Hi!

My question applies for all tall cakes but at this moment i'm planning to make a doll cake. My doll cake is made from a wondermold (only 2/3 height of wondermold - long story) and 4 layers of cake underneath. Each layer approx 1.5 inches tall. I need to make the skirt taller because the doll is a larger/taller doll than usual standart barbie dolls.

My question is how long do i need to assemble this tall cake before I apply fondant because I am afraid that the cake may need to "settle" because of it's heavy weight. I don't want buttercream squishing out at the last moment and ruining my fondant skirt decoration. Previously i had a very slight bulge on my last doll cake ( only additional 2 layers below) which was obvious enough that you could see a "ring".

Would 5 hours be enough time for the cake to settle?
Would it make sense for me to assemble the cake/filling on a thursday nite, let it settle overnight and so i have friday to decorate the cake ready for saturday morning delivery ( for Sat afternoon party)??

Would really appreciate your help! Thank you!

Are you using boards and dowels in between?

Theresa

I personally do like to fill my cakes the day before decorating with fondant or buttercream for that matter. Fill it, stack it, then fill in all cracks between and smooth. Let sit overnight....then if anything bulges...scrape off the bulged out icing and cover.

Good luck and we'd love to see a pix!!!

And...like playing with sugar said....dowels and a board in between layers may not be a bad idea. For example, between layers 2 and 3? May make it easier to cut and serve too!

Yes, I too think I should put in boards to add support and make it easier for customer to cut and serve.

Thanks for your input, it makes me confident that i'm on the right track!

I am making a doll cake for this week-end. I am going to use the wonder mold and put a 10 inch cake under the wonder mold. I plan on putting cookies and cream filling in. Do you think I should dowl this? And how would I do that and still have room for the cinderella dolls legs? Or would I cut a hole in the cake board?

TIA

yes, i plan to cut a hole in the board so that the legs can go thru right to the bottom. The dowels will be between the hole and the outer edge of the board. Maybe put 5 dowels? does that make sense?

anybody else have another way of doing it?

thanks!

You may try searching the forums....I know at some point there was some explanation on using a paper towel tube to "hold" the Barbie in place....so that the barbie wouldn't get all yucky. Does this make sense?

I just made a doll cake last weekend that turned out great. I put one 10" layer underneath and then carved the edge slightly to extend the skirt. I used my cake corer from my tall tier cake stand set to make the hole in the middle of the cakes, for the doll. I tightly wrapped the doll with saran wrap and taped with clear tape, especially around the waist so the cake couldn't get in. That kept her clean with no problem. I don't think I would try the paper towel roll for the hole because the doll might be too loose and move around. The corer made the hole just right. For the space around the waist that was too loose, I made a small fondant log and tucked that around the top before the final icing went on. One other thing I did to stabilize the doll was put a small piece of loosely crumbled up foil in the hole then pushed it in with the doll's feet. That gives the feet something to hold them in place. Insert the doll carefully only once. If you remove her and put back in, she may be crooked and make the hole too big. Also, inserting her slowly you will be less likely to have the cake split.
I had filling between the layer cake and the wondermold cake and I also split the wondermold cake once to make two layers and filled. I think it is too much plain cake when the skirt isnt layered and filled.
I used a tip I read here on CC which is to mark each layer with a toothpick inserted in each layer's side, lined up vertically, so when you put the layers back together they line up just the same. It especially makes a dfference with the skirt cake that was split.
I didn't use dowels. I think the doll acts as a dowel. I also didn't use a separator plate, but I only had one additional layer. When the cake was cut, it was easy to separate the upper two layers from the bottom cake. The servings turned out good too cause the botttom layer is naturally larger. I had used different cake flavors so visually you could tell where to separate. If you used separater plates you would have to cut holes in the centers to allow for the doll. I'm sure you've already thought of that.
I traveled 4 hours in a car with the cake in the trunk and she was perfect when I got there. No movement, no visible layers. I filled and iced the same day but she did settle for a few hours (2 or 3) in between. I used all buttercream with fondant accents though.

Oh, I forgot one other very helpful tip I read here was to wrap the doll's hair in foil to keep it up out of the way while decorating. Seems so simple but one I hadn't thought of with previous doll cakes and struggled to keep the hair clean. The foil is better than saran wrap cause you can just wrap and it will naurally stay where you put it.

Me again, sorry, I just reread the thread and see you have already addressed the cake board/hole for doll thing. Senior moment I guess!!