Make A Multitiered Cake

Multi-tiered cakes look intimidating, but they're fairly easy to do if you follow the instructions to the letter. Create a tiered cake using dowel rod construction or push-in pillars. If you're taking the cake to the location of a special event, transport the cake in separate layers and assemble at the site.

Instructions

Dowel Rod Construction

1. Position the first layer of the cake on the foundation. Ice the bottom layer. Use the cake board of the next layer and center it on the top of the first layer. Press gently to create an outline of the size of the next layer.

2. Use the outline as a guide to position the dowel rods. Determine the number of dowel rods based on the size of the cake base and the number of tiers.

3. Insert the first dowel into the bottom layer, taking care to push it in straight down to the cake board. Mark the exact height of the dowel by making a scratch with a sharp knife right where the dowel emerges from the cake.

4. Pull the dowel out of the cake. Using the marked dowel as a guide, cut all the dowels for the first layer the same length.

5. Insert the cut dowels into the bottom layer, spacing them evenly 1 1/2 inches inside the outlined impression of the next layer. Set the next layer in place.

6. Continue this procedure for each tier of the cake. Make sure each dowel touches the cake board. Complete the decorating when the cake is assembled.

Push-In Pillar Construction

7. Set the first layer of the cake on the base and ice it. Take the separator plate for the next tier and gently press it, feet down, into the top of the base layer. Center the separator plate so that the feet mark the surface of the base layer for the position of the push-in pillars.

8. Place the next layer on its separator plate. Secure the layer to the plate with a little icing. Ice the layer.

9. Set the push-in pillars into the first layer using the marks left by the feet of the separator plate in Step 1 of this section. Push the pillars straight in until they touch the cake board.

10. Position the next layer atop the pillars. Continue to add layers until the cake is assemble. Do not mark the top layer. Decorate the assembled cake.

Tags: next layer, first layer, cake board, separator plate, bottom layer, layer cake