I am making a christening cake for this coming Sunday for my (to be) God daughter. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to try stacking a tiered cake. The bottom layer will be Chocolate 10" round, and the top layer Rich fruit 6" Hexagonal...both layers gluten free...so this has entailed already 2 or 3 practice cakes to get the recipe right!!!
I know that I have to use dowel rods, and I have them ready. I am planning on covering them with marzipan, and then ready made roll out (fondant). So I still have to make the chocolate layer and shall ice them this week.
My question is do I place the dowels in before I travel down to Kent (about a 2hour car journey), or place and measure the dowels just before stacking,....and adding the pretty pink ribbon to hide the join?
A really basic question, but I'm still very new to the decorating side of cakes
Dowels are a "must" before stacking:
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/tiered-cakes/stacked-tiered-cake-construction.cfm
As I understand it, you're travelling with the cake unstacked either way? In that case, you can put the dowels in whenever suits you best: either at home before you leave, or hwne you get there. I would think at home would be easier.
Thank you ladies(?). As you can see I'm spending too much time thinking it through,,, Today I will put marzipan on the fruit layer
A suggestion? Put the heavier (fruit) cake below? Just to err on the side of caution....
Hello, I always dowel and stack cakes the day before they are to be transported - it is so much easier to do all the work in my own kitchen with all my tools and equipment to hand. I often put fruit cakes as a top tier also, as the dowels provide the support and structure it doesn't really matter what cake goes where. As you have the cakes baked it wouldn't be practical to consider changing them round now.
If you're going to stack the cakes when you get there I would put the dowels in at home - it really doesn't make any difference when they go in - some people put them immediately after covering the cake so that the icing doesn't crack - I personally prefer to leave it a couple of hours so that the icing firms up a bit and isn't so easily marked. It would just be one less thing to do when you get there...
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