Okay, I am doing a wedding cake in May and I just met with the bride, a friend, this weekend. She has a picture of the cake, from Martha Stewart of course, and it is 5 or 6 tiers tall. She is only going to have about 150 people at her wedding, so she does not need that much cake. How do I stack a cake with dummy rounds for some tiers? Do I put most of the cake at the bottom and the dummies at the top except for the top tier? Do I alternate? I was worried about stability. I have only done a few wedding cakes, I mostly bake for friends and family (but am working on changing that). Also, the cake is covered in fondant, do I put buttercream on the dummies and then fondant like I would regular cake layers? I wish I could find a picture of this cake online because there are other questions I have about it but it is hard to describe without seeing the picture. It is the tulip cake, not sure which month of MS. It has tulips standing up around the bottom of the cake held by ribbon. I know I can do the decorations, but I'm not sure about those tulips! At least I have awhile, right? If anybody has seen this cake in Martha or has any ideas, I appreciate it!

Is it the one with the fence around each of the tiers?

I would put the dummies on the bottom for added support. Just ensure the bride and groom know which layer is real so they don't try to cut the dummy. Also, you can ice the dummy with syrofoam if you want but you can also just soak the styrofoam in water before you put on the fondant. That's what I do.

Rachel

You can also brush the dummies with a little piping gel. a thin layer goes a long way!

I'd put the dummies on the bottom.. it would just help with the stability of the cake.. you can cover the dummies with buttercream and smooth them .. then cover with fondant .. this will help to hide any imperfections the dummies may have in them ...

Heavenlycakes, no it does not have a fence around each tier. It has an orange ribbon around the base holding orange tulips and two fondant (I think) butterflies. The background is also orange.
Thanks for the tips on the cake dummies, everyone, I really appreciate it. I'm going to do a mini practice cake at some point. The decorations are simple, except for those tulips!
One question about the dummies being on the bottom, what about when the bride and groom cut the cake? Do I precut it so they can just act like they're cutting it? How does that work?

..I have tulip instructions that I would be glad to send to you. Just send me a PM!

Mrs Missey can you send those tulip instructions to me too?

[email protected]

thanks
Michelle

Sure....but if anyone else wants them, just PM me. Jackie would prefer to keep the number of posted e-mails addresses to a minimum! TIA!!

tell them which layers are real so they cut one of those With the cost of the dummys you do not want them cutting into them but then you should figure those into the cost so that would not be a cost proble just look bad when they can't cut the cake

Remember when figuring cost it will take you just as long to make a dummy cake as a real one. AND the cost of materials is actually the same or higher than a real cake.


Another option would be make a smaller cake and rent a silver platue to give the cake height.

Make sure that you have them return the dummies. Charge a deposit, that way if you don't. No sweat.