Frost And Stack Or Stack And Frost?
Decorating By justfrosting Updated 12 Apr 2007 , 4:19am by justfrosting
This weekend when I set up the 3 tiered bday cake that was such a dissapointment (Doug, I am not whining-I swear)
I had iced all three in BC but then had a bugger of a time stacking. Should I be icing after they are stacked????
Just when I think I have it all figured out....I love CC!
I have done both! I was having such a hard time getting my stacked cakes on my center mark that I unfortunatley had a few lopsided cakes. Most recently I crumb layered first and then stacked and then final coat and decorate. I loved it. everything was centered and the cake turned out beautiful. My suggestion is when you start to decorate - decorate from the top down - I put my elbow right into the decoration of the bottom teirs everytime I moved up a layer to decorate. If you move from top down - elbows should not be a problem! 
I have found that if I allow enough time for my buttercream to sit for 1/2-1 day, I can handle it so much easier without all the marks and dents. I also use a 10-inch cake/pizza spatula, slide it under the cake and place edge of cake where I've marked it should be, and slide spatula out. You could also use an airbake cookie sheet which doesn't have any sides. Putting a little powdered sugar on the spatula/sheet helps the cake to slide off easily.
If you stack, then frost... your bottom cake doesnt have icing on top... seems like that would not be good...
I always ice each tier, then stack.
its really just the placing of the tiers you are having a problem with. if you leave your supports sticking up by about 1" you can keep your finger tips under the edge longer till you have it in the right place then let go, the cake will sink until it rests on the supports, then if by chance you still need to move it you can carefully place the tip of a spatular under the cake board and reposition a fraction.
its really just the placing of the tiers you are having a problem with. if you leave your supports sticking up by about 1" you can keep your finger tips under the edge longer till you have it in the right place then let go, the cake will sink until it rests on the supports, then if by chance you still need to move it you can carefully place the tip of a spatular under the cake board and reposition a fraction.
That's a good idea, to leave them up a bit. I'll have to try that next time. I have this giant spatula thing made of stainless steel that I use to stack mine and it really doesn't bend. I got it at Bob's Red Mill. I don't know where else it's sold but it's great! I don't know what I'd do without it really and I want to get another one.
i'm still new to stacking cakes.... so here's a question.. if you ice first, then stack, does all the icing stick to the bottom of the cake board holding the top cake? seems like it would look very unappealing when serving. anything i can do to prevent this from happening? the larryboy cake i made for my dd's b-day did this.. but because it was just family, they didn't care that it looked bad when we took the cakes apart to serve. any thoughts? thanks! 
When you stack cakes, each one should sit on its own cake board. So on top of each cake you put a wax paper circle, or a little powdered sugar to keep the one above from sticking. It's also easier to cut too if each cake has its own board - when the knife hits the cardboard you know to stop cutting! I hope that made sense!
When you stack cakes, each one should sit on its own cake board. So on top of each cake you put a wax paper circle, or a little powdered sugar to keep the one above from sticking. It's also easier to cut too if each cake has its own board - when the knife hits the cardboard you know to stop cutting!
I hope that made sense!
I hadn't thought/heard of the wax paper before. I've used powdered sugar. I think the wax paper is a better idea! thanks 
Any suggestions on how to stack them after icing without sticking your fingers in the cake? I have never figured out how to do this yet. I always go to set the cake on top of the lower cake and I panic and don't know what to do with my hands....does this make sense? I usually put just my finertips as close to the edge as I can but then when I go to pull them out I either mess up the bottom layer or end up putting my thumbs in the layer I'm working with. Thanks for your help!
[quote="emf7701"]if you ice first, then stack, does all the icing stick to the bottom of the cake board holding the top cake? [quote]
Powdered sugar, cake crumbs (this is what Publix uses) and coconut flakes can all be used between the cake board/plate and the top of the tier below.
Any suggestions on how to stack them after icing without sticking your fingers in the cake? I have never figured out how to do this yet. I always go to set the cake on top of the lower cake and I panic and don't know what to do with my hands....does this make sense? I usually put just my finertips as close to the edge as I can but then when I go to pull them out I either mess up the bottom layer or end up putting my thumbs in the layer I'm working with. Thanks for your help!
What I do is draw up the support dowels from the base support cake, about 1/2 inch or so and let the weight of the top cake drop the cake down and it gives you a few seconds to pull your fingers out. Then if they did not all go down at the same place, I take a long tooth pick and push the cardboard which the top cake is sitting on, down and make sure it's even on top. I am about to buy a level to hep take the guesswork out of the leveling. A friend also suggested the cake lifters from Pampered Chef. I just bought them and they are on their way. I have NOT tried them yet with a stacked cake. We'll see how it goes.
I just haven' t figured the wilton way to get your hands out in time, or preventing the cake from tilting into the BC on the opposite side while removing your hands.
For those who stack then frost... how do do that with out messing up the icing on the other cake? 
I have done just about everything - except the suggesstion that SkisInOkinawa suggested - I'm trying that next.
The last cake that I stacked then frosted actually went really well. I crumb layered everything in bc first. Then I stacked and used my icing tip to final coat everything. All I had to do was go back and add final touches. The only recommendation I had for that was start at the top and work your way down the cake. I actually started at the bottom and worked up and had to fix a couple of places that wild elbows hit 
! If you work down the cake though you don't have to worry about appendages hitting what you thought was final decoration.
The crumb layer done first before stacking was done so that there was no naked cake under cake boards. It worked out well and I had no complaints from the customer.
This sounds like a great idea--I am going to try it...
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