I have never made a 3 tiered cake before and I have one coming up in a couple months. The base of the cake will be 10 inches so I was planning on using a 14 inch cake board. I usually use the cardboard cake boards with 2 glued together for most cakes. Will this be sturdy enough for a 3 tiered cake? Should I use something other than cardboard. I was planning on wrapping the base of the board in ribbon and it looks like the ribbon is 1/8 inch thick.

I would definitely use something stronger than cardboard. With that much weight, the cardboard would not work unless you put a ton of them together. There are several options that you can use for this type of cake. Such as plywood or other types of wood cut down to the size that you need. And they are thick enough to hold your ribbon. Also, Masonite boards are good but thin.
Good Luck and happy baking.

I'm afraid if you just use 2 cardboard cake boards for the base you might end up posting in the "Cake Disasters" forum. I'm not sure the size of cake you plan on making, but a three tier can be pretty heavy. JMHO

Yep, I'd use 9mm thick MDF (medium-density fibreboard) cut to size - very strong, relatively light and definately won't buckle whereas the cardboard might.

Can I also suggest you attach cleats to the base of your board so that it is easy to pick up once it's fully assembled.

HTH!

Cheers!

Thank you! I was looking at a masonite board online that I was thinking about buying. Would 1/8 inch thick plywood hold up also? My father is an amazing carpenter and I could get him to cut it for me. He has tons of plywood laying around.

Here is a picture of the cake. The board on it looks pretty thin. I knew it wasn't cardboard as soon as I looked at it. I can't even get a normal cake to sit on one cardboard sheet without it buckling.

http://tinypic.com/r/34eqe1f/7

Sorry everyone I am probably driving you all crazy with this cake. I feel like I have a million questions

Lovely cake, I love using glass...but my husband is a glass man

I use cake drums for my heavy or tiered cakes. They are 1/2" thick. I've done up to a 4 tiered cake using that and had no bending problem. They are sold at my local party store or at brpboxshop.com

You need to get a real drum. And those Wilton ones are crappy. So bendy and flexy, not reliable. I HAD to use one the other day for a really light cake even. I hated it.

Is there an online store that anyone prefers for the cake drums?

brpboxshop.com & cakedeco.com are my 2 favs. Globar Sugar Art's "drums" are only 1/4 thick, so I would not consider them "drums" but I've never ordered them from there. Brpboxshop has high minimums and cakedco.com does not.

I've used the ones from Global Sugar Art. They are just slightly under 1/2 inch. I've used them on 3 tier cakes, the largest was 14- 10-6 inch rounds. They've always worked great for me with no problems. I've never done larger than a 3 tier though.

Oh, what I call 'cleats' are just small squares (about 1" & about 1/4" thick) of MDF that I stick about 3-4 under the board so that it is raised up off the table enough to pick up the assembled cake. You could probably use off cuts of the masonite or plywood. There's nothing worse than trying to slide a heavy 3 tier cake off a table and trying to get a solid grip on it & enough balance to lift and carry it. Sorry about the confusion.

HTH!

Cheers!

I use foam board from he craft store. Sturdy and can be covered. Also not expensive so you can cut to size and not worry about having to get it back. I also saw it at the dollar tree.