Tiered Cake Stands

I recently attended a wedding that featured a lovely assortment of cakes. To my amazement, one of the cakes appeared to be built like a skyscraper. Turning to one of the people sitting at my table I asked, "what's up with that cake?" My table mate said that it appeared the cake was on a tiered cake stand. I'd never heard of such a thing, and found myself somewhat fascinated by it.

After I got home, I started doing a little bit of research and discovered that there are a wide range of tiered cake stands for virtually every occasion. In case you're not entirely sure what I'm referring to, let me see if I can describe this to you in a way that makes sense.

Imagine making 3 or 4 separate cakes. Each cake will represent a layer to be placed on an individual tier. Typically, the tiers near the top of the cake stand are small and they get larger the further down you go. To my amazement, the cake doesn't actually topple to the ground when this is setup properly. Quite to the contrary, it gives the entire cake a magnificent presentation and appearance.

Some tiered cake stands are significantly more ornamental than others. I noticed that the one being used at the wedding I attended was what I'd describe as being austere and minimalist. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense -- the wedding party wanted the cake to the be center of attention, not the cake stand. That said, I've already seen a few cake stands that are almost over-the-top in how ornamental and gaudy they appear!

As a final point of personal curiosity, I wondered how tiered cake stands should be setup and how the various pieces of cake should be put on the stand itself. As it turns out, the stands are modular in nature. They're easy to setup and clean. Many are even dishwasher safe. When putting the cake on the stand, the secret is to start at the bottom and work your way up. This helps ensure the stability of the the tiered cake stand.