I really want to attempt this cake, but I have to admit.. I'm terrified! Can anyone who has done a cake like this give me some pointers. Like what kind of cake boards do I use, in her book she specifies 'hardboards' which exactly are those? I currently use the Wilton cardboard ones. Also the best way to dowel it and with what? Will Boba Tea Straws work?

I just want to make sure the cakes don't sag or look like they are not holding their own weight, it would take away from the effect.

TIA

Lovely cake....but i guess i too would not have the courage to try it. All the best to u.

I would hazzard a guess at a hard/stiff plastic cake board being used for this. Tha way, you wouldn't have any worry about sagging of the tiers. Also, if you notice, that third tier is on'y overhanging about an inch or so. So, I don't see any worry of that one really tipping at all. Especially once the next tier is stacked atop it. Do you, by any chance, know the actual sizes of those tiers? They may, in reality, be fairly small. It might be the extreme detail on them that gives the illusion of size. I would love to try something like this. What a WOW factor. Good luck, and keep us posted.

In the UK cake hardboard is usually 4-6mm thick. It looks like a cake drum in that it has wrapped edges and white paper on the bottom. They are quite hard and don't bend. In fact they "break" if try to bend them with a lot of strength. I haven't seen the same product in the states.

Tuff board might be a good alternative, although I believe it only comes with scalloped edges. I would probably use cake drums and fondant over the edges.

foamboard? I would think that or a massonite one....

Beautiful cake.... share pics when you make it!!

Ooo I have the book with that cake in, would love to see pics when you do it

If I remember right Doug made a drawing for this cake. I would pm him and see if he rembers which thread it was in or if he still has the drawing. I looked at all his photos but didn't see it.

I too have this book. It states to just dowel and secure with royal. In my opinion, I would make the base board with a center dowel to go through the entire cake. Once you put the bottom tier on, then dowel to support the tier on top of the bottom tier in the appropriate section of the bottom cake, if that makes any sense. I think I just confused myself. I would also use masonite boards instead of cake boards. Cake boards tend to not give as much support as I would like. The center dowel should be enough support to offer stability. I do not know if I would travel with the cake assembled. Good luck and hopefully everything goes well. We would all like to see pictures.

I've been asked to do this cake for a wedding and I was terrified about it from a stacking point of view - I had visions of the thing collapsing in the middle of the meal or something!!

I think that hardboards are actually the very thin boards but are different from your standard thin boards in that they are incredibly rigid and stiff to allow you to move the cake around without it flexing and to stack cakes. The way I test the boards before buying is to see how much flex is in the board and if I can't bend it at all then it's the hardboard version (price here is often a giveaway too as the less rigid ones are cheaper).

I was worried that the dowling would have to be off centre for balance and was concerned about dowls being too close to the edge of the cake if you see what I mean. Speaking to my instructor about this cake, we came to the conclusion that the cakes don't overlap as much as they seem to in the picture and are actually only just overhanging the edges of the cake below and so standard dowling would be perfectly adequate for this.

I haven't actually made this cake yet as the wedding isn't for a while yet, so if you do make it, I would be really interested to see a picture of the finished product!

Thanks everyone! I am going to attempt this cake this weekend. I found some boards at a craft store that I think may be comparable to hardboards in the UK (wish I could find them here).

The cake sizes specified in the book are 8" square on the bottom, 6" square and then two 6" for the tops.

Wish me luck! If anyone else had any tips for me please reply. I have seen some cakes of this design on this forum in the galleries and I would love to hear from you

An 18 x 16“ sheet cake to deliver tomorrow and I’m not sure what to construct my cake board out of. I don’t want it to sag or slip… you know all the stuff

You might want to post this on its own rather than to a 2010 thread given the age of the original posting. I don't do sheet cakes often, but it depends on the use.   If this is merely to construct and deliver, you could say hit up Walmart and purchase several of the thinnish sheet cake boards they have. Glue them together to provide strength and cover with a pretty cake foil or like a self sticking waterproof shelf lining or clear contact paper, etc.   You could also see if there is a local restaurant supply  and see what options they provider for sheet cakes (mine has thick boards that could imminently support the weight) as well as cake boxes for them.  Of course, checking into any local cake stores/supply and seeing what they have on hand. The short time you have until you need it is somewhat restrictive to the options, combined with what is available near you.    Normally, I would recommend ordering from an online supplier or like Amazon.  Allow more options for such a thing.  HTH!

i'm late to the party here but for next time at least you can reinforce your average cake board with a same size slice of foam core board -- and like singer soul mentioned, hot glue them all together -- wally world would have the best price on them --

also, you can slide bamboo skewers into the corrugated openings on your cake board for no fail no flex support -- slide a couple down the longwise middle lanes and you're good to go -- 

best to you!