Hey friends
im making my first tiered cake next week and am kind of nervous about it. It’s not terribly big- bottom tier is 3 layer 8” round and top tier is a 3ayer 6” round. It’s going to be all buttercream with a fondant elephant topper and a few fondant stripes and polka dots.
Ive bought my bubble tea straws, my cake drum and some dowels.
the cake will be picked up on Saturday morning, so how far in advance should I put it all together? Should I wait until right before pickup to stack it? Stack it the night before?
my cake drum is 10”. Should I use a 12” one instead?
i really don’t want to mess it up. Any tips and help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
You may get varying opinions, but I will tell you what works for me. If it's a tiered cake, and the bottom cake is 8", I use a 12" drum. It gives room for hands to grab it and hold the weight of it. I personally learned to do all of my cakes the night before. That way, if something goes wrong, or I underestimate how long it will take me to get something done I still have time to fix it, even if it means I stay up until 3:00 AM. If I do it the day of, I only have the time until pickup, and that is a panic that I don't like to experience, that I learned early on when I started. I use wooden dowels, but I know others use whatever. I put the dowels in the bottom and always have one running through the middle so the top cake doesn't slide off in transit. I always tell them to put it on the floor of their car as well. Not a lap, not a seat. This is my way, I've never ever had problems with it, others may do things differently.
Thanks inthekitchen
now that I see a 10” drum with a 8” board on top it does seem kind of flimsy.
I plan on making the cakes the night before but do you stack them the night before too? I’m worried about stacking the night before and having a disaster the morning of!
Agree with everything above.
For me (when I have a good week with not a lot of time crunches). Sometimes you have to consolidate your timeline :)
Beginning of the week is fondant/gumpaste/RKT decoration time and then I store it so it stays fresh.
Thursday is buttercream/ganache/fillings day.
Friday morning is cake baking
Friday afternoon is crumb coat/frost/dowel/stack
Friday night is decorate
Saturday morning is reserved for touch-ups and freaking out until delivery time :)
HajraK, you can make your cakes two days ahead, let them cool and wrap them well in plastic wrap and refrigerate. That we, the day before pick up, they will be nice and chilled, making them much easier with which to work. I agree that you need to use a larger cake board, at least 12" and, personally, I would go even larger, just for stability. I also agree that you should stack and finish the cake the day before (but don't add the fondant topper until the next morning), preferably already boxed. That way, you have time for any corrections and the cake will be nice and cold, which makes it transport much easier.
Whoops...Sandra is right. I should have added that I don’t put any toppers or fragile things on until the morning of...and that if it’s a stacked cake I refrigerate it before delivery.
You were given good advice DO NOT wait to stack just before p/up With proper doweling stacking it the night before should not be a problem —it will hold up overnight & even thru the day if there is a problem you want time to be able to fix it I’ve used straws and dowels but prefer straws Some use both by slipping a dowel into the straws A center dowel that goes all the way into the base board should help in delivery Make it long enough so it sticks up on top a couple of inches so it can be pulled out That’s done by twisting it as it is pulled up I preferred to deliver tiered cakes The couple times I let them p/up the cake didn’t make it:(
also caution them not to stop & do errands on the way home leaving the cake in the car because it will melt even in cool weather — I tell them to drive like there’s a raw egg rolling around on the dash board — watch the g-forces turning corners — delivering tier cake is not for the timid —
i put my cakes on car seats that I level out — even in a customer’s car with something like a roll of paper towels, a folded up jacket, an empty coke can —anything like that can level out a car seat for delivery —
cold cake delivers better/better/safer/easier than room temperature — most especially in the hands of a customer —
insert the first dowel, mark it to the top of the cake, remove it, cut all the dowel/straws to that same mark — then insert them all — in an 8” cake if you insert three or four dowel and one fails you’re toast — if you insert five and one fails, you’re ok —
do Not insert and cut each straw to the top of the cake —
best to you
I mentioned in another thread about how we forget to mention many things in replies & K8 has brought up some Yes insert one & cut all the others to that measure Be very carefull when inserting so it is perfectly straight Many times they can go in slightly tilted:( & do not put one in the center— except for the one that goes all the way to the bottom board I never knew to chill cake so all of my deliveries were w/ room temp cakes Just remember what works for one might not work for others When there is time test things for yourself
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