Advice Needed...first Stacked Cake
Decorating By lara3teach Updated 15 Jul 2007 , 5:40pm by lara3teach
Hi All,
Newbie here...first post actually! 
First of all I want to say thank you to everyone for providing such knowledge and inspiration on this site. I just discovered it a few months ago when I started trying "fancier" things with my cakes. I have been doing cakes for my family for years, but have just recently started trying to make them a little more spectacular. I thoroughly enjoy visiting the forums and galleries...I have learned sooooo much from reading the posts. I find I'm looking for reasons to make cakes so I can try new things!
Anyway...I am getting ready to make my first stacked cake for a baby shower for my cousin this weekend. I've done tiered cakes with push in pillars, but have not used dowels. I've read the tutorial and get the basic idea of what to do, but would love to hear from the pros any additional tips or suggestions. The cake will be 2 tiers (10" and 8"), fondant covered and decorated (a mod mom cake --- I'm soooo excited to do this design after seeing so many on here!!!). The shower is about 20-25 minutes away. Should I stack it there or travel with it stacked? I think I would feel more comfortable stacking it there, but am worried about doing it neatly. Are there any "tricks" to stacking it and not messing up my fondant? Anything else I need to know?
Thanks so much!
Lara
Welcome to CC!
If you are stacking fondant covered cakes you won't have much to worry about as far as messing it up!
I bought a miter box and hacksaw to cut my dowels with-soooo much easier than anything I've found!
Sprinkle some powdered sugar in the area where the 8in will sit so that the fondant doesn't stick to the cake board when you separate the tiers to serve.
Cut you dowels the height of the cake then push them in and pull them back out a bit. That way when you set the next tier down you'll have some room to get your fingers out of the way. The weight of the cake will push the dowels back into place. Then just put your border on if using one.
I too would stack on-site. Just gives you less to worry about!
Good luck and have fun!
I agree stack on site.... makes things much easier.. fondant is so easy to work with, less chance of messing up. Just make sure you use about 6 dowels about 1-11/2 inches from the OUTER edge of the 8 inch.. I hope that makes sense..If you put them to close to the center or uneven they may not hold properly.. But you should be fine If you stack on site it wont be moving so Im sure it will be fine. Its when you move it around you really have to worry... Just try to relax and have fun..Send us pictures...
I agree with dodibug on everything. However, I'm all about stacking in advance. I make many 2-tier cakes and I don't deliver small cakes. So, my customers HAVE TO pick them up already assembled.
I like to use drinking straws because they're easier to cut. If I'm really concerned about stabilization, I will hammer bamboo skewers through the cake board down INSIDE each straw after it's inserted into the cake.
To finish, I drive a sharpened dowel, just shorter than the cake, through both tiers and into the bottom board. Then, just plug up the hole on top with icing and cover with topper. Of course, I make sure I don't place any straws in the center where they can interfere with this dowel.
I love stacking fondant covered cakes. You can just pick the sucker up by the sides and plop it down. Not like a buttercream iced cake that has to be handled like a vial of nitroglycerine! Just be sure you let your fondant covered tiers firm up for a couple of hours before stacking.
Hope this helps!
For those who use dowels or want to, get a pair of rachet bypass garden pruners. They're about 12 dollars or so. I got my from ace hardware or you can get them online. (Just do a google search) They make cutting dowels just as easy as cutting straws, and you don't have to pull out saws to do it! You don't have to worry about dowel projectiles or anything like that. Just make sure that they are racheted.
DianeLM, what kind of straws do you use? I've never heard of this method before, but would like to try because cutting the straws would be so much easier. Thanks!
I use regular drinking straws. I know some people use larger straws, but frankly, I can't find them anywhere, so I stick with the regular sized ones. If you cut them straight across and insert them perfectly veritically into your cake, they will support the tier above just fine. I don't recommend this method for cakes higher than two tiers (unless they are very small tiers!).
Thanks for the tip on the pruner, lisasweeta. Although I either use straws or Stress Free Supports inside my cakes, I still do use wooden dowels for a lot of things and am still looking for a better way to cut them. I've heard positive comments about PVC cutters, but would rather not invest $30 in a tool that may or may not work for me.
Here's a great link to some web videos on how to assemble and decorate a simple 3 tiered wedding cake. Pastry chef Melissa Murphy is doing the demo on stacking and dowel cutting. I found it to be extremely helpful and you can see her using the pruning sheers in action. She is doing a buttercream cake, BUT all of the techniques can be applied to fondant cakes as well.
http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/holiday/wedding/cake
As a tip, I chill my layers before and after they are covered in fondant. (I use Satin Ice... it doesn't melt. I don't know how MMF would fare.) That way I have no issues with denting the fondant accidentally.
