hi all,
i would be baking a small 4 tier cake for my son's bday (pokemon theme). will be a 24cm, 20cm,16cm and a 12cm. Height of each tier would be about 2 - 2 and 1/2inches. this is the first time i would be making a tiered cake..! i don't have "dowels" But I have cookie sticks..hope it works!!
My questions are two...
1) what are the things which i can use as tier base ( the board which goes under each cake ). It's pretty difficult to find these baking things here in the place i live in Italy :(
2) Do i have to insert a full long dowel in the center which goes through all the cakes, till the bottom ?
i will be taking it to another place ! yikes!
all your advices are appreciated....thanks a ton
ps: i will be using only buttercream to cover the cakes and sandwich in between. and fondant figures which i planned to apply when we get to the place :)
Quote:
hi all,
i would be baking a small 4 tier cake for my son's bday (pokemon theme). will be a 24cm, 20cm,16cm and a 12cm. Height of each tier would be about 2 - 2 and 1/2inches. this is the first time i would be making a tiered cake..! i don't have "dowels" But I have cookie sticks..hope it works!!
My questions are two...
1) what are the things which i can use as tier base ( the board which goes under each cake ). It's pretty difficult to find these baking things here in the place i live in Italy :(
2) Do i have to insert a full long dowel in the center which goes through all the cakes, till the bottom ?
i will be taking it to another place ! yikes!
all your advices are appreciated....thanks a ton
ps: i will be using only buttercream to cover the cakes and sandwich in between. and fondant figures which i planned to apply when we get to the place :)
The cake you have planned will be about 8-10" tall, is that correct? Each "tier" [but really a layer because it's only one cake] will be 2-2.5" tall? Tapering from 10" across at the bottom and 4" at the top?
If I have this info correct, then these are my suggestions:
You don't have to place each of the 4 cakes on it's own board [but of course, you can] because you really only need 1 board for every 4 inches, or so, of vertical height. For those boards, if you can't find cake cardboards [I think some European grocery stores carry them], then you need to cut your own from a box and place a circle of wax paper under it and on top of it.
You would only need to put one set of dowels between the bottom 2 & top 2 cakes. I strongly suggest using drinking straws NOT lollipop stick [which soak up moisture, bend, & disintegrate].
It's not a very big/tall cake, so no, you don't really need a full length dowel, but you can do it if it makes you feel better.
hi maybenot!
Thank you so much for replying....i was so waiting for someone's advice :)
Yes, you have got all the measurements correct!!! I had cut boards from a box and holes in the middle so that i could
insert the middle dowel( i have one in wood) I dont know why but there is a path in which the road is not so good and am doing the middle dowel for safey reason :)
when you say drinking straws..did you mean something like these??
I do have them :)
i thank you again for your time and advice..!!!!!!
Yes, any diameter drinking straw will work for this type of cake. For a larger, taller cake, it's nice to have the larger diameter straws.
Obviously, if you happen to have the straws with the accordion tops, you'll cut that off to get your approximately 4-5 inch long supports.
For the cake sizes you describe, you'll need 4 or 5 straws as supports. Insert one into the high point in the tier and cut it so that it's just 1 or 2 mm above the finished icing. Cut the other supports to the length of that straw and insert them in an even distribution within the boundaries of what will be the diameter of the tier above.
Put some fresh buttercream on top of the straws and a circle of wax paper where the cardboard of the above tier will sit. Put a bit more buttercream on the wax paper and sit the tier on it.
Make sure that when traveling with the cake it is sitting perfectly level on a car floor--not a lap, not a trunk/boot, not a seat. I put the boxed cake on a layer of foam to help absorb the vibrations of the road.
Best of luck!
Thanks a ton for all the advices you have stated!! I really appreciate it ! Read all your tips twice!
I will do exactly how you have said and will post a picture! Thanks again ....! BIG HUG :)
As promised, here is a picture. Thank you so much. The was paper worked awesome. I didn't use a full length dowel, was all the way freaked out thinking about the cake!!!! Once we were there i added the small details, and my son was so thrilled!!!!
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