Hi All,

I've read up on a few cake decorators and how they approach tall cakes. Some use a cake board after 2 layers for support. Others I've seen do 3 layers with 2 layers of filling with no additional support. And  few I've seen 4 layers with 3 layers of filling with a centre dowel in their 4 layers for additional support. .....Some have made their tall cakes into double barrelled cakes with a board inebtween layers for extra support.

I am planning to make a 6" round tall cake with 4 layers of cake and 3 layers of filling. Overall height about 6"-7" tall. I was planning to place a centre dowel through the centre of the cake. Is there anything else I should be mindful of in making this cake sturdy.

For those of you who have done 4 layers of cake with 3 layers of filling to make an overall height of 6"-7" tall, do you have any tips? 

TIA!!!!

I have never made any like that but my suggestion is to be sure it is very cold when it is delivered & use a bigger base board —  like at least a 10” better yet 12”  

I made a double barrel 6" round cake that was probably close to 10" tall.  Each cake that made the double barrel had 4 layers of cake (1" thick) and 3 layers of filling.  I added a cake board between the two cakes along with dowels in the bottom cake to support the weight of the top cake.  I also inserted a dowel through the cake and into the base board.  I believe the base board was 10".  And I second kakeladi's suggestion of refrigerating the cake before delivery and pick-up since a cold cake travels better than a room temp cake.

Your description is exactly what I envisioned /tried to say  to make the cake more stable for transport 

Deciding on the size you want the serving pieces to be will also determine whether or not you use cake boards. The boards aren't just for support. They're splitting the cake up into tiers.

So do you want a single serving to be 7" tall? Or do you want them to be closer to 3"? 

Thank you! This helps a lot! I agree with the cake being cold before transport, the only thing I'm concerned about in this case is that the cake will be covered in fondant, as well have upright fondant toppers skewed into the cake (all the way to the cake base.) There will likely be white chocolate on top of the cake to create the look of "snow" and also to secure the toppers in place in the cake. So.. is it OK to refrigerate the fondant cake / fondant toppers (since they're attached to the cake) before transport? I've read all about the issues of refrigerating fondant cakes, but I have done so before with minimal issues. I just keep it open in the fridge. Should I do the same in this case?

So I haven't quite determined that re: servings size. The cake needs to feed 10 people which according to Wilton's chart a 6" round ( 4" -5" tall should). so I definitely have that minimum. But yes, it's the height I'm trying to figure out.

How do you price for you cake then if the slice is taller? So if 1 slice is now 7" vs. 4" tall I know the cake still serves the same amount of ppl, but that serving is taller now and it's more cake.

Shouldn't the price be more for a tall cake vs. a standard cake height cake?

As far as price, has the client requested a tall cake?  If not, why are you making a tall cake?  If the client has, then I do think the price needs to be close to double since they are basically getting twice the amount of cake even though they are getting say 12 servings.  But really this needs to be a discussion with the client.  Explain to them that a tall, 6" round cake will not get them more servings, but just very tall slices and because of that the price will increase to cover the extra ingredient expenses.  If they do not want tall slices then you need to keep it to one regular 6" round cake, because if I were a client and some took liberties to design a tall cake for aesthetic purposes and then said "oh that will be $X more" I wouldn't be too happy.

And yes, it is okay to refrigerate fondant/fondant toppers.  I do it all the time.  Sometimes in boxes and sometimes without.  No issues.

Yes---the client specifically requested a tall cake. They showed me a pic and asked if I could make the cake slightly taller than what was shown in the pic.  I told her I can do an additional layer---so 4 layers with 3 layers of filling to add extra height to the cake and they were fine with that.

I did account for the fact that there is more cake going into a tall cake and charged more to cover additional costs. They agreed to the price no problem.

There wasn't a discussion about tall slices vs. short slices---just that it is a  tall cake and that it feeds 10 people which it will. I was just debating now on whether to do an extended layer cake or double barrelled cake (with a cake board inbetween and feed more people)---either way it's the same amount of cake I'm using..... I suppose I could ask (the client is extremely nice) but I'm thinking if there is the request for a tall cake I will just go with the taller slices. But I see now in future this is something to clarify when a request is made for a tall cake.

I do like your explanation about why tall cakes costs more vs. regular cakes and I will use that next time this discussion comes up. This is my first time working with a client who specifically requested a tall cake so it's a learning experience for me too. Thanks for your input.

Oh another thing  —  a6”x4” tall cake will look tall  especially compared to a 8” or 10 x 4”   You might not even need the extra layers 

Most if not all dessert plates are only 6” wide/round with the “food area” only 4&1/4” so tall slices won’t serve nicely  and will  slop over :(  

Hmm interesting I didn't even think about that. re: dessert plates! 

Y

That's quite true. I sometimes also do slightly thinner cake layers as like more icing than cake but we'll see. I think once I actually start putting this cake together, I'll have a better idea of how to do it. Sometimes I overthink things way too much and do sooo much research that I confuse myself unnecessarily. Just need to start doing now and less thinking so much lol Thanks a lot for you input in this post as well as my snoopy post :)

My cakes are usually 5" tall because I use 4, 1" layers of cake and 3 layers of filling.  Five inches might not seem tall but once everything is stacked it actually does have a significant impact.  I think if you wanted to add one more layer to just give it an extra boost so that the customer can definitely tell it is tall then I would.  I don't think you need to make it into a true double barrel cake to meet the "tall" requirement.

As for the cake slices not fitting on dessert plates, well the customer asked for a tall cake so that is their issue to worry about, not yours.  Of course it is something you can mention but if I was serving a tall cake with tall slices I would just grab dinner plates to use instead LOL!

Haha...bigger plates = more cake! Wish me luck! This is my most challenging cake thus far! :0 Thanks for your input!

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