May be a stupid question, but it always seems to be an issue. What is the best way to stack a cake iced in buttercream without damaging the bottom edge of the cake being placed on top? When I move the cake and place it on the tier below, I always manage to damage the edge of the cake slightly. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Leave the dowels sticking out of the cake a little ways. The weight of the cake will push them the rest of the way into the cake but you'll have time to get your hands out from under first.

Thank you!! I knew it would be something really easy that I was just not thinking of.

That is a great tip! I usually just put off doing the bottom trim till the cakes are stacked and then cover whatever blurp happened from the stacking with the trim! LOL!

I refrigerate so the buttercream is firm. Gives you a few moments to adjust to center the cake and such with help of a flat spatula.

these are great tips! thanks so much! i am learning to stack the cakes as well! i can get it done too, but seem to damage the tier under that one that i am placing on! i will have to give these ideas a try too!

The "leave the dowels sticking out a bit" thing has not worked for me the two times I tried it... both times I ended up with a igger mess because I had to take the top cake OFF again when the dowels didn't sink all the way, or didn't sink EVENLY, so a part of the cake was still not all the way down...

If you try it, definitely DO NOT try it with cold bottom cake, as I think that would make it worse.

You'll also find that the more you stack cakes, the better you get at it.

I use bubble tea straws and cut them even with the buttercream...then squirt a little icing and lay down a wax paper circle...squirt a little more icing and then lay the next tier. If the cakes are well chilled, you can even briefly touch the side of the iced cake with no harm done.

Have you watched Edna's video?

I have done the dowels sticking up too. Usually works well, but sometimes, a dowel will tip sideways and what a mess! You have to be sure they are absolutely straight and even when you put the top tier on and they don't always sink at the same rate, therefore cake doesn't settle good.