How to Stack a Cake With Pillars
Cake decorating has become a popular interest over the last few years, especially since television shows have highlighted the techniques and the impressive results. The possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to creating personalized cakes, no matter how tall they are. Cake products are no longer restricted to baking professionals--anyone who wants to create an edible masterpiece can now find supplies readily available in culinary stores, by mail order on the internet and in some craft stores. You'll need some of these supplies as you learn how to stack a cake with pillars. These steps describe how to make a three-tiered, stacked cake with the cake pillars at the second and third layers. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Three iced cake layers in graduated sizes on cake circles
- Wooden or plastic dowel rods
- Two cake separator plates of the same size
- Four cake pillars
- Cake baseboard
- Cardboard cake circle (the same size as the middle layer)
- Shears or sharp knife
Instructions
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How to Stack a Cake with Pillars
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1
Place the largest cake on the baseboard. Using the cardboard circle, place it evenly onto the top of the bottom cake layer and press lightly to mark where the middle layer will go.
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2
Insert a dowel and snip off the excess with the shears or sharp knife about an inch inside the circle. You can either measure by placing the dowel next to the cake or by inserting it into the cake. Either approach is fine as long as you place the dowels evenly around the inside of the circle to create stability. Mark the height with a pen and then cut the lengths you need.
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3
Place the middle cake tier layer carefully on top of the dowels using the guide you marked. At this point, you can insert a long dowel into the middle of the cake through the first cake circle and tapping through until you hit the cake baseboard. Since you only have two tiers at this point, the long dowel isn't required but can add stability to the cake.
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4
Position one separator plate on top of the second layer with the pillar feet upward and press it into the cake slightly.
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5
Decorate the two bottom tiers as you like. Separately decorate the top tier before the final cake assembly. Some people wait until after they've placed the tier on top to decorate--you can do that, but you'll have a higher risk mistakes or accidents.
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6
Place the pillars over each of the feet on the cake plate. Don't push down on the pillars too hard, or you risk damaging the cake.
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7
Take the top tier and put it on the last cake separator plate. Gently fit the plated cake onto the pillars, being careful not to knock any of them over.
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Tips & Warnings
You'll find different configurations of cake building as well as pillar choices. Always keep in mind the size of your cakes and the placement of the dowels to prevent your cake from collapsing.
