AHi!! I'm VERY new at this and I have a few questions: 1. After I bake my 8" do I leave them out and layered them first or do I put them in the fridge and THEN layered them?

2. If I'm putting filling in between the layers do I use cardboard in between?? I am using dowels

3. To carve them, they have to be cold? Or frozen?

4. How far in advance I can do this cake and where do I store it?

Sorry for the dumb questions!!!

AI always bake my cakes, put them on a cardboard round (you can first cover these in Saran wrap so you can reuse-I end up transferring them to foam core anyway) wrap the cakes in Saran wrap, then foil and stick them in the fridge/freezer. I like to carve/level/torte my cakes when they are cold, makes them much easier to handle!

I always have some sort of filling between my layers: buttercream, lemon curd, mousse, etc. if its something that's not stiff you should make a dam with buttercream around the layer then spread your filling no higher then the dam (I've heard some people don't do this but this is the way I was taught-it depends on your filling) so if your using something like lemon curd it won't bulge out on the sides when it settles. You don't need cardboard between your filling, but you do need some sort of support under you cakes (ie: sps, cake rounds, foam core) as well as internal supports (ie: tea straws, dowels) if your stacking a tiered cake.

For you Dr Seuss hat I imagine you are doing a tall (extended tier or double barrel) type cake. So you will need internal supports as well as support boards. So you need a serving board that's heavy enough to hold the weight of your finished cake, buttercream acts as a 'glue' (or royal icing, chocolate, etc.), cardboard round, cake layer, filling, cake layer (most layers are 2" or less, so now your cake should be approx 4-5" high) time for those internal supports, another cake board.....

I hope that makes sense. You can bake one day freeze/fridge your cakes. Torte, stack, BC your cake the next (cover and put back in the fridge) so its cold enough to carve and has time to settle. Carve and decorate.

If you do freeze your cakes (say your cakes do Saturday but you want to start on Monday) then pull from the freezer and let them set for a bit to dethaw before you unwrap them-this way the condensation will build up around the foil and not on your cake. But you don't want it to thaw completely at least I don't b/c like I said its much easier to torte when partially cold/frozen.

AYou didn't mention this in your questions but I wanted to mention it-you must remember your building a tall, tapered, top heavy cake (again I'm assuming here-just want to make sure yo have as much info as possible) so you need to plan accordingly with your support system.

I blogged the making of my Dr. Seuss ( lopsided) hat cake if you would like to check it out.

Mine was about 12 inches tall.

http://peace-love-cakes.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-hat-without-cat.html

Hope this helps!

I also used cardboard between each 2 layers and I carve the cake when it's cold. 

AThank you guys!!!

Melanie actually your cake is my inspiration!!! I just had these questions about your instructions. What dowel did you use and how many? How many days took you to make this cake? After you carved it did you put it back in the fridge or did you finished your product?

After you finished did it stay outside or back in the fridge???

Sorry for all the questions! This for my son's first birthday and I have decided to do everything myself!

 I'm glad my cake is your inspiration. 

I use the Poly - Dowles from Global Sugar Art, Wilton makes similar. They are the hollow plastic dowels.

I cut them in even lengths and used 4 to support my tiers.

My only regret was not using a center dowel. Next time I would run a sharpened wooden dowel down the center through all the layers.

After I carved it I did chill it again, I find it easier to ice the " raw" carved cake when it's chilled ( fewer crumbs ) 

I use an icing that does not have any dairy in it so I can leave my fondant iced cakes out of the fridge, which I did with this one. 

One it was done I put it in a box and stored it on the counter overnight.

I baked on a Thursday, leveled and filled it that evening. Let it settle overnight, chilled it Friday morning, carved it, re chilled and iced it in buttercream Friday evening. I did the fondant right after I did the buttercream icing. 

Total of 2 days including baking.

You can do it. This was the most intimidating cake I have done and it wasn't bad at all.