Watch part 1 of how to make a simple celebration cake here
Acting cookery editor Suzannah Butcher takes you through all the steps you'll need to make a beautiful 3 tier celebration cake.
What to read next
Find our triple-tested celebration cake recipe in the June issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands 8 May 2014.
Step 5 : Stacking tiers
Start by placing the bottom layer of the tier you are working with on a thin cake board, exactly the same size. Use a cake lifter to slide the cake layers (already covered in butter icing and jam) on top of each other. Make sure the marks on the side of each cake layer line up to ensure that the two sides of each cut sponge fit back together evenly. Finish stacking with the most evenly-baked base you have reserved for the top of each tier. If the layers don't perfectly match, don't worry give them each a little turn until the tier looks even.
Step 6: Cake dowels
Dowelling rods are used in the base and the middle tiers to support the weight of the tiers above. Starting with the bottom tier, imagine where the middle tier is going to sit. Insert dowels into the bottom tier in a circle just smaller in circumference than the middle tier. Push them into the cake all the way down to the board. Press some into the centre for additional support.
Using a marker pen, mark the dowels 3mm (1/4in) above where they stick out of the cake. One at a time remove a dowel from the cake. Score around the mark with sharp scissors, snapping at the scored point. Insert each dowel back into its hole. Repeat.
Once you have cut your dowels to fit and they are all poking out of the cake, place a cake board on top of the cake to see if it sits relatively flatly on the dowels. Remove any incriminating dowels that are causing the board to feel uneven, replacing with new dowels and cutting to fit.
Step 7: Assembling
It's a good idea to transport tiers separately and assemble the cake in the place where it is going to be displayed and/or cut. With another pair of hands to help with lifting, use a sturdy cake lifter to pick up and slide the middle tier on top of the bottom tier. Carefully twist the cake until it looks even. Finish by lifting the top tier on top of the middle tier.
For the most even finish, use a small palatte knife to 'grout' extra buttercream in between the layers and smooth over. Dust the outside edges of the cake in icing sugar for a softened, vintage effect. Don't worry if your cake isn't perfectly perpendicular. Decorating with flowers and berries will draw the eye away from imperfections.
Click the links below for more triple-tested cake recipes and baking ideas:
Watch part 2 of how to make a simple celebration cake here
10 of the best triple-tested sponge cake recipes
Make your cake look stunning with advice from Stefi Jakab
15 of the best triple-tested baking recipes
Find our triple-tested celebration cake recipe in the June issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands 8 May 2014.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
