Thinking About Making My First Stacked Cake...have Questions

Decorating By SJEmom Updated 17 Aug 2010 , 7:53pm by KJ62798

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SJEmom Posted 16 Aug 2010 , 6:24pm
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I am thinking about trying to make a stacked cake for an end of summer party at my house. Was thinking of making 2 or 3 layers. Bottom layer would be ocean theme, middle layer would be sand theme, top layer (or just top of the sand layer) would be grass/flowers/trees. I will likely need the cake to feed around 75 people (give or take 25ish).

I have two 9" round pans, a 6" round pan, and just bought a 12" round pan. I figure I will need to bake the 12" and 6" in two batches. I also bought wooden cake dowels.

From what I have learned on line, it appears as if I frost the cakes and then put in the dowel supports for each layer. Do I just do a crumb coat frosting (usually just white bc) or do I do a full frosting with a colored bc? Do I then wait for the whole thing to crust before attempting to pick it up? How exactly to I do that without smudging up the frosting? Does it make any difference if I put he dowels in the cake before it is frosted on the outside so that I don't have to go back to cover the holes? And, for the cake boards that are cut to exactly fit he cake, do I cover those with plastic wrap or waxed paper or does the cake go directly on the board since no one will see it?

I am thinking of using DH cake mix with extra egg and pudding to make the cake more dense...I assume this is a good thing when stacking a cake.

Lastly, and perhaps the most silly question...how do you slice and serve a stacked cake since there are boards in the middle?

I am somewhat of a novice...will this be easy enough to handle or should I stick to making a sheet cake which I made last year for this event? thanks!

4 replies
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VNatividad Posted 16 Aug 2010 , 7:35pm
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The attached cc thread are tutorial links that cc member Rylan created, AWESOME! I'm a visual learner so Youtube memebers have really taught me alot. I recommend you watch and or read through some of tutuorials on stacking a cake. Go for it and challenge yourself with the stacked cake. Good luck.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-654103-.html

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cutthecake Posted 16 Aug 2010 , 7:57pm
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Good luck on your first stacked cake.
I think there are some things you need to clarify. Layers and tiers are not the same thing. A layer is a slab of cake, separated from other layers by icing. Tiers are two or more layers of cake, stacked on top of each other, separated from other tiers by cake boards, and supported by some method.
So, your first tier could be two or more 12" layers, your second tier could be two or more 9" layers, and your top tier could be two or more 6" layers.

SPS is a very relliable method for supporting tiers. "leah_s" is the resident expert on SPS, and if you do a search, you will learn all you need to know.
To serve and slice a stacked cake without a collapse or smooshing, you should remove the top tier, then the middle tier, and slice after cake is disassembled.

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SJEmom Posted 17 Aug 2010 , 7:45pm
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Quote:
Quote:

Do I just do a crumb coat frosting (usually just white bc or do I do a full frosting with a colored bc Do I then wait for the whole thing to crust before attempting to pick it up? How exactly to I do that without smudging up the frosting? Does it make any difference if I put he dowels in the cake before it is frosted on the outside so that I don't have to go back to cover the holes?




Thank you for posting the tutorials information! I had already seen those which had led me to my questions above. The notion of handling a 2 layer frosted cake and putting on top of another 2 layer frosted cake seems a little daunting and I am not sure the logistics of it (see the questions above). The cakes in the youtube tutorials are all white wedding cakes, I didn't know how I would do it differently if my bottom tier is blue, my middle tier is beige, and my top tier is green.

Thanks again for the help! I love learning from the experienced bakers on this site!

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KJ62798 Posted 17 Aug 2010 , 7:53pm
post #5 of 5

Each of the tiers is frosted separately. It doesn't matter if each one is white or each a different color. They are prepped to a smooth finish and then assembled.

It can be a little tricky to stack them & you are bound to get a few fingerprints on the cake. Those can be smoothed out once the cake is assembled. Once it is assembled, then you add your decorative elements and borders.

It is really just a matter of practice.

Kristy

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