Stacking Cakes Without Support.

Decorating By tvtorp Updated 3 Nov 2009 , 4:44pm by tanyascakes

tvtorp Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tvtorp Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 3:57pm
post #1 of 12

I am designing a mountain top cake grooms cake. The base cakes are 3 layers of 12x12, 2 layers 10x10, 2 layers of 9x9, then two layers of 7/38" oblong and finally 2 layers 6 inch round on the top. The top layers are stacked to the right similar to a staircase. The mountaineer cake topper will stand on the top. The cake stands a bit over 1 foot tall. As I will be carving crags and cliffs into the cake do you think I should use separators and dowel rods during construction so the cake won't collapse or just stack the all layers together and carve them down.
I'm using Collette Peter's Coco Loco cake which is very dense and easy to carve.

11 replies
playingwithsugar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
playingwithsugar Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 4:12pm
post #2 of 12

Absolutely use supports. That is way too much cake to be stacking on top of one another. And transporting without dowels between the tiers and a center dowel support will be a total nightmare. My niece tried this, and ended up with cake all over the trunk of her car.

Theresa icon_smile.gif

Rylan Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Rylan Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 4:26pm
post #3 of 12

Exactly what Theresa said. Anything over 6 inches of cake should have internal supports.

millermom Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
millermom Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 4:27pm
post #4 of 12

I made a cake for my DD's b-day last week. I had originally planned it to be just 2 layers, but the layers did not turn out as deep as I wanted, so I added another layer at the last minute, and didn't put in supports. The cake frosted up nicely at first, but as it sat, I could see that it was sagging from the weight.

Fortunately, we ate it before it got too bad, and no one else noticed, but I will NEVER do that again without supports! ( I have always used supports for anything over 2 layers in the past, but because it was for DD, and because the layers were so thin, I thought I was OK!)

If you look in my photos, it is the first cake at the top (green with purple bow). You could already tell it was sagging at the corners at this point!

HarleyDee Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
HarleyDee Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 6:01pm
post #5 of 12

Yes, use supports! You will wish you had. Better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them!

arosstx Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
arosstx Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 6:18pm
post #6 of 12

Cake is heavy. Use supports. You wouldn't want an unexpected avalanche feature to appear on your mountain! icon_smile.gif

cakeandpartygirl Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cakeandpartygirl Posted 2 Nov 2009 , 6:22pm
post #7 of 12

Most definitely use supports. I made a cake this weekend and ended up having to lay it on it's side because I hadn't properly support it. I was so disappointed.

tvtorp Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tvtorp Posted 3 Nov 2009 , 3:29pm
post #8 of 12

Thank you all for your "support". I guess as I'm carving through the cakes I'll just use a really sharp knife to cut through the cake boards.

cakeandpartygirl Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cakeandpartygirl Posted 3 Nov 2009 , 4:06pm
post #9 of 12

Maybe you could make your boards smaller than what you begin with so that when you carve you don't have to carve through the board. I wouldn't make them much smaller but enough. I hope that you understand cause sometimes i type and it is not the thought that i am trying to convey.

Texas_Rose Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Texas_Rose Posted 3 Nov 2009 , 4:12pm
post #10 of 12

Either make the boards a bit smaller than the layers or stack it all up without filling, carve, unstack, trace the carved cakes on foamcore, cut out boards, fill, then stack with dowels and boards in place, and frost.

playingwithsugar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
playingwithsugar Posted 3 Nov 2009 , 4:30pm
post #11 of 12

When I did my volcano cake, I used boards that were smaller, and it saved me a lot of extra work.

Theresa icon_smile.gif

tanyascakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tanyascakes Posted 3 Nov 2009 , 4:44pm
post #12 of 12

Yep, Texas_Rose has the right answer!!!! Supports are THE most important thing with a cake this size! Hope everything comes out okay for you!!!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%