hi e1,
I'm about to do a cake something like this....
http://www.mauiweddingcakes.com/Gallery/Modern_Buttercream/index.htm
3 tier cake stacked, bc frosting, im thinking 12 inch, 10 or 9 inch, and 6 inch. Or can someone give me a guess at the sizes of pans that were used in the M1 or M2 pictures???
my question is...should i dowl each tier (bottom and middle tier) and one straight through all three?
Any ideas what i can put the cake on, what type of board. I was thinking a good cutting board. and i also need to transport it across town.
thnx everyone.
I love the look but haven't triedit yet so no help there, but for transport, I went to Michaels and bought a piece of styrofoam that is about 1 inch wide, and 4 feet by 18 inches. I just cut it to size and cover it with food safe paper. It is very ceap to make and is sturdy enough to not crack the icing as long as its carried from the bottom. Good luck. 
I'd go with the 6, 9, and 12. Definitely would dowel each bottom layer!! I always put a dowel through the whole cake, down the center - for my own piece of mind! I sharpen one end and push it through. When you reach the first cake board, you can tap it through. I use a snall hammer (actually, it's a mini meat tenderizer that's only been used for my cakes).
Those are beautiful cakes!! Good luck!!!
The size of cake you'll use will depend on # of servings you need. I like to keep a 3-4 inch difference between the tiers. It's a nice proportion and gives you enough room for decoration and border.
You will need to dowel each tier. Look at the article on proper cake construction on here. That is essential for the survival of any tiered cake.
You can make a good base for the cake by putting together 2-3 cake boards for the bottom. Just lay the boards with the lines on the back crossing for extra strength(one board horizontal, then next board lines run vertical). Cover your board with foil, contact paper, etc.
It is preferable to transport each tier separately then stack when you get to your destination. Far less worry and stress. If you have to transport stacked, dowel each tier well, cut a small x in the center of each cake board, place your long dowel in the center of the bottom tier and then lower each tier down onto the tier below (SquirrellyCakes method of stacking). Use non-skid material (find it in Wal-mart in shelf liner section). Place the cake on a level surface in the car (not in the back seat)
Place a bit of powdered sugar in the area the tier will sit to prevent sticking when the tier is removed for serving.
Also, when placing dowels in the tiers, cut them to height of tier, push them all the way down then pull up with tongs so when you place the next tier you will have some finger room and the weight of the cake will push the dowels back down.
HTH
thnx everyone.
dodibug--
a few questions....
if i put 2 cake boards together for the bottom, do i just put them on top of each other and some hoe glue them, then cover them w/foil, etc.? not sure what u mean about the lines on the back crossing.
also, if i transport the cakes seperately. should i have the long dowel already set in the cake? then lower the the top two cakes through the long dowel when i get to my destination? so i wont be hammering the long dowel through the middle since im transporting,right?
im not familiar w/Squirrelly cakes. if u have the time, can u link me to her method.
tyvm
If you look at the back of the cake board you will see the lines, kind of has a corrugated look to it. You just place one board with the lines running side to side then the next board will be up and down. Hot glue would probably work great-hadn't thought of that!
SquirrellyCakes is a very frequent, helpful member here. She is a wealth of info and that's who I learned the "lower method" from. Make sure you have the dowel cut to the right size before you get there so it doesn't poke out the top once you stack. If you do it that way you won't hammer in from the top. I know alot of people do it that way but I just have this fear of the cake board refusing to give and my whole cake getting destroyed (I read on the wilton site about this happening to a poster there 
) I have used the lower method and it worked really well. If you are stacking on site you don't need to worry about the long dowel. Here is some more info on it from squirrelly!
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-21783-dowel.html+method
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%