Hey y'all. I am truly a newbie here. I am baking a two tier cake for my daughters birthday Saturday. I was wondering, what do I use to stabilize the 6 and 8 inch cakes? Also, is there supposed to be a divider or something between the two cakes?
Treat the two tiers like separate cakes. You will need cake boards for each cake. (The cake board of the upper tier is what separates it from the lower tier. Then you need to provide a support for that cake board from the upper tier to rest on so it doesn't squish the bottom cake.
You want to make sure you are level with each cake individually. Any slants will be really obvious when stacked. Personally for a two tiered cake I would use straws as my internal supports for the bottom tier. I use milkshake straws or the thick ones I get from the convenient store (they have the best straws!) I pop one in the bottom cake and cut off where the cake meets the icing. I then cut all my remaining straws to the length of my first one so that they are level with each other, not the cake per se.
The best way to show you this would be for you to go to someplace like YouTube and type in stacking a cake, leveling a cake...etc. there are TONS of tutorials that show you what to do.
I would at least double the cake board that the bottom cake sits on because it supports both cakes. You can glue gun or tape two together. I tend to use a cake drum as the base. If each cake is only one layer you don't need this extra support but if each is two layers or more with filling, I would rather err on the side of caution and go with doubled boards, a drum or heavier plate or base.
If transporting anywhere, I use a centre dowel through both or transport separately.
*makes mental note to do what squirrellycakes says*
I never even considered doubling my bottom cake board.....whoops! I have always done 3 tier by 4 layer each on just a standard cake boards and thus far have never had an accident....which probably means I am due an accident and will proceed with that in mind. No one wants to eat smashed cake on the floor.
You learn something new everyday here! ThanksSquirrellycakes! :)
mccantsbakes, I am a bit of a worry wart about these things. I was at a party where the 2 tier cake was placed on a single cake board much larger than the actual cake. It wasn't my cake. The hostess carried it with both hands just by the cake board, not supporting the cake underneath. The cardboard bent and the cakes slipped a bit and got messed up.
I much prefer the cake drums but they aren't cheap.
I always say it's better to worry too much than not enough.
I am definitely going to start doubling my bottom boards....STAT
This may help. For 2 small tiers, straws are fine rather than wood dowels, and much easier to cut.
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/tiered-cakes/stacked-tiered-cake-construction.cfm
mzdandylion~~I am sending you an Private Message with my regular email. Just the other day I did a PDF of how to make your first tiered cake for a newbie decorator on another forum. I'd be happy to share.
OP and mccantbakes ~~ This is a current thread talking about cake boards that is very good:
http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/823423/cake-boards-weapon-of-choice#post_7629338
APTI, thank you lovely! I will definitely check it out!
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