Hello everyone, really appreciate this site and I've learned so much just in the last few weeks of reading. I tried searching for this, but I couldn't find the answers. I have a few general questions on tiered cakes.

From the videos I've seen, it looks like people set their dowels flush (or just below) the buttercream level. Where do you like the dowels to rest? And when it comes time to eat, won't the icing stick to the bottom of the cake board and essentially ruin the appearance or does it really even matter at that point?

I'm sorry for such a basic question, but it's been bugging me ever since I watched my first video on making these beautiful tiered cakes. Thank you.

dowels flush with the top of the buttercreme. If you're using a crusting buttercreme, let it crust before stacking and the icing won't stick to the cardboard.

PS, look into SPS instead of dowels.

You can use a circle of waxed paper or sprinkle powdered sugar to prevent the buttercream from sticking to the bottom of the upper cake boards.