HTH!!
Thank you everyone for the advice! I think I'm going to plan on stacking at the location. Even though my mom is going with me and I could keep an eye on the cake, I think I'd be a nervous wreck driving with my first stacked cake. If something happened.... 
Great tutorial, lisasweeta; it always helps to actually see something done. I am using Satin Ice, so hopefully all will go well.
DianeLM: what are stress free supports?
Thanks again, everyone! I'm sure I'll be back if I have any more questions. I'll post pics over the weekend too.
Stress Free Supports http://www.earlenescakes.com/newringsupportset.htm
My one and only picture (so far)...is a tiered cake that was stacked using straws. I had to transport separately, then assemble at the location. I had done a practice set at home so the straws were in place. Just stack, touch-up and add all that darn ivy...
I have a drummell... I love it would never cut with anything else..a bit of mess but worth it as far as im concerned..
what's a drummell?
This was a quote but I couldn't figure out how the get it in the quotes.
To finish, I drive a sharpened dowel, just shorter than the cake, through both tiers and into the bottom board. Then, just plug up the hole on top with icing and cover with topper. Of course, I make sure I don't place any straws in the center where they can interfere with this dowel.
Many times, I've read about putting the dowel through all layers, now I need to ask- First, how do you shapen the dowel and if you drive it through all the boards doesn't it push the boards down in the middle as you try to get it through? 
This was a quote but I couldn't figure out how the get it in the quotes.
To finish, I drive a sharpened dowel, just shorter than the cake, through both tiers and into the bottom board. Then, just plug up the hole on top with icing and cover with topper. Of course, I make sure I don't place any straws in the center where they can interfere with this dowel.
Many times, I've read about putting the dowel through all layers, now I need to ask- First, how do you shapen the dowel and if you drive it through all the boards doesn't it push the boards down in the middle as you try to get it through?
First, to quote the post you're replying to, click on "Quote" at the top of the message box instead of "post reply".
Sharpen the dowel in an ordinary pencil sharpener. I paid 69 cents for mine. It is for sharpening dowels ONLY. No pencils!
I use a small hammer to help the dowel through the cake boards. On that video at Epicurious.com, she just pushes on it until it pokes through the boards. Then, as the end gets close to the cake, I take small piece of dowel (usually the piece I just cut off), place it on the dowel in the cake and hammer it until the dowel in the cake penetrates the base board.
I think it's spelled "Dremel" and we have one too. Pretty handy little tool!
Here's what one looks like: (don't know this company, and never used them but they had the best picture)
http://www.tinkers-emporium.com/newpage26.htm
Leahbell-
I would love to see pics of your tinkerbell cake when you're done! I have an order for a tinkerbell cake in August and I have never done one with tink on it! I would love some inspiration!
I agree with DianeLM....drinking straws and "staking" the cake. (dowl through all layers). I use drinking straws for cake 3 tiers and less and travel stacked. Four tiers I use SFS and travel stacked. Over four tiers I use SFS and travel in sections.
Thanks again everyone for the advice. Thanks, Leah for the info on SPS; I'll have to check that out as I get more into doing cakes.
Cross your fingers for me...I'm leaving soon to deliver and set up the cake (I decided to travel separate and stack there). Hopefully all will go well and I'll have pictures to post later!
I've got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed!
Thanks, Lisa!! 
I need to thank everyone again for your support and advice! Everything went very smoothly yesterday. So smoothly in fact that I have an order for a bridal shower cake and two other people asked me if I had business cards with me (hehehe...like I have business cards!) It was an awesome feeling to have the cake be such a big hit!!! 
There were only a couple of slices left at the end too...good sign as far as taste of the cake goes!!
So here it is...bottom is yellow with strawberry and top is chocolate with chocolate BC. Fondant covered and decorated, gumpaste bow -- my first, which was much harder to put together than I thought it was going to be; will need to practice those. Mom cutout is from the paper plate because the gumpaste one I made broke in transit. But despite that little problem, I'll really proud of this cake and I really can't thank everyone here enough for the support (plus inspiration on the design). You all rock!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! Brilliant save on the cut out! I also love how you did the texturizing on the fondant. Did you inlay the darker squares/circles or did you just attach them?
Spectacular job!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! Brilliant save on the cut out! I also love how you did the texturizing on the fondant. Did you inlay the darker squares/circles or did you just attach them?
Spectacular job!
Thank you! The darker squares and circles are just attached to the fondant.
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