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I am going to be making a two tier birthday cake for my daughters 2nd birthday.

The bottom will be a Vanilla sponge covered in Fondant icing. The top tier will be a Chocolate sponge covered in Fondant icing.

  |      | <-- Chocolate sponge ( 8 Inch )
 ---------- <-- No cake board (cake on cake)
 |        | <-- Vanilla Sponge ( 10 Inch )

My question is:

Is it possible to stack the top tier cake on top of the bottom without using a cake board? So it would be cake directly sitting on cake?

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a while ago I saw this ... the cake looks scary, but they suggest using thick/wide plastic straws to stabilize the top layer. –  Martin Turjak Jul 24 '13 at 9:22
@MartinTurjak Thanks. That is a great link! –  Tim B James Jul 24 '13 at 9:28

4 Answers 4

up vote 7 down vote accepted

It really depends on the density of the bottom sponge. If it's too light, you might have a problem. To be doubly sure, take some wide straws (the ones about 1cm across) stick them in the bottom layer, then snip them flush. These will act like columns to support the top cake.

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This is a great idea. I did see someone in a Youtube video using straws to add stability. –  Tim B James Jul 24 '13 at 9:28

It would be really unusual for a single layer of cake to collapse the cake below in a way that would make it unusable for a two-year-old's party. You are not making a 13 layer wedding cake. You are not putting dense fruitcake on top of angel food cake. Sure, you can put straws in it, but then you'll have to deal with them while you're serving the cake. I wouldn't bother.

I would, however, make sure that the bottom layer is totally flat. Normally I deal with this by inverting it onto the rack while cooling, and leaving the bottom layer inverted on the plate and icing what was the bottom of the cake. Once or twice when I've left the bottom layer right-side-up, when I put the top layer on the domed bottom, it cracked. Since you want to use fondant etc, be sure to slice off any dome so the bottom layer is completely flat. That's all you'll need.

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Thanks for the advice. :) –  Tim B James Jul 24 '13 at 12:59

Sure, no problem. Just make sure the balance is right and the top cake isn't too heavy. A little "glue" (frosting for example) between them might help them stick together.

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I don't think the top cake will be too heavy. I will use the Straw technique I think to give it some extra stability. Thanks. –  Tim B James Jul 24 '13 at 9:26

For something that's only two teirs, you can probably get away without a board in between, but it helps to have the right type of cake.

You'll want to use a fairly dense cake for the lower tier (eg, pound cake), so that there's sufficient support for the upper tier. You can also augment most boxed cake mixes by adding a packet of instant pudding.

Chilling the layer overnight can also help, but you'll want to do it before it's frosted (as when you pull the chilled cake from the fridge, moisture may condense, affecting the frosting).

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