Hello everyone,

I am new to cake central and cake decorating in general. Halloween will be here before you know it and I was asked to make a mad hatter's hat cake. I was looking at various pics from the 2010 Alice in Wonderland cake competition and I gathered some great ideas. However, I am still very nervous as to how to construct this cake.

I want the cake to go from a smaller size cake to a larger size cake, so I was wondering what cake pan sizes will I need? Also, I have never stacked a cake, so I wanted to know is it necessary to use dowels to support the cake? Also, I plan on making the brim of the hat out of fondant and just rolling up the ends, but I'm wondering will the brim be adhered to the actual cake by simply using royal icing?

Any help and ideas on how to make this cake will be greatly appreciated. I look forward to reading suggestions.

~Thanks~