Cake Tier Heights And Upside Down Fondant Method For Sharpe Edges
Decorating By fathima_sl Updated 28 Jun 2016 , 5:11pm by fathima_sl
This site has been a great help over the past few years. This is my first post.[postimage id="4327" thumb="900"]
a friend of mine asked me to make a 3 tier cake for her. And sent me this picture. She needs only 70-80 servings. I have a few questions regarding this cake
- I chose 10, 8, 6 sizes for these tiers. Would it complement the design?
- how tall do you think each tier should be?
- I have done only 4 inch tall tiers, and I use the upside down fondant method to get sharp edges. Will that work for taller tiers?
The pictured cake has tiers that are 6 or maybe even 8" tall. That's a lot of cake for just 80 servings.
If I'm making 6 -7 inch tall tiers, do I have to treat them like double barrel cakes and insert boards and dowels inside each tier?
I Havnt made very tall tiers before. How do I stack three 6 inch tall cakes with center boards?
thankyou @kakeladi for your help. But please do let me know how to stack them
My standard tier height is 6" and I do not treat them like double barrel cakes. I stack them in the traditional manner. Bottom and middle tier are dowled.
10" 8" 6" would work with the design - I believe the top tier in your inspiration pic is not as tall as the bottom tiers.
Omg!!!!!yes!! I never noticed the tier height decreasing from the bottom up!!! Your awesome!!! @hippiecac
You think the tiers would stay without sinking in? Would it be safe to treat it like double barrel cakes?
Of course you can always treat the tall tiers as a dbl barrel. Tthe bottom and middle tier need dowels. The top one will not need supports. Of course it goes without saying that each tier needs to be on a cake board.
Oh yeah... I was just panicking since I don't make taller tiers very often. THANKYOUUUUUU
You could do an 8x8, 6x8 and 4x6. Same design but more closer to the number of servings you need (it would be around 80).
You could also do a foam bottom layer to get the same effect of size/height but not so many servings.
@julia1812 I suggested 8,6,4 diameter tiers. My friend thinks the cake would look too small. I think might have to go with a foam bottom.
@Nana52 if I'm using a foam bottom, should I ice it with the cake, Like one whole cake? (cake board separating cake and foam bottom) ? And then apply fondant?
I usually apply icing and fondant to each layer separately, then stack, then apply the decoration, or piping to hide the stacking seams. This is a really pretty cake.
I guess I didn't word it correctly :D , what I meant was
should I place the foam board beneath each tier ( Considering both cake layers AND foam board as one cake tier) and ice BOTH together?
or
should I ice ONLY the cake layers and keep each tier on foam board before applying fondant?
Woukd it make any difference?? SORRY IM HAVING TOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!
I would go with the first option, place the foam board beneath each tier ( Considering both cake layers AND foam board as one cake tier) and ice BOTH together.
i read all this but I'm confused on how many servings you're gonna make --
ok first of all -- I call 'double barrell' cakes two tiers -- just happen to be the same size --
so if you do a 10x10x8x8x6 -- one of the bottom ten inchers is 4" foam the other 4" tall cake -- the two eight inchers are a little short of 8" tall so the slices would be a tad wider and the little six inch on top --
so if each of the cakes were 4"tall (which the middle tier is not -- right) you'd have 100 servings -- so with the shorter middle tier servings you'd be good with these dimensions -- and the six inch on top could be taller than 4" but still 12 servings give or take but only one tier --
two tiers on the bottom -- two tiers in the middle -- one tier on top
when a cake is ordered by its silhouette it's common to be more lenient/generous with the servings to get it all copacetic
is that what you meant?
Yup that's what I meant ^_^ @-K8memphis but I do want to reduce the serving size to 80.
same general makeup -- one foam on the bottom --
10x10x7x7x4 is a tad under 80 at about 78
only difference is there'll be a1.5" ledge around each tier -- which is what it looks like in your picture on the bottom tier -- the middle tier actually looks like one inch ledge so if you did a 5" top tier you'd be at 80
it's ever so Not easy to get accurate/exact serving count when you are filling out a silhouette -- you lucked out on this one though
but for the record I usually try to add about 10-15% more servings than ordered -- not always but probably 99% of the time -- but just a personal choice to allow for çutting around dowels and if a serving is dropped etc.
but you know your client's needs better than me of course --
but just kinda depends on how tall you make that middle tier -- each of those 7"cakes needs to be 4" tall
By 10x10x7x7x4, do you mean 10 inch round 10 inch height, 7 inch round 7 inch height?
And yes I think 10, 7, 5 would be best!!!
Thankyou for helping me out @-K8memphis and one more question. I still have bulging in some of my cakes even after settling them over night. Does moisture content in the air directly affect the cake itself?
no I mean two 10" tiers stacked up on top of each other to become a combined total of 8" tall -- a 'double barrell' is really a two tier cake -- it just looks like one tier -- so when you write it out --
it's 10x10x7x7x5 -- it's really a 5 tier cake --
yes air moisture affects cake texture and icing and everything but I don't think it has much to do with bulging specifically --
i think it's air inside the cake collecting and trying to escape if you mean the icing separating from the side of the cake like an air filled edema -- so I pin prick each layer through the icing and leave the hole open in an inconspicuous place -- so air can escape --
if you mean the filling pooching out between the layers try leaving a half inch of free space without filling all around the perimeter -- so when you stack up the layers it will all even out --
I'd love to see pictures -- best to you
...........if you mean the filling pooching out between the layers try leaving a half inch of free space without filling all around.....
Definitely you must use a dam around the edge. Some people use a 'rope' of fondant others pipe a line of b'cream then the filling goes inside the ring.
when I said filling in my previous post I meant buttercream filling-- if that's what's pooching out --
I moved to a new place and my cake layers are a bit sticky and too Moist now :( it's actually the cake layers sinking into each other.
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