Hi There Guys

I need advice pleasssse.

Ok so im actually doing a tall beach bucket cake but im wondering about the support structure… The cake is going to be 24cm total (10 inches maybe a little more) in height… I was thinking of adding a board in the middle of the cake (each section being 12cm (5inches) in height -3 layers of cake?) and then adding dowels in the bottom section as support ? Do i need to add a centre dowel down through the top and bottom tier? Im just wondering about how the hek do i carve it? Do i do it before or after stacking it? Any advise?? The largest cake size (top) is 11inches and the smallest cake size is 9inches…. is that enough of a taper to get the beach bucket effect?

I would say yes that's a good enough taper. :-) As for the supports, I hardly ever go higher than 4-5" without adding a board and supports. Better safe than sorry. :-) So maybe the cake will actually be in three sections and then a center dowel going all through. Carve after stacking and for me it's easier to carve if the cake is chilled for an hour or two. :-) 

When you're stacking the cakes, place the bottom cake on the small board that is the size of the carved base of the bucket cake. On the very top of the cake place a board the diameter of the top of the bucket. Then flip the cake upside down and carve from the narrower base (currently the top) down to the wider base board (which will be the top of the cake when you flip it back.

I also ganache the cake upside down and then return it to the correct way up to add the fondant.