I've read through the whimsical cake article posted here and I have a few questions.
I took a class a few months back with Colette Peters and her method for building these cakes doesn't involve using wells to stack the cakes. She cuts the top and bottom of the cake at a slant and then stacks them. This method seems easier to me, but I'm wondering if it's less stable.
I tried to do a whimsy cake with the article posted here and I had trouble getting the well big enough to put the smaller cake on top. I had other problems with it, so I never wound up finishing the cake anyway, but I'm wondering if it would be easier to just use Colette's method. Has anyone ever done this?
WebDiva
Have no experience with whimsical cakes...
However, I have the whimsical bake house book, and they make their stacked cakes by building up the icing dam at an angle!!!
I always worry about my filling oozing out with regular cakes. I don't know how this method could possibly work, especially with tiered wedding cakes.
Sorry I couldn't help, but just wanted to post another method that I definitely thought wouldn't! (Does that make sense?)
I have no experience with whimsy cakes but I tried to follow the instructions here and just gave up. Sounds to me like Collette's method is a lot easier. Here's a bump and hope we get some answers!
Colette's method also involves a great deal of doweling and styrofoam dummies cut at angles--so, in some ways the two methods are like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to construction.
The cakes come out looking very different, too. BKeith Ryder's instructions here on CC lead to a "top heavy look" and Colette's will give you options for varying extremes of tilt.
I've seen both methods demonstrated by both cake designers and for me it would depend on the "reason" for the cake--birthday party vs. wedding, etc. --and the transport/set-up circumstances, how much could be assembled on site, etc.
Rae
I also have spoken with Colette. She said that she just dowels. The cakes that are directly on top of one another have no styrofoam they are like a regular stacked construction only all the cakes are angled. I have done this before and my cakes are very sturdy. I tried the well method once and found it easier just to stack. I do want to try the wedge method but need to find a way to hide the styrofoam with flowers or somathing.
Thanks for the replies.
Colette uses both methods. I was referring to the same one that moydear77 was.
I will try this tomorrow for a test cake I"m working on. I really had a hard time with those wells and I thinking that this will work out better.
moydear77, did you wind up using more dowels than you would have for a normal cake?
Also, when Colette uses the styrofoam wedges, she decorates them as if they were another cake. Hope that helps you.
-WebDiva
The most I have done is three tiers. even the small two tiered ones I use just four dowels and a center dowel. I think the key to it is the butter cream. Mine gets solid like butter whan chilled. You can guage whther the cake is sturdy enough for this type of constuction. I do not work with Wilton class buttercream so I do not know the resultes. Also you need a sturdy filling. I just use my buttercream with Raspberry puree or add choclate and chips to it. Hope this helps. I use a SMBC.
I am wanting to make the same cake Ive been looking at the instructions on this site a cake decorators store in my area that teaches cake decorating has a cake in the window that is a Whimsical cake and I talked to the person that made this cake she said when they make this type of cake they use a lot of dowels and they only slant it at the top they do not use the different size pans were as on this site the instruction say to use a 10 11 12 then the next tier is like 10 9,& 8 and so forth the cake they made is much simpler I believed they used a bottom 4 layer tier 14 with slant cut on top cake middle tier was a 10 tier w/ 4 layers with slant cut on top cake and 8teir 4 layer with slant cut on top cake and the last tier was a 6 with slant cut on top when I asked about cutting a whole in the cake the decorator said that cake was not made like that but a pound cake recipe was used and to be sure and use plenty of dowels
Molly2
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