Quick answer
A three tier wedding cake needs pans in three sizes, dowels and boards for each tier, a heavy turntable, a long offset spatula and a lifter big enough for the base tier. A 6, 9 and 12 inch stack serves 101 at wedding portions.
Southern Champion White One-Piece Bakery Boxes, 10 x 10 x 6 in, 100 Count
A 6 inch tall box clears a tall two layer cake on a board, which the commoner 5 inch boxes do not, and a case of 100 is the unit anyone selling cakes buys in.
Best for: selling or gifting cakes at volume
Check price on AmazonA tiered cake is a different job from a large cake, and the difference is structural. Every tier below the top carries the weight of everything above it, which means boards, dowels and a centre dowel rather than simply stacking cake on cake.
A 6, 9 and 12 inch stack serves 101 at wedding portions. Work out any other combination on the tiered cake calculator.
Everything in this kit
The tiers
| Item | Qty | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat Daddio's Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pans, 6 x 3 in, 2 Piece Set The top tier, 3 inches deep for the tall proportion that modern stacks are cut to. | 1 | $20.49 | Check price |
| Fat Daddio's Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pans, 8 x 2 in, 2 Piece Set The middle tier, or the base of a two tier cake. | 1 | $24.69 | Check price |
| Fat Daddio's Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pan, 12 x 3 in The base tier. At 12 inches the outside sets well before the middle, which is what the strips below are for. | 1 | $22.91 | Check price |
| Wilton Bake-Even Cake Pan Strips, 6 Piece Set Enough strips to wrap every tier in one bake, which is the difference between flat tiers and a day of levelling. | 1 | $24.92 | Check price |
| The tiers subtotal | $93 |
The structure
| Item | Qty | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilton Cake Support Rods and Caps Stacking Kit, 14 Piece Dowels with caps. Cut one to the height of the tier, then cut the rest to match that one rather than measuring each in place. | 1 | $10.99 | Check price |
| Wilton Decorator Preferred Round Separator Plate, 12 in Spreads the upper tier across the whole dowel ring instead of onto whichever dowels happen to be tallest. | 1 | $18.36 | Check price |
| Wilton 10 Inch White Cake Boards, 10 Count A board under every tier. A 10 inch board sits under an 8 inch cake with an inch of margin to lift by. | 1 | $14.99 | Check price |
| Wilton Silver 12 Inch Round Cake Bases, Grease-Resistant The grease resistant base under the whole stack, which plain cardboard cannot do for more than a few hours. | 1 | $8.06 | Check price |
| The structure subtotal | $52 |
The finish
| Item | Qty | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ateco Revolving Cake Decorating Stand, Aluminum Turntable with Cast Iron Base A heavy turntable is the only way to hold a scraper still against a tier for a full revolution. | 1 | $68.26 | Check price |
| Ateco Offset Spatula, 9.75 in Stainless Steel Blade, Wood Handle Spans a 12 inch top in a single sweep, so the top is flat rather than ridged where passes met. | 1 | $15.38 | Check price |
| Ateco Stainless Handle Bench Scraper, 5.9 x 3 in The straight vertical edge that makes a sharp side. It matters more on a tier than anywhere else, because a tier that is not straight will not stack straight. | 1 | $9.99 | Check price |
| Ateco 783 Cake Decorating Set, 52 Stainless Steel Tubes, 55 Piece A full tip library, because a wedding cake tends to need the one tip you do not own. | 1 | $40.95 | Check price |
| The finish subtotal | $135 |
Getting it there
| Item | Qty | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat Daddio's Stainless Steel Jumbo Spatula and Cake Lifter, 16.5 in Lifts a 12 inch tier without flexing, which is the difference between moving a cake and dropping one. | 1 | $26.69 | Check price |
| Southern Champion White One-Piece Bakery Boxes, 10 x 10 x 6 in, 100 Count Transport each tier boxed and separate, and stack on site. A stacked cake in a car is a gamble regardless of how good the dowelling is. | 1 | $91.93 | Check price |
| Ohuhu Cake Carrier with Lid and Handle, fits 10 in Cakes A locking carrier for the smaller tiers, which is what stops one sliding into another on a corner. | 1 | $23.99 | Check price |
| Getting it there subtotal | $143 |
Running total
$423
15 items across 4 groups
Prices are the figures Amazon returned when this list was built and they move often, so treat the total as an order of magnitude rather than a quote. Buy the list in stages if it helps: the groups are ordered so the earlier ones are the ones you cannot work without.
Take this list to the shop
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What you can skip
Skip stacking the cake at home if it has to travel. Transport the tiers boxed and separately and assemble them where the cake will be served. Every professional does this, and the reason is simply that no amount of dowelling survives a hard brake.
Skip the fondant if the couple have not asked for it. A well finished buttercream tier looks current and tastes better, and fondant adds a whole extra failure mode on the day that matters most.
What to upgrade first
Upgrade the mixer before anything else on this list. Making buttercream for three tiers in a 5 quart bowl means three or four batches, and batches differ. The KitchenAid 7 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer (KSM70SKXX) at $635.00 does the same job in one, which matters for colour consistency more than for time.
Before the cake leaves the kitchen
Cream cheese and whipped cream frostings need refrigeration, and plain buttercream softens in a warm room long before it is unsafe, which is a structural problem rather than a health one. Royal icing made with raw egg white, and mousses set with raw egg, are worth swapping for pasteurised egg white or meringue powder when you are baking for children, older guests or anyone pregnant. Ask about allergies before you start rather than after, because cross contact happens at the mixing bowl. And selling cakes rather than giving them away is governed by your state cottage food law, which varies a great deal.
The other kits
- The Beginner Cake Decorating Kit A working beginner setup is a pair of 8 inch pans, a turntable, a bench scraper, one offset spatula, a leveler...
- The Intermediate Cake Decorating Kit The intermediate step is a stand mixer, a cast iron turntable and anodized aluminum pans in three sizes. These...
- The Expert Cake Decorating Kit The expert setup is a 7 quart bowl lift mixer, a full tip library, a cast iron turntable and pans in five size...
- The Chocolate Work Kit Chocolate work needs couverture rather than chips, a thermometer accurate to a degree, and a cool hard surface...
- The Kit for Selling Cakes From Home Selling cakes changes what the equipment has to do: the same result twice, at volume, packaged to travel. That...
- The printable shopping list Every kit on one page with running totals, built to print.
How this list was put together
Every item was chosen from manufacturer specifications, published capacities and the consensus of verified owner reviews, not hands-on testing. Every price is the figure Amazon returned when this page was built. Researched guidance, not professional advice.