I realize there is a sticky...but it's crazy long and I don't have time to read through it all!!

What do you use to "attch"/glue the SPS plate with the pointy needle thingy and the cake board together?? Just smear some buttercream on it? Curious! Want to make sure nothing happens to this cake! Thanks!

I use Royal icing or piping gel (dries sticky). But you don't have to use anything.

I personalydo not like the sps system. I hate the way the little point goes into the cake board and it just spins... even with frosting it slides the plate is so smooth I have used this system 3 times and I have had two tiers slide off those smooth plates.

I use the wilton hidden pillars cut with a pipe cutter and the plates from wilton are very ridgid and not smooth so the cake/cake board has something to grip. and they fit great into the hidden pillars... and they are so easy to find at any cake place or michaels, or hobby lobby... rather than having to order the sps.

I have cut many of the wilton pillars to fit.. but I like the "hidden" pillars, and they come from in two different sizes now the 5 inch and 9 inch...

which ever you choose just make sure that the boards/cakes are anchored well.. I have even drilled holes into the cake plates fo provide a place for that dowel rod down the middle of the cake if I am worried.

good luck...

I've used SPS for all my tiered cakes. I just slap some buttercream on to the plate and it holds the cake boards fine. The one time I forgot the cake did spin until I got the border on it. Many people actually use the rig tape. That heavy duty double sided tape. To me that seems like it would be hard to deconstruct.


Labmom, I know that many people don't like SPS so please don't take this as judgement. I'm just curious if you pre-poked the hole in your cake board before you put the cake on it? That's the only time I've had trouble slippage.
I do agree the Wilton system is definately more readily available.

When I travel with a cake I use SPS and love how rigid it is! I use expired or cheap chocolate between them. Never move at all!

labmom here.. no i never prepoked the hole, always listened for the little snap that you hear with the cakeboard would go down over it. It drives me nuts on the moving of the cake board and how smooth the plates are.. Now when I must use one I started putting non skid thin mat between the cake board and cake plate. then nothing moves. But it is just easier for me to use the wilton the availablity and cost with the way I get last minute orders and people only returning one of an item out of four. I also charge a security deposit for things not returned.

i have not tried SPS yet, but last night i finally tried the Wilton hidden pillars with Wilton plates. The plates seem very thick to me. are the SPS plates thinner? i found myself having to make a wide border to hide the plate edges + the height of my cake boards.

Using SPS usually means I'm going to do a border. I am not great at a borderless look anyway. The only time I have to do a really wide border is if I don't get either my pillars or my cakes the correct height.

You should definately check out the SPS instruction sticky
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=603925

Click the little download button to the right and you'll get Leah's fulll PDF. It's really great for understanding how to use SPS.

This is where I learned to pre-poke the hole into the cake board. This will make a huge difference in the slippage.

If you're going to use SPS regularly you either have to bake your cakes to 4 inches or get a good cutter. You can buy a little table top saw to cut the legs and the saws are pretty cheap at places like Harbor Freight. Normally I can bake and level to 4 inches but I had a cake not rise quite right on my last cake and I had quite the border That's the only issue I ever have with SPS and it just takes some getting used to.

As I always say, "You'll only forget to poke a hole in the cardboard once." Then it becomes a regular part of your routine. Someone on here said that when she purchased a package of cardboards, she just punched the holes in the whole lot of them at once before putting the cardboards away.