Most self-taught cake designers have one thing in common: they don't know exactly what they don't know.

That's not a criticism — it's the nature of learning on your own. You fill in the gaps as you go, work around difficulties, find shortcuts. And at some point, you feel like you have a complete practice, because you no longer see what's missing.

Here are five questions to find out where you really stand.

1. What's the internal structure of your cake? Well-built tiered cakes should hold without any problem. If yours sinks slightly in the centre or leans after a few hours, the recipe isn't the issue. It's the assembly itself.

The most common reason: layers of cream that are too thick and uneven, combined with a biscuit that's too moist. The cream keeps moving after assembly, and the cake follows.

The solution isn't to add dowels everywhere. It's to understand the balance between sponge density, cream quantity, and resting time before covering.

✳ If you can't explain why your cake ...