I bought a set of the Wilton plastic dowels today. Are they used just like wooden dowels for stacking, or do I have to use the separator plates with them? Do the plates show on a stacked cake?

Sorry, dumb questions, I've done plenty of stacked cakes before but I'm panicking about my Friday cake for some reason.

I like them much better than wooden dowels. You can use them just the same as the wooden ones, you dont need plates, just the cardboards. Marilyn
(You could use plates too, if they are very heavy)

I was nervous about using them too but used them for my first wedding cake last weekend and they worked great. I transported the bottom two layers assembled and they held up great! Went over a giagantic bump and nothing moved or drooped or anything. Will definitely use them again.

HTH

I always use them. I feel I can get them all cut evenly, where as with the wooden dowels I feel like they are never even. I don't use the plates with them just the cake circles. I love them! The only store that sells them in my area is always running out so I must not be the only one who uses them.

They work very well. I use them with foamboard circles cut to fit my tiers exactly.

They're so much cleaner and easier to cut than wooden dowels, I'll probably never switch back.

That's all I've ever used! I use mine with the separator plates.


Amy

I used them for the first time a couple weeks ago. I always used cardboard and wood dowels, but got scared about supporting a 14" layer on cardboard and a few little wood dowels. So I got the plastic dowels (can use a few less than wood) and separator plates (can use even less dowels with those because they won't flex like a cardboard can). All in all, it was a good thing. The only part I missed was being able to assemble more ahead of time, since you can't do the giant "stake through the heart" trick with separator plates that you can with cardboard.