i'm making a 3-tiered oval cake. each tier is 2x2'inch high...so i guess that makes 4 inches! ha......anyway.....i'm wondering if i'll need structural supports.....i've only ever done 2-tiers and i usually don't use supports for them so i'm new at this....any quick/easy/cost effective ideas?...i'm going to be putting them all to one side as well so that it looks like a hill....not sure if that matters...

The general construction for cake from the bottom up is:

Sturdy cake board: foam core, Masonite, mirror, plywood etc. - rigid base to support full weight of total cake and not flex or bend while carrying the cake.

Cake circle:food safe to separate cake from base

Bottom tier: Cake filing and cake: the most common is a 2" layer-icing/filing-2" layer- finish iced and decorated- some torte and use three or four thinner layers of cake and more layers of filling-but generally still equals an approximately 4" tier.

Dowels inserted into bottom tier the height of the finished tier.

Next cake tier: another tier(usually smaller pan size/same height/some vary heights) using the same construction as above on a cake circle.

Rest the cake circle on top of bottom tier- the dowels should support the top tiers weight not the actually cake below.

Add as many tiers as you want following this method supporting and stacking.

As a method for securing the tiers together some use a central dowel that is the height of the total cake and driven down through the layers to the base. Some use SPS which is highly recommended in the above construction of many cake tiers.