• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
I Scream for Buttercream
  • Blog
    • Subscribe for Free
  • Visit the Shop!
    • The Cake Blueprint
  • Recipes
    • Cakes
    • Frostings/Fillings
    • Cupcakes
    • Cake Pops
    • Other Sweets
  • Cake Decorating
  • Cake Baking Tips
  • About Kara
  • FAQs
    • Contact Me
    • Terms and Conditions
      • Privacy Policy
      • Advertising Disclosures
      • Cookie Policy
      • Food Safety, Allergy & Nutrition Disclaimers
    • Accessibility Statement
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Blog
    • Subscribe for Free!
  • Visit the Shop!
    • The Cake Blueprint
  • Recipes
    • Cakes
    • Frostings/Fillings
    • Cupcakes
    • Cake Pops
    • Other Sweets
  • Cake Decorating
  • Cake Baking Tips
  • About Kara
  • FAQs
    • Contact Me
    • Terms and Conditions
      • Privacy Policy
      • Advertising Disclosures
      • Cookie Policy
      • Food Safety, Allergy & Nutrition Disclaimers
    • Accessibility Statement
×

Home » Blog » Cake Decorating

How to Make a Tall Cake

Published: Apr 26, 2018 · Updated: May 14, 2021 by Kara · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads

  • Email
  • Facebook

I LOVE a nice tall cake. It just looks elegant and stately. Can a cake look stately? Anyway, I’m a big fan of the tall cake, but there are a few tricks and tips to know about before you make one. You could have a disaster on your hands if not done correctly, so I thought I’d put together my tips and tricks on how to make a tall cake (or as some call it, a double barrel cake).

tall cake with rose on top

There are a multitude of ways to make a tall cake, but the number one thing to remember is that you need to have a support system in place. 

tall pink and white cake with pink rose on top

In this post, I wanted to give you plenty of details. I’ve got some screenshots of how I put this cake together, but you can also watch the video toward the end of this post to see it actually being made. 

Oh and if you want to get ALL my tips on how to stack tiered cake (with different sized tiers), then you’ll want to see this post here.

tall pink and white cake with pink rose

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Supplies Needed to Make a Tall Cake:

  • Cake Layers (Anywhere from 4 to 6 layers – we’ll talk about this in a bit.) I used 6″ round cake layers – Here’s my favorite cake recipe: Favorite Vanilla Bean Cake Recipe
  • Cake Leveler
  • Cake Base (A few inches larger than your cake layers – I like foam boards)
  • Cake Rounds (The same size as your cake layers)
  • White candy melts (For attaching the cake boards)
  • Cake Turn Table
  • Buttercream (You can grab my buttercream recipe here: Vanilla Bean Buttercream Recipe)
  • Icing Spatulas
  • Mini Level
  • Wax Paper
  • Icing Smoother (You’ll need a tall one) Here are a few options: Tall Plastic Icing Smoother, Tall Metal Icing Smoother
  • Dowels for stacking the cake layers. I love using Poly Dowels. For the link to the official poly dowels, click here: Poly-Dowels Here are some other options for plastic ‘cuttable’ dowels.
  • Center wooden dowel (The dowel that goes all the way through the cake and into the cake base. This is really just a tall wooden dowel that you can probably get at any craft store.)
  • Pencil sharpener (for sharpening the center dowel)
  • Edible marker (for marking the dowels) The Americolor brand seems to last a long time for me.
  • Knife (for trimming the cake)
  • Hot water (for smoothing the buttercream if you use the metal smoother)
  • Optional: Gumpaste Rose – Here is my tutorial on that: How to Make a Large Gumpaste Rose

Options for Making a Tall Cake:

Ok, the most important thing about making a tall cake is that you MUST have support in your cake. By ‘support’, I mean doweling inside.

How to make a tall cake graphic of support system

Any cake that will be taller than three layers, needs to have support if you’ll be adding more cake layers on top. Sometimes you can get away with four layers, but honestly, I don’t test it.

The reason is that the cake gets too heavy. It could just collapse on itself, the weight of the cake could cause buttercream ridges, or you could have cake layers that slide on you.

