Supporting Your Cake From the Bottom Up

Happy snowy Tuesday everyone! Yesterday's post is coming today as I've recently finished a baby shower cake. The latest of the Lizzy Bee's creations was a two layer rich white cake filled with milk chocolate fudge frosting, hugged in Madagascar vanilla buttercream, and enrobed in buttercream-flavored fondant dyed the mom-to-be's colors of choice! Since this mommy is having both a boy and a girl, she celebrated with pink and blue accents and little teddy bear decorations. Here's the finished product:

People often wonder about layering a cake without it sinking. Though I always always use a lot of support, I am always nervous while taking a cake to a location - and the fear was doubled when this cake was picked up a day early! In order to secure any kind of stacked cake, you will want to use dowels of some kind. Often this can just be popsicle sticks, cut down to the proper size. Make sure you measure - if you don't, your top cake will sit too high and you will see between the two layers, making it look unfinished! I used a lot of popsicle sticks for this cake. Take a look: 

Look in the middle of my layer - do you see the sticks? I stuck them in the cake so they would be hidden from view, but would fit perfectly under the top layer! You can eyeball this measurement, but if you're not sure, just measure your location on the bottom cake to make sure it fits within the top cake's diameter. This particular cake was interesting because it had two very heavy bears (made of rice krispies) sitting on top in front of the layer! Though my cakes are very dense, they are still just cake, and sinking can occur. I used thick plastic dowels under the bears to ensure their safety overnight. These are also great under the top cake layer as well, or you can use wooden dowels if that's more preferable. Consider your own home kitchen - what would be easiest to cut to the proper size? Wooden dowels would probably require a tool kit, while plastic ones can be cut with an x-acto knife and work just as well! It's your hard work and your choice, so do what works best for you! In the end you'll have a beautiful cake at which everyone will marvel at your culinary expertise! 

Happy baking!