Okay, I did a practice wedding cake on Sunday. It was pretty small since I don't have very big cooling racks yet. Do you all have huge cooling racks to flip your bigger cakes out on? Then how do you get them on the board and layer them with out breaking them? The one I did had a 10' square bottom with an 8" tier stacked on that and then a 4" on top of that with push in pillars. The ten" top layer wanted to crack but nothing major. Is there a trick to it? I am not able to take classes to learn this stuff. I'm a SAHM and have to teach myself and learn as I go. I posted the cake and have to say that I've gotten very little feedback and although I honestly appreciate all comments, the ones I got didn't make me feel very good about it. I know it wasn't perfect and I wanted honesty so am not complaining, just telling you how I felt. Anyway, anyone care to enlighten me? I need to order some big cooling racks, wondering if there is something else I'm missing that I need to order to! Thanks!

Anna

Yes, you need BIG cooling racks. I have 2 that are 16x20 (holds the 12x18 and holds a 16" round) and I have two that are bigger than that (they hold my 14x22 with space left over). Get two of each minimum. And you can never have too many big ones. Remember, you can put multiple smaller cakes on a big rack, but you can't put a big cake on a small rack.

Your cake looks really nice. Your icing is smooth and I think your roses look good, too. (I do BC only roses myself). If you're really looking for what to work on, I would have used a smaller tip for the bottom borders and for the scrolls. They look a little big to me which may be giving your cake an out of balance look.

Take a sugar-coated finger and press the points on your dots. Dots should look like dots .... not pointy, like chocolate chips. (I remember one CC'er phrasing it that way when I first got on CC and I changed my method immediately after that!)

If your roses got "mooshy", I'm betting you put them in the freezer? I find they are much better to work with if you let them air dry. Anything that is frozen will melt when removed from the freezer. I felt so validated when I was in my cake supply shop and heard the owner telling a customer this very same thing (and she's been doing this way longer than me and is the person I call when I have a problem). Once they have air dried, they won't ever go back to mooshy.

Hi Anna
I have done up to 14 inch torted and layered... I do not use cooling racks for those sizes... I use the cookie sheets that have no sides.... I put the sheet over the pan and flip it and then slide the cakepan off of the cake...then I just let that sit on the cooling rack to cool... I use the same sheets to torte the layers and this has worked fine for me.
hth -cp

P.S. When buying cooling racks, I highly recommend the ones that have the wires running both directions, so the cooling rack is a collection of little squares. I do not recommend the ones where the wires run in one direction with just one supporting wire going crossways in the center. The 2nd kind has a gap that is too big and the cake/cookies sometimes tend to fall thru the wires. The small squares support the (hot, moist) baked items very well.

Thanks ladies! Where do I find cooling racks that size and that kind? Thanks for the info on letting the roses air dry. I have always frozen them. Never thought to do it that way. I much prefer the RI ones, only because they are so much easier to set on the cake and reposition if need be. I appreciate your comments that I should have used a smaller tip for my scrolls. My DH said the same thing! I'll remember your advice next time I try this. I have cookie sheets so maybe I'll use those until I can figure out where to get the racks and figure out how to pay for them all!

Anna

As far as your cakes cracking....are you letting them cool just a bit before removing them from the pans? Mine always want to crack if I try and take them out of the pans too quickly.

Also, if they're not pretty level to start with it makes them want to crack. If I have one that has risen too high in the center I always let it cool on the rack bottom side down.

I'm so gun shy about tiers falling that if I get any kind of a crack at all, I toss it and start over again. To me, a cracked layer is just a prescription for disaster in a tiered cake.

Yes, I let them cool for a while. Like about 15 minutes or so then I flip them out and let them cool completely. And then cut the top off. It was completely cool and square and level. It didn't like it when I lifted it up off the rack to set it on the bottom layer. It was a very minor crack. I agree with you though, a crack IS a disaster waiting to happen!! Hence the questions on how to avoid them. I have been doing cakes for four years but this stacking thing is all new to me. Anyway, the cake ended up nice and square. Was happy with that part in the end. I've been thinking about going into wedding cakes so need to practice, practice, practice!!!! I have an order in March!

Anna

I know this may sound silly but I've twist tied two small racks together before it didn't work as well as what I wanted it too(I don't do it anymore). I use a large cookie sheet as someone suggested above. I let my cakes cool in the pan longer...until just barely warm then I put them on a board. Would it make the cake do better if I let cool on a cooling racks? I also read from another post that they freeze their layers a little first that may make it flip better. I'm not for sure though.

I do the flip-flip method when getting my cakes out of the pan. After they have cooled a bit (about 5min for smaller cakes, up to 20 min for the bigger ones) I place a cooling rack over the top of the cake then, using pot holders or a towel, and gently flip the cake over. So now the pan is on the top. I remove the pan and gently place another rack on top and then flip the whole works again so now the top of the cake is back on top. That way I don't change the density of the cake by having it rest on it's head! lol.

My Wilton instructor says that for best balance effect, the tiers should be 4" difference, for example, 12, 8, 4 or 14, 10,6". Maybe your question about it not being exactly perfect has to do with using a 10" on the botton? just my 2 cents....

I also use the flip flip method. I've also started freezing my tiers as well. So I torte them, put them on a board, wrap and freeze. This seems to help with the handling of the layers once you're ready to crumb coat, etc. I don't think the balance really has anything to do with the size of the tiers. I have done them in 2" increments and they balance fine. I think like Debi said, if the designs were smaller, it would pull it all in.

Ladies,
I'm also new to tear cakes and I have a question, if your first tier is very big like 16" would it be better to bake two 8" and putting them together to make the 16" instead of baking a big cake?
I did this for my pillow cake in my avatar for the bottom part but this was not a three tier cake.
I made a 12" and it broke when I try putting it on top of the other and I had to re bake, this cake was a new recipe and it was very soft and moist.
Please let me know what you ladies think. Thank you

I find it's easiest to put the large cake layers in the freezer for about 15 minutes after torting. When you remove them, they are stiff enough that you can easily slide another cake board or cookie sheet under it to place on top of the other cake layer. I tried moving a 12" without doing this and it shattered. I was actually able to move the 12" with just my hands by placing it in the freezer to firm up.

Excellent tip!!! Thank you! Whooohooo!!

Anna

I sometimes freeze the big layers right in their pans. The pan is lined with parchment and I run a knife around the edges to release and then flip it and wrap it up. I also stack and fill the big layers frozen, then wrap and let thaw before icing.

Courtney