How to make a tall cake graphic explanation of tiers

A tall cake is really just a two tiered cake. The top and bottom tiers just happen to be the same size. So if someone is paying you to make a tall cake, make sure to charge accordingly. It’s not really ‘one’ cake, it’s basically two in one.

Ok, let’s talk about options for making tall cakes:

First Option for Making a Tall Cake:

How to make a tall cake graphic

The first option is to use three layers of cake for the bottom tier and three layers for the top tier. Between the tiers, you’ll need a slightly smaller cake board and dowels for support in the bottom tier.

Second Option for Making a Tall Cake:

How to make a tall cake graphic

The second option is to use two layers of cake for the bottom tier and two layers for the top tier. You’ll add the slightly smaller cake board in between the cake tiers and the dowels in the bottom tier. This option will give you a shorter cake than the first option.

Third Option for Making a Tall Cake:

How to make a tall cake graphic

This is the option that I chose. I used three cake layers on the bottom tier and two on the top tier with a cake board in the center and dowels in the bottom tier. I went with this option because four layers of cake didn’t seem tall enough for me, but six layers of cake was looking way too tall for a 6″ round cake.

Ok, so now you’ve got some options to think about. Let’s get to actually building the cake.

Making the Tall Cake:

Don’t forget, if you’d rather watch the video rather than read all the steps, just scroll on down close to the bottom of the post to catch the video.

First you want to make sure you’ve leveled your cake layers. You definitely want them to be as level as possible, to prevent any accidents or them moving around on you later.

leveling cake layers

Take your large foam core cake base and cover it with fanci foil, or whatever your favorite method of covering a cake board is. If you want to see more options and all my cake board tips, you can see those here: Tips for Cake Boards

7 tips opt in graphic

Now, set your cake base on your turn table and add some melted white candy melts to the middle. This will help you attach the bottom cake board, so it doesn’t move around.

Adding melted candy melts to cake base

Now you want to add a cake board to the cake base. You need to make sure the cake board is the same size as your cake layers. I used 6 inch cake layers and a 6 inch cake board here. Make sure to let it set up a bit, so it’s good and sturdy. You can even pop it in the fridge for a few minutes if you want.

Adding cake board to cake base

I like to go ahead and add just a bit of the melted candy melts to that board so the bottom layer of cake is stuck well onto the board. Some people like to use buttercream for this, but that just hasn’t worked well for me.

Add candy melts to bottom cake board

Then go ahead and add the first cake layer.

Add cake layer to cake board

Add buttercream and your other cake layers until you get the bottom tier as tall as you need it. (Remember, don’t go higher than three tiers.)

Adding cake layers with filling

Pop another cake board on top and use your level to make sure the bottom tier is mostly level. If it’s not, just push down on the board a bit to level it out.

cake with board and level on top

Once it’s mostly level, take that cake board off the top and add some buttercream.

adding buttercream to the top of bottom cake tier

Now take one of the plastic dowels, insert it into the cake tier and then mark the top with an edible marker. If you’d like to use wooden dowels, feel free to do that. You could also use bubble tea straws as well. Just make sure they are heavy plastic and not the flimsy straws. Regular straws will not do the trick.

Mark the dowel at the top of the cake tier

Once you’ve marked the dowel, twist it while pulling it out of the cake. You’ll need to cut your other dowels the same height. I cut all my dowels the same height and then insert them because I find this gives me a more level cake, rather than just cutting the dowels while they’re inside the bottom cake tier.

I used 4 dowels for the 6 inch round cake.

cut all the dowels the same height

Now insert the dowels into the bottom tier. Leave the very middle space empty though because you’ll need to add in a center dowel later.

Add dowels to cake tier
insert dowels into cake tier

Now you’ll need to grab a cake board the same size as your cake layers, however you’ll need to trim it down a bit…maybe about a half inch trimmed off around it.

You need this board to be a bit smaller, so it doesn’t stick out when you ice the entire thing.

using a cake board the same size of the cake tier
cut around the cake board

Now just pop your trimmed cake board on top of your bottom tier.

set cake board onto bottom cake tier

Now use your mini level to check it. Make adjustments if it’s off.

leveling bottom cake tier

Add a bit of melted white candy melts so the next layer of cake sticks to the board. Some people like to use buttercream for this, but I like using the candy melts because it seems sturdier.

