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Dummy Cake in Extended Tier

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Forum topic by KiwiMiriam posted 240 days ago 949 views 0 times favorited 5 replies Add to Favorites
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KiwiMiriam

410 posts in 565 days
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240 days ago

Topic tags/keywords: how-to advice question tip

I’m making a 6” birdcage cake next week and am planning to use a dummy cake as one of the layers to get the extra height.

I’ve never used a dummy cake or made an extended tier cake…so a couple of firsts.

So…would you put the dummy on the bottom and the cakes on top, or stack with ‘cake, dummy,cake’??
I’m also covering the cakes with ganache, so am assuming that I would cover the dummy in a thin layer of ganache to hide the seams?

TIA

-- Miriam, New Zealand http://www.facebook.com/CreatedandCapturedByMiriam


5 replies so far

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CakeDiane

10 posts in 236 days


#1 posted 235 days ago

Glue the dummy to your base board, then add the cake tiers on top. You’ll want to put a cake board, slightly smaller in diameter, between the dummy and the real cake. Cover the whole thing with ganache until it’s smooth and seamless.

-- Peace, Diane http://www.facebook.com/CakeDiane

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fishabel

72 posts in 236 days


#2 posted 235 days ago

Personnally I would put the dummy on a board and on the top. Putting it on the bottom would make your cake top heavy and harder to carry. You need to have the wieght at the bottom for it to be stable. Cover the whole cake as normal in ganache. Also if you haven’t covered a barrel before I would read up as much as you can… Are you doing the wrap method?? One more thing. I noticed that you can’t just use glue for sticking polystyrene, it melts it. It must have something to do with the acid in the glue. If you decide to put it on the top just use chocolate as glue.. Good luck, hope it goes well for you.

-- Isabels Wholesome Cakes http://www.facebook.com/pages/Isabels-Wholesome-Cakes/130533066981308

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CakeDiane

10 posts in 236 days


#3 posted 234 days ago

Securing the dummy to a solid, weighted cake board should eliminate the top-heavy issue. I think it will be much more difficult to ice the cake with a dummy on top as it will want to move around. And to secure it with the center dowel method would likely require two dowels, lest the dummy might spin on just one. It will also be a little trickier to cut and serve.

Fishabel, excellent advice regarding covering a barrel shaped cake. They can be tricky!

-- Peace, Diane http://www.facebook.com/CakeDiane

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KiwiMiriam

410 posts in 565 days


#4 posted 234 days ago

Thanks Ladies.
I ganached the cakes last night and won’t be needing the dummy after all, as I did a 7” cake baked in a 6” tin and also for the dome. So after I layered and ganached them it will stand approximately 10” when stacked.
Thanks for the advice on the smaller board between the top cakes, I cut smaller base boards and used those.
For the fondant I’m going to wrap the dome seperately, and then use the wrap method for the bottom stacked cake.
There will be fondant decorations and a strip going around near the top which will cover the join between the dome and cake.
Fingers crossed all goes according to plan.

-- Miriam, New Zealand http://www.facebook.com/CreatedandCapturedByMiriam

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CakeDiane

10 posts in 236 days


#5 posted 234 days ago

Glad things are going smoothly so far!

-- Peace, Diane http://www.facebook.com/CakeDiane

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