I was wondering if anyone knew of an easy way to explain how to remove cake dowels to a costumer... I am not all that familiar with it myself and am doweling a cake for the first time tomorrow I know how to put them in but am unsure on how to take them out or how to explain it to a costumer. Anyone have experience with this? Thank you

If you're talking about the 4" dowels that are in each tier ..... "remove upper tier. Remove dowels from lower cake. Cut."

There's not much to it. Just reach down and pull them out.

Using clean hands or sterilized tweezers, grab hold of dowel firmly and pull straight up to remove. Discard dowel.

Straight up is important- to me, at least. I can picture someone yanking those puppies at an angle and tearing through the cake.

I also give them either a dowel count or a visual so they know how many to look for and remove.

I created a diagram that I give to friends along with the cake. It's a Publisher file. If you would like me to email you a copy, send me a pm with your email address.

poohsmamma, I think it is great that you go above and beyond to give your clients all the extra info, but I can't help but laugh to think about people who actually need a DIAGRAM to pull a wooden stick out of a cake!

Debi, I'm making cakes for family members who usually get their sheet cakes at Wally world. This is their first foray into the land of the tiers! They usually need a road map.

I once catered a wedding with someone and she cut and served the cake even though she wasn't supposed to. I saw big slabs of cake on plates and saw plates come back to the kitchen with dowel rods on them. Yeah, she was a real pro. Just one of the many reasons I will never work with her again. I feel if I explain it and give them a diagram, the rest is their problem.

Thank you all for the info!