Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

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asked September 30th 2014

BBC’s How to Assembe a Tiered Wedding Cake.

I watched the video — truly enlightening for us newbie / wannabee decorators. A few questions though. I have read everywhere that each tier needs to be glued (ganache or other) on a card or drum and that that in turn must be “glued ” on what is above and below it. However, in the video he places the card on top of the dowels without gluing and then places the sty dummy without gluing that and then he places the top cake on that again without any glue. Is this the way to go or should all of that really be “glued” together piece by piece? Also, is there really no need for dowling the dummy or perhaps was that overlooked like the gluing?

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I watched the video — truly enlightening for us newbie / wannabee decorators. A few questions though. I have read everywhere that each tier needs to be glued (ganache or other) on a card or drum and that that in turn must be “glued ” on what is above and below it. However, in the video he places the card on top of the dowels without gluing and then places the sty dummy without gluing that and then he places the top cake on that again without any glue. Is this the way to go or should all of that really be “glued” together piece by piece? Also, is there really no need for dowling the dummy or perhaps was that overlooked like the gluing?

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Hi franke

Dummy cakes don’t need dowelling, they have no substantial weight and will not collapse into one another. The tiers do need to be stuck together other wise they move if knocked and topple over.
Real cakes all have to be dowelled before stacking so they do not collapse into one another from their weight. Each cake is set on it’s own cake card stuck down with a little ganache or royal icing to prevent shifting. A little ganache or royal icing is placed on top of the dowels to help stick the stacked tiers together.
The best tutorial which you will ever need for dowelling and stacking is Paul’s in the free beginners section here:

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The free/beginners section is a onestop from beginning to end learning experience which will prepare you for all aspects of baking and decorating. Paul’s methods are the sturdiest basic foundations, tried and tested. Watching too many basic methods can get confusing, Paul updates methods all the time so if there’s anything new out there you can be sure we’ll be learning it. x

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Thank you, but I still need one more clarification. If a real cake, let’s say 8 inch ,that is fairly heavy, is sitting on top of a sty dummy that is 6 inches (and as you pointed out, “has no substantial weight”) isn’t there the possibility that the real heavy cake would collapse into the undowelled dummy? I really do need to practice more and read less 🙂 Thanks again for all your help.

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No the dummy will not collapse. Dummys may not have substantial weight but they bear substantial weight, obviously depending on size. An 8″ on a 6″ doesn’t have to be dowelled but please do so if you need peace of mind. Franke, all you need is Paul, haha don’t we all! Watch the vids. 🙂

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Paul… and you, too, miwl! Your responses are quick, to the point, detailed and extremely helpful. Thank you!

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