Cake

38Because I want the base of this cake to be a hexagon(a shape I don’t make yet in CakeFrame) and I want itto have more weight at the bottom, I’ve chosen a 14”drum board as my ‘base’. I’ve still used a CakeFramebaseboard beneath it though, to fix the foundationpieces to.Step 1.Start by lining it up centrally and on the underside ofthe drum board, mark the holes you will need to makein order to let the foundation pieces through. Markand cut your holes with either a sharp knife or an applecorer. I have chosen all four outer holes.Steps 2a & b.Next, attach four long foundation pieces into the fourouter holes of the 10” round CakeFrame baseboard. Besure to tighten the lock nuts securely and position themthe right way around (with the flat circle of the lock nutflush with the baseboard).Step 3.Push down the cake drum over the foundation pieces. Ifyou’ve made your holes too big, or feel the drum boardcan easily move up and down, secure it in place witheither a hot glue gun or strong double sided tape.Step 4.Next,prepare the cake. When using CakeFrame, youneed to make holes in the sponge BEFORE you make,fill and decorate the cake. If you’re clear on your design,you can do ALL the cakes at this stage, or if not, justconcentrate on one tier at a time. Push down each layerof cake onto the rods, supporting underneath with yourhand to prevent it from splitting or breaking. Once theholes are done, you can take them back off to fill thecake as you layer them up.TIP: I found three layers of cake was just the height Iwanted to match the long foundation pieces, but youcan, of course, height match your foundation pieces androds according to your design and needs.Steps 5a-c.Using the 11” hexagon drum board as a ganachingtemplate, give the cake a good crumb coat and then asecond ganache coat to make it smooth and retain itshexagon shape. Leave to harden and then smooth offwith a metal scraper or palette knife.TIP: I find dipping the knife in boiling water gives asmooth surface. To the keep the corners sharp, I workaway from the corners to the middle of each side andaround until I have done all the corners.Once smooth, remove the drum board and ganache thetop of the cake.Steps 6a-c.Prepare the other tiers of cake in a similar way. Createthe required holes in each cake, then place it on aplatform, fill, ganache and cover with sugarpaste. Makeholes in the top of the icing so that when you push thecake down onto the structure, it doesn’t tear.The 10” cake (second tier) needs four holes aroundthe outside (same as the base tier). The 6” cake willonly need a central hole. The 8” cake will only needone central hole too, but leave assembling, filling andcovering this one for now, as we need to do somethingwith the platform for it in another step.Steps 7a & b.Once covered with sugarpaste, your base cake shouldbe flush in height with the top of the foundation pieces.Add an adapter to each of the foundation pieces and oneach adapter, place a CakeFrame collar (raised centrefacing up).5b 5c4 5a2b 31 2a6c6a 6b7a