What kind of cake would be best

[Missymoomum]

I'm making and decorating a cake for my mum and step dad's anniversary party on Saturday and as there are quite a few people going i thought i would make a 2 tier cake. Without really thinking it through in advance I've gone and bought a smaller tin to make the top tier and it's now struck me that my usual sponge cake with filling in the middle isn't going to work unless I fork out more for 2 small sandwich tins. So, could anyone advise me on what kind of cake i could make instead that i could then ice? I had thought about a chocolate sponge but I'm not sure whether i would really want to ice that with fondant as that seems best suited to buttercream and i dont' want to do that as we have to travel to my parents the day before and i don't have a container big enough to transport ready assembled! I've also thought about madeira but that's always struck me as very dry or a fruit cake but i've never made one and i'm scared!! Suggestions would be very much appreciated thanks!

Don't do fruit, it's too late for a traditional "fruit" cake aka wedding cake

Your normal vicky sponge is a really good bet. If you're confident with your recipe then stick with it.

To stack cakes, to be on the safe side I'd usually put pillars/supports into the base cake to stop the top tier from sinking in

Also, you don't need sandwich tins for a sandwich cake.

Bake cake

Allow to cool to absolutely stone cold

Split with a bread knife.

If you're anally retentive like me then I make a guide out of breadboards so I cut the cake on two even halves.

Thanks for replying so quickly. I hadn't thought of cutting the cakes in half! I'd seen something about pillars before, can you make them or is it best to buy? I've never made a two tier cake before so it's all new to me!

You can buy the pillars in cake decorating/supply shops - there are generally quite a lot of them around. Or failing that, you can buy them online. If you're stacking one cake right on top of the other, you possibly could cheat and put a thin cake board in between the layers. If you're doing tiered cakes separated by the pillars then you may want to see whether it's worth putting dowels through the pillars.

When I do two tiers I stack the cakes one on top of the other. Better for travelling and looks nice too.

I use wooden dowels - get them from
Hobbycraft. Stick them in the bottom cake spread out like a triange shape (3) mark them just lower than the top of the icing, take out and cut to size.

Pop them back in, cut out a circle of cardboard smaller than the top tier and stick it on with a bit of buttercream.

Stack the top cake on top and that's it!

Maybe pop a ribbon around the bottoms of the cakes if the finish isn't great around the edges. Not that I am saying it won't be