The bottom tier is vanilla (12") and the 2nd tier is carrot (9") of a 3 tier cake. Since the carrot cake is heavier than the vanilla cake, how many dowels would you recommend I put in the bottom tier? Didn't think of this problem when my cousin wanted the middle tier to be carrot.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Sometimes it depends on the size of your dowel.

But to support a heavy 9" cake--I'd use four to five of the 3/4 inch Wilton white plastic rod dealios--maybe one more in the middle--if you only use four the cake can topple if one dowel goes awry--five gives you insurance. I'd use 5-7 of the quarter inch ones in the circle--maybe another one in the middle too.

The dowel in the middle is not the one that goes all the way through--it's one to add support.

An important thing to remember when placing dowel is to place them where they will bear the weight of the cake--in our 9" cake example here, I'd place the dowel in a 6.5 circle because that is where they will bear the weight better.

For example if the dowel are placed in an 8" circle, they are catching the outer ring of the weight where any jarring can effect the stability.

The dowels placed at 6.5 (which would be 3.25 inches from the center point of the cake) will handily hold up everything including the outer rim of cake.

Cut all dowel the same height to each other--I cut mine a tid tad taller than the cake. Do not cut your dowel level with the surface of your cake--this is where people using straws can porentially have serious issues.

Supportive thoughts for you.

Thanks for all that info. I really appreciate the lesson, especially on not putting the dowel near the edge. That never occurred to me.

I'm wondering why cutting the dowels at the level of the cake can cause a problem.

Thanks again K8memphis.

Cute sign off

Because the surface of a cake is not perfectly level--if you cut the dowel to the top of the cake you just made uneven surface points to balance your cake upon. If you also have the dowel too far out--whoopsie!

If all the dowel are the exact same length--you will have a more gravity resistant structure.

thanks re the sign off

If you use SPS, you don't have to worry about cutting dowels at all. The legs are pre-cut and offer secure support for your cakes.