I have a friend who wants a cake set up like this, with apples beneath and between the tiers, for a bridal shower. I don't have much experience with anything but stacked cakes, so I'm kind of at a loss as to how to support the cake. I thought of push-in pillars, but don't want them to show. Plus, how would I do the apples under the cake? Any ideas?

Here's the link, just in case the attachment doesn't work: http://www.eventstoatdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/apple-wedding-cake.jpg

Thanks for your help!

Assuming they are real apples:
Each cake on it's own cake board. Dowel through the cake and into the apple above. Cake board above sits on the 4 dowels in each apple. I would think the bottoms and maybe tops of the apples have been cut to make them a bit flatter. Not sure how to stop them leaking juice on the cake. I would also make the holes in the apples after rotating them to find the best part of the apple to dowel and to make sure all the dowels end up at the same height.

Assuming they are fake apples:
This is the option I would try and go for. I think the ones in the picture are fake since they are all perfect and all have leaves. You could puncture them to make holes for dowels or make bigger holes for push in pillars, although I think your apples couldn't be placed right on the edges if you use the pillars but the cake overall would still look good.

You might try emailing the creator of this cake.

http://www.wedding-cakes-london.co.uk/Wedding_Cakes/Wedding_cake/030_apple_wedding_cake.html

Thanks for your help. I love the idea of using fake apples; I'll have to see if she'll go for that. Anyone happen to know where to get good-quality ones? It's hard to tell from pictures online.

Thanks again!

I would also use fake apples. It's going to be hard to get the same size apples in the amount that you need to create this cake. Fake apples should be the same size giving you a level cake. Michael's sells fake fruit.

It states the apples are fresh, I would worry about the juice from the apples if they were to have something go thru them, it is a very different design then I have seen before. I like it. I looked at the red apple picture and you could see one apple in it not quite level like the others so I would assume there is something going thru. Very interesting concept. I to wonder how it is done.

http://www.wedding-cakes-london.co.uk/Wedding_Cakes/Wedding_cake/030b_apple_wedding_cake.html

Great eye catching supports. The plum design also looks great. Fake fruit is a great idea. If you wanted to use real apples maybe creating the hole for the dowel ahead of time would allow the hole to dry out enough to not leak juice, maybe?? Paint inside the hole with lemon juice to stop browning. Will add this to my list of things to test drive.