I am attempting my first tiered cake. But it looks short and dumpy to me. It is a 14", then on top of that a 12", then a 9".

What sizes do you use?

I don't do tiered cakes (yet!) but I noticed the ones I like most are when the pan size differences are 4" (e.g. 14", 10", 6"). Seems to make it more 'majestic' looking and the decorations look nicer.

Stacked cakes (i.e. cake-on-cake) tend to look "short and dumpy" just because they don't have the height you may be used to seeing with pillared cakes.

It depends on how many you are serving...........on my wedding cake, I used 14, 12, 10, and 8 to serve 155 (according to Earlene's chart), and didn't save the top tier..........the 85th bday cake I did for 140 was 14, 12, and 10.........the Big cake I did last weekend for 400 was 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 and then 5 -10" rounds...........the tiered cake alone was for 245........I guess it's a matter of how you like the cake to look and how many to serve.......I think if you are using a 9" for the top tier, you might want to make a dummy 6" tier for decoration, so it looks balanced........or use a topper that has a diameter of about that much- just my opinion though!

Thanks for the input. I am making my first tierd cake. I am not using pillars, I am stacking them on top of each other.

I am using a 14, 12 then a 9. I am using this because these are the sizes of the cake pans I already have and this is a last minute cake. I was asked at my church if I would make this cake for a quick wedding that is taking place this Sunday. I've never done a wedding cake before, it is all new to me. And this will be done as a favor for the bride and groom.

I am very nervous about the whole thing. I am baking the layer, one each day when I get off work and I will freeze them until Saturday. Saturday I will decorate the frozen layers and then transport the cake to the church for the wedding Sunday evening.

I am using an all crisco buttercream icing. Will the cake be okay, decorated and sitting on my kitchen table from Saturday until Sunday evening? It won't be covered, as I have no idea how to cover a cake of that size. I definitely don't have a refrigerator to put it in.

All tips would be greatly appreciated!

I never use anything larger than an 8-inch as the top tier. Anything bigger (like your 9-inch), and it looks like someone forgot to put the top tier on! The cake looks more 'finished' with a smaller tier on top.

I always have a 3" difference on my cakes.

Good luck with your cake... how lovely of you to make it as a favour to the bride and groom

I love this website, there are so many wonderful, talented people here alway willing to help.

Thank you so much for all the tips. I will use a 8" on top, thanks for the tip.

I feel much better knowing that it is okay to leave it sitting out until Sunday, thanks indyebi, you always leave me helpful feedback.


I have another question. I am going to use dowel rods to help support the cake layers. I have seen where people also put one long dowel though the center of all the cakes as well as per cake layer. Should I do that?

I will be assembling it at home. So I guess that means I should use do the long one through the middle.