Is it possible to make a three tier cake (10in, 8in, and 6in) with the bottom tier being a styrofoam dummy? The cake will be decorated in fondant which will make the cake heavy, so I'm not sure if the styrofoam can support the two other tiers? I was planning on doweling the middle tier to support the top tier.

Hi! I've made a cake with the exact same dimensions as yours, with the bottom tier being a dummy, and it was absolutely fine, no problems at all!

Just make sure to secure the middle tier to the bottom very well. Since you can't run a centre dowel through all 3 tiers, you need to glue the middle to the bottom. I used white glue and a whole lot of duct tape if I remember correctly.

And as you said, dowels in the middle tier to support the top are a must.

Good luck!

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by glue?

Glue as in regular glue that you use for arts and crafts.

See, your middle tier is going to have a cake board or circle of some sort underneath it right? And that is going to be in contact with the dummy tier when you stack the cake. I use glue and double sided duct tape to stick them together. No one is going to eat the dummy, and the cake circle will separate the glue from the actual cake, so it's food safe. You can also use just duct tape.

Usually for 3 or more tiered cakes, I use a long dowel that passes through all 3 tiers to hold them in place. But it's pretty much impossible to dowel Styrofoam, so I use glue between the bottom and middle tiers, amd then treat the top 2 tiers like I would a 2 tier cake.

Hope I make sense! It's late here so I may be rambling lol.

Oh and just in case, most glues melt Styrofoam. Only white glue like Elmer's or that special Styrofoam glue will work.

Actually I have used just a big dollop of b'cream icing to 'glue' my tiers to a dummy.  Worked just fine for me.  It works best if you can have the cake completely finished at least the night before delivery.  The dollop and the borders on the real cake set up holding the tiers together.  I have also found you really don't need to dowel for a 6" top tier unless there is a really heavy top ornament on it.  There is hardly any weight in a 6" tier.  Don't get me wrong, if it makes you feel better go ahead and use 3 plastic drink straws (in a triangle shape)  as the dowels and you will be just fine.

BTW:  To prove how sturdy styro dummies are, stand on it :)  The are *VERY!* sturdy and can hold more weight then you.