Adding candy melts to cake board

Now just add on your cake layers to the height you want. (Remember, don’t go over three.) I added only two layers for this top tier, since the cake was getting super tall.

Adding layers to top tier of tall cake

Now, make sure the cake is level and adjust if necessary.

Check level of cake

Now you need to measure the height of your cake so you can cut your center dowel. You want to include the height of your foam core cake base because the dowel needs to go all the way through that as well (not just through the cake).

Yes, I know I’m very scientific using my hand to measure. 😉

It’s also okay if the center dowel is slightly shorter…you just don’t want it taller than the cake.

Measure cake for center dowel

Now cut your dowel and then sharpen one end of it. Then just wash it off.

cutting center dowel for cake
Sharpening center dowel for cake

Now just push it (or hammer it) through the whole cake (even the board in the middle) and down into the cake base. Go all the way down into the bottom of the cake base.

Use the cut off dowel piece to help hammer it all the way through.

Insert center dowel into cake

Yes I’m using a meat mallet…I couldn’t find my hammer. Hey, it works, right?

Hammer in center dowel into cake

Alright, now I like to chill the cake, just for a bit, so it’ll be sturdy when I trim it. So, just pop the cake in the fridge for maybe 15 – 20 minutes or so.

After it’s chilled a bit, you’ll want to add a cake board to the top of your cake, just to check and see how much you’ll need to trim. You don’t want any cake peaking out when you go to smooth the buttercream later.

Just use the bottom and top of the cake board plus your buttercream smoother to check which parts of the cake will need to be trimmed. This may make more sense when you get to the video.

Measure side of cake to see where to trim

Now just trim around the cake. You’ll be using the top and bottom cake board as a guide when smoothing your buttercream, so any cake that is sticking out past those or any where near there, will need to be trimmed off.

You may not have to trim as much as I did…I tend to trim a lot off because I like a lot of buttercream and I just don’t want to take any chances that any of the cake will show through. Technically, you could probably use a larger cake board, but since I was making 6″ round cakes, 7″ cake boards are hard to find in my area. But trimming works too.

Trimming cake layers

Once it’s trimmed up, add buttercream to the top and level it out.

Add buttercream to the top of tall cake

Now you’ll want to take another cake board (the same size of the cake layers you baked and the same size as your bottom cake board) and add some wax paper to it.

I just trace around the cake board onto the wax paper and cut out the circle. Stick the circle of wax paper onto the cake board with a bit of buttercream. (This top piece is going to be your icing guide.) This will make it easy to get a sharp icing edge.

Add wax paper to cake round

Pop it onto the top of the cake.

Add the top board to the cake

Use your mini level to level the top and you’ll also want the make sure the sides are level as well.

At this point, you can re-chill your cake for another 10-15 minutes or so to firm it up. (Don’t leave it in the fridge too terribly long because it’ll dry it out.)

level the top of the tall cake
Level the sides of the tall cake

Alright, once it’s chilled just a bit, it’s time to add your buttercream. Just start by adding it all with a large icing spatula.

Adding buttercream to tall cake

One it’s all added, start smoothing it with your buttercream smoother.

Smoothing buttercream on tall cake

Add more buttercream to any holes you see and then smooth again. You may need to do this process a couple times.

add more buttercream to any holes
smooth buttercream on tall cake

To get the watercolor look, add more white buttercream on the top and pink on the bottom.

adding buttercream to tall cake to get watercolor look

Now use your buttercream smoother to smooth around it.

Smoothing watercolor buttercream on tall cake

Once you get it as smooth as you’d like. Pop it in the fridge for about 10 -15 minutes so the buttercream firms up a bit.

Now take your smaller icing spatula, dunk it in very hot water, dry it off and insert it around the bottom of the cardboard round on top of the cake. You’ll need to do this a little at a time, heating your spatula with the water and drying it off. You want to slowly loosen that top cake board.

take the top cake board off the tall cake

Once it’s loose enough, just pop it off and make sure you get the wax paper off as well.

Taking off the top cake board on a tall cake
Taking off the wax paper on the top of the tall cake

Now you’ll need to smooth the top. You can do this one of two ways. If you’ve used a buttercream that has shortening in it (a crusting buttercream) you can use the Viva paper towel method. Just set the paper towel down over the top and just smooth the top out with your hand very lightly.

