I've made 2 before, just for family and friends so I winged it but I would like to know if I actually made them the right way or not.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1491598
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1448937
I stacked the cakes with a styrofoam wedge in between so they would be at an angle and drove a center dowel through the whole thing (individual tiers were doweled as well).
Now my question is when I drove the dowel through did it force pieces of styrofoam into the cake below?
I didnt think about that issue until after I had made the cakes, and due to
the way they were cut and served the center dowel was never exposed (we hacked around it to avoid disassembling it).
Do I need to put the hole in the wedges before I stack and if so how do I line everything up so the dowel goes through the cakes?
Or do I put holes in the cake boards mount the center dowel first and drop the cakes down it like a fire pole?
I'm so confused.
I've seen the pros on cake shows hammer through cake and foam all at once and I always wondered what happened to the displaced foam, does it end up in the cake?
Sorry for rambling...

You did an excellent job! I love the cakes they look really good. I have asked myself the same question. Truly I believe there might be a tiny piece of styrofoam going through the cake as you do have to dowel it, but I doubt anyone is going to get sick over a crumb or two. It's not like they are eating pure styrofoam, so I wouldn't worry. The there is the issue of making the hole in the wedge before assembling the cake. you will never get that aligned properly. What you will have is a disaster. If the professionals have no problem with a crumb or two you shouldn't either.

I HAVE seen people do the firepole thing. Looked easy and solved the stryrofoam issue.

I hot glue my styrofoam wedges to foamcore cut to fit, so I have foamcore above and below the styrofoam. In my wee little brain, the styrofoam bits are scraped off (and hopefully not replaced LOL) by the foamcore.


ETA: your cakes are wonderful!!!

The reason you drive it down thru the whole thing making holes as you go, is so that dowel is snug and tight, and there isn't a bit of wiggle room which can happen if you are pre making your holes. Not to mention trying to line them up perfectly.

You want to get it all in place, and hammer it thru one time. Nice and snug, good to go. Make sure your dowel is sharppity-sharp, and go slow, and you shouldn't be shoving scraps of anything anywhere. That sharp dowel is merely pushing the material out and down away from it from it as you gently hammer along. You would get more flaking and bits and pieces by pre drilling.

hey Jamie, what happened to all your pictures, why did you remove them? Ireally like to see peoples cakes who have great comments to share, and you always do.

I'm pretty new in caking and have no suggestion for you, just wanted to say your cakes are super awesome!

Whew, okay so I don't have to mess with pre-drilling the wedges. I just kept wondering where the foam went. I always use a sharp dowel and it only takes one whack per board to get it through so I should be okay.
It's nice to know I was doing something right!
Thanx

well I saw 242 people made that cake a favorite, that should tell you you did it right alright haha......gorgeous work

also, I was told by a pro in here, a man, forget who...if you sharpen dowel to much to a point it can break off into your cake....just a bit more food for thought

Really? That's a new one. I can't imagine someone's cake being so hard that it would cause the tip of a dowel to snap off. Interesting. Anywho, sharpen your dowel as sharp as you want it. Sharper the better.