Hi there,
I have had 2 friends ask for 2 separate cakes for this weekend and both of them are 2 tiers.
I have never stacked cakes before and I live in rural Australia so the only supplies I have access to at such short notices is dowling rods.
I need to stack an 8" cake on a 10". Would 4 rods be enough?
And how many do I need to stack a 10" cake on a 12"?
Any tips or hints for a beginner?
Sorry for the very simple question, but I really want to get this right as it would look horrible if they started falling over at the parties.
Thanks so much for your help.
this is the best video I've seen on the subject.
I believe she is one of the CC'ers too.
Yes, Edna is a cc'er. 
This is a great video as well. She also has many more great tutorials on youtube.
Lovely.
Thank you all so much for your help.
Also one other quick question. When stacking a cake with 3 tiers and they say to put one large rod through all 3 cakes I was just wondering how that rod goes pentrating the cardboard that is under each cake as the cardboard I use I can't see that being able to be pierced by a sharpened rod.
I just used a sharpened rod to go through my tiers for the frist time...and it went very easy...easier than i expected!i just inserted centered, slowly, turning, all the way down to my cake board. To remove and cut, i just twisted back out, then reinserted into premade hole. i gave an extra push to go into my coreboard a little to really help sabilize for transport.
My issuse is with woodem dowels shifting during or after adding tier! it happened and there's a slight slant on one corner of my cake! I think i notice more than others, but still...grrrrr. Think i'll use plastic more often.
Pankake, are you using the mdf covered boards like these? http://www.cakedecoratingcentral.com.au./index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=21&Itemid=4
If so they are too thick to push the centre dowel through - you need to drill them in advance and screw the dowel to your base board, that way you thread the cakes onto the sharpened dowel rather than push it down when the cakes are stacked.
Not sure about the cardboard boards we get here (which are not the same as the corrugated cardboard ones) as I don't use them for stacked cakes, but I would try before you have the cake all assembled!
The boards I use are these
http://www.cakedecoratingcentral.com.au./index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=25&Itemid=4
They are about 3-4mm thick I think
I use the mdf covered boards - usually for mud cake too. As I mentioned before I drill a hole in the boards first then thread the cakes on after - I use dowels for the support (4 in each tier), nothing will shift them once you have done that! Sorry I can't help with the type of boards you have - just don't know if a dowel would be strong enough to go through, maybe the cake would offer enough resistance?
Those boards seem to be a bit expensive for me, nice though. I use plain wilton 5-10 pk cake boards. Sell for about $4. I've been told you can double if need to. I do not cover, don't see a need. Never have had a prob with board getting soft or anything. They are made for cakes. I covered my latest cake with ganashe instead of BC, so I did one board in ganashe as well. Both boards when the cake was cut was fine. Dowel went thru nice, came out nice, and traveled like a dream!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%