Hi,

I'm sorry for such a long question (and a very seemingly obvious one!) but I hope someone can help me...

I am doing a wedding cake of 3 tiers of 10", 8" and 6". The 10" & 6" cakes will be dummies that I will ice with sugarpaste and the 8" cake will be fruitcake with marzipan & sugarpaste. The sizes of each tier have been agreed with the bride and groom but my thoughts are that the 8" cake once fully covered will be closer to 9" and the other tiers will have only increased by 0.5" and will have an uneven appearance when stacked.

I don't really want to waste ingredients and money by double icing the dummies, although is this the usual practice?

My question really is what are the industry standards for wedding cake measurements? Are they measured from the size of the tin it is baked in, the board it stands on or the diameter it ends up with after it has all its coverings on? i.e. will my couple have cause for compliant if I bake a 7" cake that ends up 8" with icing?

Also, I have read that some wedding cake makers make a cake larger than is required and cut them down to get rid of the hard crusts, and others don't? Is this just good practice for the professional cake maker or something that the more expensive and luxurious do as they have higher profit margins?

Many thanks

Lyndsay

I'm sure it will be fine with the 8" inch round. I doubt you'll add 1" in frosting and fondant making it more like a 9". When I make a 8" round and put it on an 8" round board, frost and add fondant, it fits, and never overlaps the board.

You should be fine. Most cakes shrink a bit when they cool, so you'll likely end up with a balanced look.

Thank you for your confirmation! I'm sure it will be fine, just never incorporated dummies into a stacked tier before so had a little wobbly moment!

Many thanks

Lyndsay