I made a 16" cake and placed elmo's head on top of that cake. I used a 16" cake board and then the bottom decoration round is probably 20". My question is should I have used an 18" cake board instead? When I was piping shells on the bottom border it was no longer on the 16" cake board but on the 20" decorated bottom. Did I make any sense?

How much bigger than my cake should the board be? I think I remember wilton instructions saying 2 inches bigger but dont remember. Help! Jackie

This is a great question. When I stack cakes, I always use the exact size board, rather than going larger. This way, I'm sure the board isn't visible. However, this may not be the correct way...just the way I do it.

Hi, I don´t think there is a rule on how big your boards should be, as long as you have enough space to do your border. When I do a 16" cake I would use a 20" board so I can have an extra inch for the border and another extra inch for me to be able to handle the cake. HTH and good luck!

I just use whatever board I think will be better. I tend to use just 2 inches bigger that the cake, but depending on what decorations I a planning on doing - I might use a bigger circle.

You are correct. You should have gotten the 18" board. You should have an inch all the way around your cake showing on your board. Don't worry, we have all done it.