AHi all!

I'm new to posting, but have lurked for a long time. I have a couple questions regarding 2 tier fondant cakes (I'm a newbie!)

When making a two tier cake are both tiers two layers or is it one layer cut in half? Meaning is the bottom two baked cakes and the top two baked cakes? Or is the bottom and top one just halved?

Also, which is more customary? The bottom 12' and the top 8'? Or 10' and 8'?

Thanks!!

hey SugarBeBe

the layering--typically in the u.s. it's two baked cakes to make one tier

then each of those lyers in the tier can be torted to make it look like 4 layers in each tier

just an individual choice

if you mean non-american customs i'm not it

twelve feet cakes have never been  customary

yes and this from the typo queen--sorry couldn't help myself

(spell check is my friend!!! don't mind me ;)

but there is no customary for cake sizes

oh you mean the graduation between tiers 2 inch or 4 inch?

not to be difficult but i like the 3 inch difference best myself

that is also just a personal preference

the four inch difference is rarer, more rare, less used nowadays than it once was --i'll grant you that though

AThank you!!

Haha total brain fart! I meant " instead of '

A 12 foot cake would be quite difficult I'd imagine lol.

You can make your cake any size you like to fit the look and servings you need but I would say 6" is the "standard" size for a top tier.

i've worked for people who hated sixes because they reminded them of toilet tissue rolls

and some people hate them because they are hard for them to ice

sixes are very commonly used as top tiers of course

eights were more used in my earlier career due to the big flooflooey cake toppers that were common then

and eights are also a good choice when super large tiers are in play--if you end with a glorified cupcake on top of an eighteen or twenty inch base it kinda gets a little pointy headed whispy looking up there

there used to be a big presence of sheet cake dislikers who were adamantly against sheet cakes

it's very curious to have cake sizes be so provocative (not in this thread)

AI don't like the squatty look of a cake, unless it has a large topper that draws the eye up. I have seen some that are too broad on top, and I just don't like it. A 6" is nice, unless there is a 10" under it. I don't like the 4" difference, at all... Maybe if there is a bunch of flowers?

i think we can all agree that squatty cakes are not our goal

but it's surprising to me that some of us think that all 8" top tiers are automatically squatastic

that six inch cakes belong in the john

that sheet cakes are sheetee

i'm not into the 4inch difference anymore either but i've been doing this for about 40 years and things evolve and change huh

and sometimes you need a four inch difference for whatever reason

'mid century modern' style furniture & decor is boring old sheet to me but my kids love it

whereas mid-century modern cakes--agh no --has definitely not come 'back in'

it's all personal preference some of it very passionate personal preference

Now every time I see a 6 on top I am going to think of toilet paper, LOL.
 

I suppose there are some people who never think they are never appropriate, don't recall anyone in here saying that or the other thread that you refer to. 

A

Absolutely! Sounds like ikea furniture. Bleh. I miss piping on cakes though. I think a 16,14,12,10,8 doesn't look squatty , but I prefer that 6" on top, too much open space if it isn't there :-) and while I can certainly see the toilet paper comparison, I never think it when I make one, and I am always making 6" cakes. I have about 8 6" pans, I make several, weekly and never think about it.

Sheet cakes are totally sheetee, unless you happen to be Than than (?) the goddess of the sheet cake, and I dread everyone I do!

6" top tiers remind you of toilet paper?  What?  I can see MAYBE a 4", but 6"?  Where are you buying your toilet tissue???  Giants -R- US?    I just measured ours and the SUPER is just over 4 1/2".

A

Yeah, I want to go buy those 6" rolls, maybe we wouldn't run out so fast considering that I seem to be the only person in my household who knows how to change the roll. I essayed this topic and my extensive toilet paper research agrees with your 4" assessment. I warn people about it if they want to leave a 4" top tier completely white, because even if they didn't notice it someone else would, and they'd be making fun of her toilet paper cake at her wedding. Not cool. http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/10/top-tier-or-toilet-paper-get-over-it.html?m=1

A[quote name="costumeczar" url="/t/753401/two-tier-cake-questions#post_7352659"] Yeah, I want to go buy those 6" rolls, maybe we wouldn't run out so fast considering that I seem to be the only person in my household who knows how to change the roll. I essayed this topic and my extensive toilet paper research agrees with your 4" assessment. I warn people about it if they want to leave a 4" top tier completely white, because even if they didn't notice it someone else would, and they'd be making fun of her toilet paper cake at her wedding. Not cool. http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/10/top-tier-or-toilet-paper-get-over-it.html?m=1[/quote] Why is it that it seems to take the woman of the house to change the roll, you suppose? We have 2 bathrooms on our main floor and one in the basement and I swear that every other time I sit down, I get the last 2 squares, or the empty roll. It is so irritating for weeks at a time, then I will accept it for a while and it will be less irritating, but it is always the case, except for the occasion when I go in and the new roll is sitting on the sink, back of the toilet, or floor!

And I hate icing 4" tiers. I keep pushing them over with the spatula. The only way I can make it work is when I skewer it to a dummy, but it still flops up and down while I ice it.

Anna, i sit small tiers on a nubbley bit of shelf liner --then pipe the icing on--just go 'round & 'round

just a thought

I think there's a simple answer to all of the above:  "It Depends".  It depends on a lot of things - how large the decorations or flowers are on the sides of your cake - you might needs more or less room.  And I vote for the 6" top tier - like I said, it all depends.............and if you wear Depends, you won't need the toilet paper.  :-)

Wait till our Europ counterparts read this, they don't get it.  Sitting here laughing....................................while waiting to deliver a wedding cake....................another birch bark..............................that is one design that just won't die.

A

Haha! Years ago, for some reason it seamed to be my husband it would happen to, so I would go in after him and have to take the roll off, and turn it around the proper way. That is quite irritating as well! But it must be something special about us ;-) I try to just embrace it, because if it wasn't me fixing it each time, it would either be backward or all wet and wrinkled from it landing in the sink or getting splattered by the water when others wash up. At least it is protected when I put it on the roller.

A

Uhoh, are we going to get into a debate about which way is the right way to hang it now? I don't care which way it goes as long as I don't get stuck without any when I need it.