The simple answer is to make it easier to see the cake. But that’s not all they do. There are other reasons too. Here they are. Top tier, bottom tier and somewhere in between.
Why do wedding cakes have three tiers? It’s really simple. They allow the guests to see the cake as a whole. If you’ve had a tiered wedding, you’ll know what I mean. The guests can clearly see the tiers of the cake even though there may be some hidden tiers.
Why do wedding cakes have two tops? The first is to encourage guests to take a piece home with them. The second is to provide an easily manageable way to add icing to the cake. Let me explain…
First of all, take a slice of your cake. Place it on a cake server. You could use a serving fork or a round cake tool (useful for pastry arts). Now use one of your hands to touch the top of the cake with your fingertips. If you’re a righty, try to touch the left side of the cake with your right hand. Otherwise, have someone help you.
The reason the cake has to be served on a cake server is that it makes handling the cake easy. The tiers simply slide off the cake server to be picked up later. Why do wedding cakes have to be served on a cake server? Well, imagine this situation. When you’re in the desert, you don’t want to drop the tiers to pick them up unless you’re standing next to the counter.
The top tier is at the back of the room and guests will have to walk up to the table to help themselves. That takes time and makes people crowded. Also, guests tend to hold onto their plates until they get to the top of the cake. This results in a lot of crumbs on the cake that they have to clean up. The top tier is at eye level so it’s impossible for guests to trip over the crumbs and they have a much easier time picking up the cake themselves.
Another reason the top tiers have to be served on a cake server is because you don’t want them touching anything else. Let’s say there’s a candle in the center of the cake. If the candle burns unevenly, the cake can catch fire and cause a panic attack for the guests. A cake server keeps the cake away from the center. Plus, you don’t have to worry about burning food as the candles are always put in the back.
Finally, some couples use the size of their cakes as an excuse not to have dessert. They say that the size of a cake doesn’t matter and that whatever they want to eat is fine. In other words, they’ll have whatever they want. However, by having three tiers your guests have something to write home about, and it also gives them a good excuse not to overeat.
Now, if you’re looking for a reason not to have three tiers on your wedding cakes, here it is: health issues. The hot cakes can cause an outbreak of nausea, diarrhea, or blood poisoning, not to mention stomach aches. It’s also not very practical, because you’d have to cut up most of the cake. You’d only need the top tier.
There are also a few other reasons to have your wedding cake made in layers. For one thing, this allows you to offer guests different flavors in their truffles or cupcakes. It allows each person to have their favorite flavor, without having to offer each wedding guest three desserts. Also, it makes it easier to decorate. You don’t have to decorate the cakes like cupcakes because they’re round and much easier to arrange than traditional cakes.
Another question you might have is why do wedding cakes have three tiers if they already look tall? The reason that they look so tall is because the three separate tiers of the cake are frosted with white frosting. Why do you think guests like it so much? They get to taste the frosting first, then the fruit and then the wedding cake itself.
Finally, if you want your cake to have a decorative cake topper, you can have it with three tiers and it will still look great. Why would you want the top tier flat and the bottom one curved? It just doesn’t look good. Instead, you could have the top tier a little bit curved and the bottom one a little bit flat, but with all the same decoration. A three-tier cake with a plain frosting between the layers looks just as elegant and beautiful as a three tier cake with a decorated cake topper.