Tales of a Tiered Cake #10

I’m not quite ready to post the final picture and the final recipes, but for those who have been waiting, I wanted to post some pertinent information.
If you’ve been following the series you’ll remember that I made the support straws in the 12-inch layer a little bit taller than level with the top of the cake.


(the straws had to be cut shorter than shown above) . The purpose was so that the top tier wouldn’t be sitting right down on the frosting where it might come off when the tier was removed. The downside was that the cake would have to be moved after the tier was put in place and there was a possibility that it would shift while being moved. Luckily, it didn’t have to go in a car – just into the refrigerator, and the good news is that it didn’t shift.
There was quite a gap between the cake and the next tier – more than I thought there would be. I used a round piping tube to fill in this gap

and then I used a fluted tip to pipe a decorative border around the cake.

I had spent the morning making buttercream and here it was lunch time, so I had no alternative but to continue with my cake tiering with the whole family gathering to eat lunch – with me as entertainment! Can you see me sweating?
For the next tier level, I had decided to go ahead and cut the straws so that they were just level with the top of the cake, and to put a piece of parchment down onto the frosting and then set the next level directly onto the parchment. This was an idea that had been recommended to me by several decorators, but I didn’t necessarily trust the advice, because they had indicated that they didn’t really care if the icing stuck to the parchment. Well, I would be mortified to send out a piece of cake with no icing, and had planned to have extra icing ready in case the parchment failed ( I didn’t actually do that – it would have been impossible with an open kitchen and the caterers busy doing their thing in my kitchen).

Here’s the good news for those who have been waiting – the parchment worked like a dream. NO ICING STUCK TO THE PARCHMENT!!!So, I’d have to conclude that it’s better to make the straws even with the cake. If the cake is level, the next tier will also sit level because you won’t have to fuss about getting the straws exactly the same height out of the cake. You also won’t have to worry about the tier shifting when you transport the cake. All in all, an easier solution from every perspective.
I’ll be working on the final post in this series over the next few days, so keep a lookout for the final picture and recipes. The cake was truly delicious- moist, tangy, silky smooth frosting. The guests were floored by the looks and by the taste. I was a happy camper…