If your buttercream is made from butter, you can use the hot spatula method. Just dip your icing spatula in really hot water, dry it off and then use it to smooth over the top of your cake.

With either method, just make sure not to go out to the edge of the cake, or this could mess up your sharp edge.

Smooth the top of the tall cake

Now just make sure to clean off your cake base.

Cleaning off the cake board

Now you can add the cake topper of your choice, or you can even add some pretty gumpaste flowers. I decided just to add one of my large gumpaste roses. You can catch that tutorial here: How to Make a Large Gumpaste Rose

Adding a flower to a tall cake

To cut this cake, you’ll cut it like it’s two tiers. Just dig into the top tier first, then take the cake board off and cut and serve the bottom tier.

Cut tall cake

Alright…there you have it! Now you’ve made a impressive tall cake!

Video for Making a Tall Cake:

Ok, just let me know if you’ve got any questions. You can always leave me a comment below.

Don’t forget to pin it below!

how to make a tall cake pin graphic1
how to make a tall cake pin graphic 2
« Gooey Funfetti Filled Cupcakes
Bright White Heat Stable Pipeable Buttercream »
  • Email
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Cake Decorating Tagged With: buttercream tutorials, cake decorating tips

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lucy

    April 15, 2022 at 3:03 am

    Hi Kara
    Beautiful cake, quick question, I’m going to make 10 inc tall drip cake,how many sponges would I need to get to this height cake?

    Reply
    • Kara

      April 15, 2022 at 7:58 pm

      Ok, editing my comment from what I posted earlier. I reread your question and I misunderstood it. If you want it 10 inches tall, then just figure out how many inches tall each layer is. Generally, they’re like 1.5-2 inches tall, so that might be around 5-6 layers. Hope this helps.

      Reply
      • Lucy

        April 18, 2022 at 10:43 am

        Thankyou x

        Reply
  2. Mary Anne

    May 23, 2022 at 3:21 am

    Hi Kara thank you so much for the tutorial the cake-board between the layers of cake is that cardboard? Mary Anne

    Reply
    • Kara

      May 24, 2022 at 5:55 pm

      Yes, the board between the layers is a cardboard cake round.

      Reply
      • Mary Anne

        May 24, 2022 at 6:26 pm

        Thank you ❤️

        Reply
  3. Carmen

    June 02, 2022 at 8:19 am

    Hi there! Thanks for such a detailed tutorial! I second that you are a great teacher! I have a question: how far in advance can I make a tall 6 inch cake? do you ever freeze them ?

    Carmen

    Reply
    • Kara

      June 02, 2022 at 12:13 pm

      Hi Carmen, thanks for your kind words. 🙂 So I make cakes in advance all the time. I don’t stack them yet though. I just bake the cake layers and then freeze them. I stack (or build) the cake after they’ve defrosted. I do have a post all about making cakes in advance that may help. It’s not specific to tall cakes, but it talks about the different options. Here’s the link: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/how-far-in-advance-can-i-bake-a-cake/
      I think if you wanted to stack the cake, then freeze it, it would probably work okay as long as you covered it very well before freezing it and then set it out to defrost before you started decorating it. My general rule of thumb though is that if I’m not going to be serving the cake in about three days, then I freeze the cake layers, then thaw and decorate closer to the event time. I hope this helps. 🙂

      Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Hey there, I’m Kara!

Hi, I'm so glad you're here! Cake shows up at our most important and happiest moments in life, like birthdays, weddings, baby showers and holidays. It's also for those everyday moments...it makes them even better. Put simply, cake just makes us happy! I love trying out new cake flavor combinations and decorating ideas. Have a look around and I bet you can find a cake recipe or tutorial for any of life's big moments and those everyday moments too. Click here if you want to learn more about me!

Popular Posts

  • Moist White Cake
  • Moist Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
  • Almost Homemade (Cheater) Buttercream Frosting
  • 25 Insanely Useful Tips for Baking Perfect Cakes
Ad for cake blueprint.
  • Let’s Make a Cake!
  • Blog
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Advertising Disclosures

Copyright © 2022 ·