I am new to this whole cake baking thing and last year when I baked a cake for my moms 50th birthday party, I made home made marzipan and put an apricot jam underneath which worked pretty well. I wanted to know if I can do the same with fondant since the cake I am baking is for 80 plus people this time weight is of a concern. I fear that the icing will be too much weight.

Also, last time I tried to make a two tiered cake and the 2nd tier winded up collapsing! I know that you need to place wooden or plastic sticks in the cake for support but need a step by step process on how to do this for a cake of this per portions. The bottom tier is going to be 16 inches.

I am open to any suggestions! Thank you!!

As am also at the amateur level, won't be able to help you much there either, but if you go to www.designmeacake.com you should be able to get some help there.

As am also at the amateur level, won't be able to help you much there either, but if you go to www.designmeacake.com you should be able to get some help there.

Here is my youtube videos, it has one video on stacking.

As for the jam, In my preference, I don't think it covers well enough the cake to put
fondant on top. You end up seeing the cake underneath. The icing wont weight as much as you think unless you put a ton!.
The best thing is to put the cake in the fridge so the icing hardens, so when you add your fondant, the weight of the fondant wont change the shape of your cake.

Edna

Hi there, welcome to CC. You need to cover your cake with buttercream first and then cover it with fondant. The buttercream should be a bit thicker than your normal crumbcoat. You need to put the top tier on a thin board as same size as the cake. Here is a great video that shows how you can stack the cakes without damaging them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHSzbG_y9JE&feature=channel_page

You don't have to use wooden or plastic dowels. If you can find some bubble tea staws, that works really well too! They are easy to cut too. If you are delivering the cake already stack, then it is safe to put a wooden centre dowel.

HTH.

I too would use buttercream under the fondant, not a glaze for the same reasons as tonedna said. also when stacking, use enough wooden dowels, (I don't think plastic straws works as well) you can get the dowels at any Michaels or AC Moore. good luck

Thank you soo much everyone for all of the advice, it has really helped!!