Good Morning.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/143270831873636966/

I am making this cake for a wedding in June.  The bride wants the top 4 tiers, it won't be the 6 shown.  It will be buttercream frosted and stencil decorations (which I've never done either!)  I have to travel with this cake, so I'm decorating it and placing the dowels at home and stacking it at the reception hall.  How do I stack it without messing up the frosting on the cake below or the cake being placed on top?  There is very little border on the bottom of the cakes, so I don't feel there is much room for error.....ugh!  Any tips or tricks would be highly appreciated!!!!

Thanks!

That cake looks like it's covered in fondant and then piped with royal icing maybe. Looks to me like it was stacked and then piped on... This design with buttercream will be quite messy!

I wrote this in another thread...

One hand on the spatula and one hand underneath the cake (on its own cake circle) supporting the weight.

If you're using SPS, you can lower one side of the tier onto the plate, remove your hand, slide the tier into place across the plate with your spatula, lower the cake the rest of the way, and remove your spatula.

If you aren't using SPS, it helps with positioning if you're placing your tier onto another cake circle (just as you would with a single plate separator). So rather than trying to lower it on top of a buttercream surface (while denting the lower cake, trying to get your hand and spatula out without making a mess, and possibly disturbing the dowels), you're lowering it onto a corrugated cake circle instead that's already stuck in place on the surface of the lower tier. Doubling up on circles is easier than risking damage and causing internal support issues, and you'll still be able to hammer a center dowel through all tiers without a problem.
Read more at http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/710889/any-tips-for-stacking-fingersspatula-in-the-way/0#IFZyQDzRi453rm1Q.99

CWR41

Thank you.  That stacking method sounds like it will work much better than what I've done in the past!

MinaBakes,

Thank you.  Can stenciling be done in buttercream???

mrsmac888- definitely use SPS for no hassle during transportation. I personally use a CakeSafe for transporting (www.cakesafe.com) but that's not in everyone's budget. As for stenciling on buttercream , use a good crusting recipe but you need to be careful as it's less forgiving than if you were to do it on fondant. There's a tutorial on cake central for stenciling on buttercream.

Frank

Frank,

Thank you!  The cakesafe looks awesome!  I may have to save up for that baby!

Christina

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LHDCraftMoldDIY?ref=l2-shopheader-name       Check these out ..... its sugar lace and soooooo close to your cake. 

littlemo,

Oh my gosh!  Wow!  That IS close.  I wonder if I could find it in the US?

Is sugar lace easier than stenciling?????

Sugar lace is really easy .... will save you a TON of time. I started using it about a month and a half ago. I bake mine at 170 for 25 minutes ... let cool for 5 minutes and peels right out. You can make them a month ahead of time ..  just wrap them in saran wrap. I have actually ordered from this company before ... pretty fast for international delivery ..  2 weeks or so. 

Oh geez....I only have three weeks before the wedding.  AND I've already bought the mold to stencil it.  Why didn't I think of lace molds???  Well, I have another wedding in September that will definitely be done with the lace mold.

So, how about stenciling?  How hard is it?  Is there any tips that can be offered?  Remember, it's being stenciled on crusting buttercream...

Thank you!

I have only done stenciling on cake a few times ...... My best outcome came when I iced the cake ... popped it in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then stenciled on it. 

Holly 

I like The Sugar Dress product to make lace.  Buy it on line from Global Sugar Art. In my limited experience I recommend using less water (9 vs 11 tsp) and mix in only about 1/4 tsp of the wet ingredient that comes with the powdered sugar dress. Also  the directions that come with the product say you can dry the lace by placing it in a 175 degree oven for 10 minutes. I leave mine in for 20 minutes as it seems to work better and I haven't had any issues.