How to Assemble a Stacked Cake

Stacked cakes aren't just for weddings. Make a birthday or other special event exceptional by presenting a two-tiered, stacked cake.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• two baked and frosted cakes, two to four inches different in size
• 1/4 inch wooden dowel rods
• pencil sharpener
• cardboard cake circle
• knife or small saw for cutting dowels
• pen/marker
• powdered sugar

1. Place your larger cake on the cake board or plate you will be using. Take a cardboard cake circle which is the same size as the one you will be putting under your top cake, and place it in the middle of the bottom cake, making a slight impression on the bottom cake. This helps guide you to where the top cake should be placed.

2. Dowels

   Taking one of your dowels, push it into the bottom cake, in the inner circle where the top cake will sit. Make a mark on the dowel with a pen or a knife just below where the dowel reaches the top of the cake. Pull the dowel out. The mark you made is where you will cut the dowel. The general rule is, you need four to six dowels in the bottom cake if that cake is less than ten inches. Using the first dowel as a guide, cut the others that you will place in the bottom cake.

3. Place the dowels in the bottom cake, keeping them evenly spaced so that they will securely support the top cake.

4. Measure a large dowel against the bottom cake and then the top cake, making a mark on it so that it will go through both cakes. This long dowel will be placed in the center, going through both cakes. It is fine if it is a an inch or two shorter than the stack when the top cake is put on. Make sure it is not longer than both cakes when stacked.

5. Cake Circle, Dowel with Center Hole

   Using a pencil sharpener, sharpen one end of the long dowel. Using the dowel, punch a hole through the center of your cake board.

6. Place the long dowel in the center of the bottom cake, with the sharp end pointing up. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on the surface of the bottom cake, where the top cake will rest. This will prevent some of the buttercream on the top of the bottom cake from sticking to the top cake's board. Lower the cake board through/onto the dowel and onto the bottom cake.

7. Stacked Cake

   Carefully lower the cake onto the dowel and then onto the board below. Your cake is now ready to decorate.

Tips & Warnings

• Another option for placing the top tier on the bottom cake is by putting the hole for the dowel in the cake board for the top cake first. Punch the hole in the board, then place the unfrosted cake on top, then frost. When you have your long dowel in place in the bottom cake, lower the top cake and its board all at once onto the bottom cake.

• Try to have the cake on a lower table or counter so you can get a better view when you are trying to lower the top cake and get it centered. In addition, having someone coach you on whether it's centered before it is placed on the bottom cake is helpful too.