Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I’m making a bespoke wedding cake as follows….

Bottom tier round 10″ or 12″ fruit cake as tree trunk/bark

Middle tier 8″ rectangle lemon cake as suitcase

Top tier 4″ or 6″ naked red velvet cake.

I was originally thinking of just having the suitcase flat on the tree maybe at a bit of an angle. Now watching the wanderlust suitcase tutorial Im getting ideas of having the middle tier sitting up on its corner …using the polystyrene method that Paul does.

My questions are…
…would one central support work right from the bottom up through the red velvet cake? This would be supplemented with other dowels of course.
…or would it be better to have the centre support only up to the top but of the suitcase and then a separate support at the top corner of the suitcase for the top tier.
…do you think a cake would stay up on the top? (I’d disguise the gap with travel features of some sort)
…if I do the “upright” one I presume I can slice and fill parallel to the board to keep it stable?
….am I being too ambitious and should I just go back to plan A?!

Any thoughts or advice?

Thank you all

…

Thank you for all you help and ideas madeitwithlove. I really appreciate it.

Yep, the handbag tower idea is a great one…I’m now going to go along these lines. I even went to B&Q and bought my first ever threaded rod?

I’m thinking that the top cake might end up sitting just above the suitcase handle instead of perched on the top corner cos the rod will probably pop out about there.

I’m excited to get started now that I know what I’m aiming for!

Thank you!

Hi therese1

I’m finding it very difficult to visualise a naked red velvet cake sitting on the top of an angled suitcase cake.
What type of lemon cake where you planning on if it is to have the dowel coming right out to the top? It would need to be pretty sturdy.
Red velvet cake is also very delicate, too many support dowels could compromise it’s structure. Perhaps I’m just not seeing your vision as it’s late now. There is of course Paul’s hand bag heaven cakes where all the cakes are perched on top of each other. I don’t know whether that would be a better stand?
I’ll have a scout around to see whether I can find a picture of what I think you are seeing. I might then be able give a more constructive answer. 🙂 ……. although option one right now seems very attractive 🙂 🙂

…… back again! I think if you used Paul’s tutorial it will be the best guide to get the angles which you want to create. Take a peek here :

Handbag Heaven pt 2

It’s by far the best guide I have seen. So instead of using a wooden centre support, use the threaded metal rod. This allows for the introduction of the flat plate which the red velvet can sit on without the fear of falling off. The gaps can be filled in with travel features as you have suggested.

I hope you can see it the same way. Let me know. 🙂

ps: bubble tea straws can be split down the centre and used to encase the rod to make it food safe. Or use same method as Paul has by covering all the metal parts with cling film. Good luck! X

I’m excited for you too! Can’t wait to see pictures on the site’s Facebook. Hope everything runs smoothly! ??