing the position of the dummy to about half way up!

Ya know, I bet it will all be fine as long as you set it up with proper support, etc. Just take your time and go through each step carefully so not to forget anything and you will do great!! Good luck!

I like the idea of making a lemon buttercream instead of the mousse. If you use a lemon IMBC it would have a similiar texture of a mousse and not be so perishible.
Jacqui

Sounds delicious. : )

So still not sure I understand. You are doing one complete dummy cake just to show the MOB that you can do it? Do they get to keep it or do you?

Then you are doing the real wedding cake with some dummy cakes but mostly real cake?

I know you said you already had the dummies...but the price of a dummy cake is not significantly less than a real cake. It's still the same work. : ) That is why I said I hope you got paid for two cakes (the dummy and the real one for the wedding)

Just wanted to make sure you get paid for all the hard work, not meaning to sound harsh. : )

I agree with Amy. It would be like making 2 wedding cakes for her for the price of one. I personally wouldn't charge any less for a "dummy" cake because the "cake" is the least expensive part of it. It's the time and materials to decorate it.
Jacqui

Let me clarify:

The 6 level dummy cake I am doing is for me and me alone. I want to have the practice of covering and assembling a cake that tall. I may snap a picture of it for her, but since I already own the styrofoam rounds, there's no point in not using them for practice, so that's what I'm going to do. It's for me, not her. On the actual wedding cake the only dummy she gets is the 16 inch bottom layer which will be covered in fondant and decorated the same as the rest of the cake.

I went to the cake store today and talked with someone, telling her of my lemon mousse problem. She suggested using Rich's Bettercream mixed with lemon pastry filling for a lemon mousse -- this is nondairy and can last up to 7 days sealed in a cake. I'm going to try making some up and making some sample cakes for my friends to taste test.

The bride's mom is a little weird, yes, but she is actually quite nice. She had a lot of ideas but the more we spoke the more she started to realize what was feasible and what wasn't. I have educated her as to why things have to be a certain way and what works and what doesn't and why to help her make a more educated decision. I think she appreciated that (and my prices) which is why she came back.

Can a dummy on the bottom withstand all the weight of all that cake (even with supports??) I just delivered a 10" and 8" stacked birthday cake today, and it just amazes me how much those babies weigh!

I also would be concerned about having the dummy cake on the bottom...I am not even sure some cake plateaus would hold that much weight...I would make sure I even put supports inside the dummy cake, as the styrofoam would begin to fall under the weight. Maybe make the dummy cake out of wood?

I do the same thing as Bobwonder with the dummy cakes. For the same reason.

The stress free support system is supposed to be awesome. if you look at the pic on earlene's site for it there is lady standing on the system and it's doing just fine!

bwb, you could make your mousse using rich's bettercreme. it is actually shelf stable for up to 7 days.

the distributor assured us that we could display it WITHOUT REFRIGERATION for up to 7 days.

I know of people who make mousse pies and the peanut butter pie successfully with it. So, why not use it for your lemon mousse?

The dummies won't weigh near what a real cake does though. My dummies are styrofoam, and even with fondant and the buttercream underneath, they are very light.

That stress free support would be a good idea.

I just did a 6 tier cake and I used the center support stand. I assembled at the site. The hardest part was standing on a ladder to put the top two tiers on ( the cake was 4 feet 10 inches tall and I'm 5 feet tall). Don't forget to take a level to make sure that your table is level. Nothing worse than a crooked cake. I also used lemon curd for a filling and it was divine. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

I guess I would be concerned about the cake sitting on the dance floor. My friend had one out on the dance floor and the table got moved and it just kept getting vibrated to death I guess. Away it went! AHHH!

Ah I get it. : ) Cant wait to see a pic of that cake. : )

I have done 6 tier cakes with a dummy bottom and had no problems with the stability. When I first started doing these I had my hubby stand of the 16 in dummy to make sure it would hold, it held fine. He is over 200 pounds so I was pretty secure about adding 5 more cakes. I put together the bottom three, which was pretty heavy, and added the other 3 on site. Because of the height, especially on a round table you have to keep the cake in the center and reach to put 3 tiers on at one time, which can be really tricky, 10, 8 AND 6 is not real heavy by itself, but trying to balance cakes to put on top is not something I would do. In some cases I have had to use a ladder, and I am not real steady on a ladder even with another set of hands helping. You should not need the center dowel rod, unless you want to put it just through the bottom tiers and dummy. As long as you have sufficient dowel rods on each of the tiers you should be fine.