I don't have any rod dowels and I have to make a tiered cake and so I am wondering if popsicle sticks will work or should I run and get some dowels?? any other suggestions on what would work??

Popsicle sticks will NOT work. You'll need something cylindrical (like straws). What are the diameters of your cakes?

Drinking straws will work, i don't personally like to use them on a large cake, but there are many who do. Make sure they are not the bendy kind

thank you!! I thought they would work and probably would have tried it out to find out. I will be using a 10' on top of a 12' probably

I use straws in my stacked cakes. I just use a lot of them when I don't use dowel rods.

how any straws to do recommend to hold up a 10 inch cake?

I think last weekend I used 8-10 straws in a circular pattern. Close enough that you don't have to put them in the middle too but far enough out that the outer edge is supported too.

I think that the rule of thumb for dowels of any kind is one for every pan size inch, so an 8" would be 8 dowels, and so on. Good Luck

If you have skewers, putting them inside the straws helps to add some strength and stability to the cakes.

HTH

Michele

Thank you so much for all your help!! I'll let you know how it turns out