Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi,
I’m making my son’s wedding cake and they want the tiers to be around 5″ deeps. I have done this previously and I stacked two normal depth cakes on top of each other. However, I found it a nightmare getting the two tiers totally even and smooth.
This time I’m thinking of maybe using cake dummies so looking for some help please.
Would I just use a thin board for the cake rather than a cake drum and would I have to stick the cake board onto the dummy?
Also will the marzipan stick to the cake dummy?
Thanks
Kate

Hi Kate

Sometimes dummies can also present problems with uneveness. I’ve just done a wedding with a fruit cake bottom tier. The dummy didn’t work out for me because of the texture difference against the cake. Using several cake drums was much better. My cake wasn’t perfectly rounded, the shape and texture was all wrong. This doesn’t mean it would be the same for you. Marzipan sticks very well to dummy. I used piping gel but you could use apricot jam. If the jam has bits in it sieve it first before applying otherwise you’ll get little bumps under the marzipan. If the cake doesn’t sit exactly flush with the dummy you will need to fill in any gaps with marzipan so they both look as one. I wish I had rolled my marzipan out thicker, I think that would have helped disguise the difference in the textures and it would have hidden the join better. Perhaps that would be something for you to consider.
You may want to consider cake drums. In which case you know it will make the cake very heavy. I used three x 15mm drums which gave me almost a couple of extra inches.
Alternatively you could increase the recipe and bake a taller cake. If you’d like to increase the recipe I would suggest using the cakometre as this tool will help you increase the depth of the cake in your exisiting tin. You’ll find the link here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-work-out-what-size-cake-tin-to-use
I can’t tell you how much longer you’d need to bake the cake so it will have to be a baby sit job! My blog here might be of interest to you for timing:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/baking-problems-solutions
If you’d like to increase the height of the cake make a deep parchment collar on your existing cake tin to contain the mixture from spilling over. Fruit cakes don’t puff up like sponge so the rise would be gradual on a long low temperature bake.

Hope this helps.

Hi,
Thanks for your help!

Using cake drums was something I’d thought of but worried about seeing edges.

My cake tins are deep enough to make a 5″ cake so wonder about maybe doubling up the mixture and stay in all day until it cooks

Not quite as much as double, it’s approx an extra two thirds of the original recipe. If you use the cakeometre that will work it out for you precisely. I had a deep cake lace pattern which went round the cake so the edges didn;t show at all.

Hi again,
Used the cakometre and I now have a perfect 7″ round and 5″ deep fruit cake – thank you!
However, I am now very worried about the weight of the cakes – it’s going to be a 3 tier fruit cake.
The bottom tier is 9″ which I am either going to put on top of three cake drums with the 7″ or top. The third tier will be 5″ and 5″ deep, so again very heavy.

Do you think dowels will hold the weigh okay and not sink?
The 7″ cake actually weight 6lbs 8ozs and that’s before marzipan and icing.

Help!

Regards
Kate

The dowels will definitely hold the weight. Use the nine dowel method which Paul uses and you will have a firm structure. Fruit cakes are pretty solid on their own but I agree with you, dowelling is an extra safety measure for peace of mind. It’s very rare event for a fruit cake to sink, they are not flimsey like sponge cakes. You’ll be fine. x