Using Straws to Support Cake Tiers
Keeping the weight of your cake evenly balanced is critical to successfully stacking cake tiers. Placing sturdy jumbo straws, available at cake-decorating stores, in between the cake boards and a dowel down the center of an entire tiered cake allows the weight to be distributed evenly, which will enable your tiered cake to stand tall for traveling or being on display for a long period of time. Tiered cakes can be made with open layered cakes, iced cakes, or fondant-covered cakes. It is important that the cake and icing are even so that when the straws are placed, they will be even as well, for an evenly balanced, stable tiered cake. Insert the straws into each tier before you stack them (see page 122).
TOOLS:
- cake boards
- sturdy jumbo straws
- scissors
Place a cake board that is 2 inches
smaller than the cake on top of a chilled cake, in the center, as a
guide. Use a straw to make 4 to 8 marks evenly in the icing around
the cake board. Remove the cake board. Larger cakes will need more
straws to support the weight. For a starting reference: Use 4
straws for a 4-inch cake and 8 straws for a 12-inch cake.
Following the marks, insert the
straws vertically into the cake so that they go through the entire
cake. It is important to keep the straws as straight as
possible.
Trim each straw with scissors so
that it is flush with the top of the cake.
Press each straw in to ensure it is
inserted fully and flush with the cake.
Repeat with all tiers except the top
tier, keeping the other cakes refrigerated while you work.