How to fill and stack a cake
Taking your cakes from basic store-bought-looking rectangles to a beautifully stacked cylinder is not as hard as you think!
It's all about having the right tools and knowing a couple of key things.
First, lets talk about the supplies I recommend for decorating stacked cakes. There's only 4 must haves! I have linked the ones that I use
- A good turn table. We are going to be creating something round so being able to easily turn it around and around is very important. I use the Ateco turntable, I've had it for about 4 years now and it is still perfect.
- A good spatula. It can be straight or offset, but I definitely recommend a metal one. I use this one.
- Cake boards - you need something sturdy to put your cake on as you decorate it. For a one tier cake we want the board to be at least one inch larger than the circumference of your cake rounds. There's so many different kinds out there - thin card board ones, shiny ones, square ones, acrylic ones. I use these most of the time and then will use clear acrylic ones for fancy cakes or wedding cakes. Having a sturdy base for your cakes makes it easier to transfer it in and out of the fridge and then safely to its final destination.
- Metal scrapers. There are also many scrapers out there but I highly, highly recommend getting metal ones. My favorite are from The Flour Girl. I love them because they are heavy duty but are also tall enough to scrape the whole cake at once.
Now that we have our supplies let's talk about some other important prep.
Our cake layers need to be 100% cool. This is not negotiable in any way. Trust me, I have tried to cheat time and started to stack my cakes when they were 90% cool. It still melts the buttercream enough that I end up being even more frustrated.
I recommend baking your cakes far enough in advance that you can wrap them in plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. We want to put our hand on them and not feel any heat.
I use the time they are cooling to clean up from making the cakes, making my buttercream, and prepping my area and turn table for stacking.
Once our cakes are cool we also want to make sure they are level. Most cakes bake with a small bit of roundness. I have two tips to get flatter cakes. The first is to put them on the cooling rack upside-down when you pop them out of the cake pans. This will help flatten out the roundness as they cool. If they are still unlevel after doing that then take a serrated knife and cut a bit off until they are level.
Then you have some cake scraps to sample!
We are ready to stack!
Our goal of stacking is not just to get the layers on top of each other. We also want to make sure we are getting rid of any air trapped between the layers. Trapped air can escape as the weight of the cake pushes down on itself. If there is no where for that air to go because you have sealed it in with frosting ... it becomes an air bubble. And they aren't any fun to fix.
We we are going to do all the work when stacking to prevent future you from having to deal with that.
Let's get into it.
Place your turn table in a location that it can turn freely. Have you bowl of frosting and cake layers ready next to it. Your primary tool will be your spatula!
Secure your cake board to your turn table with a small piece of tape or a piece of drawer liner. This isn't necessary but helps keep the cake in place until it is heavy enough to stay on its own.
Put a small glob of frosting on the middle of your cake board and place your first cake layer on top of it - flattest and levelest side down. Usually that's the side that was on the bottom in the cake pan, unless you have wizardry cake leveling skills.
Scoop out a generous heap of frosting onto your cake layer and spread it around until it is level and at the thickness you want. It is ok if there's some hanging over the side. Add more frosting here or there to make sure it is as level as you can make it. Look at it eye level!
Now, take your next layer and place it centered - leveled side down - so that it's upsidedown compared to the way it baked. Look at the layers eye level while turning your turn table to make sure it is properly center. Then push down firmly on the layer and wiggle it a bit. We are squishing out all of the air and making sure it is flush against the frosting underneath it!
Now repeat scooping and spreading your frosting and adding your layers. The rest of your layers should go on upside down unless something odd happened and the pan bottom side isn't the smoothest and prettiest. We should be left with a pretty and smooth top of the cake, setting our decorating up for success, and making it easier for it to be flat and level. Also make sure we are pressing down firmly as we add each layer and checking all of the layers at eye level to make sure they are centered. We should have a tall and sturdy cylinder!
Phew! Now count how many times I just said 'eye level' 'level' and layer'... ok maybe don't.
Once all of our layers are stacked we can crumb coat. The goal of the crumb coat is to lock in all of the crumbs and the moisture into the cake so that you have a smooth canvas to decorate on. This is why it is ok if some frosting hung over the edges as you filled and stacked. You can use that frosting first before adding more.
As you use your spatula to spread the frosting around the sides of the cake we want to focus on pushing it into the spaces between layers. Again, this is all about pushing out the air. We want to fill that space 100% with frosting now to prevent air bubbles in the future. Work around the cake pushing frosting between layers and making sure there aren't any naked sections - don't forget the top! Once all of the spaces are full you can scrape around the cake once or twice with your metal scraper. This helps remove the excess and smooth out your crumb coat. Make sure the clean up the top a bit as well.
You're done! Your cake has been stack, filled, and crumb coated. Now pop it into the fridge so that crumb coat and crust and you will be ready to decorate.
Real time video is on my IG! @love_by_lauren
