Hi-- I've been asked to do a baby shower cake for this weekend to feed 50. I may do a 14 inch round (3 layers) topped with a 9 inch round cake... or I may just make all the layers 14 inch.

My question is.. in either case, would I need to dowel? I've never done that before. Is it only necessary to dowel when you've got a smaller cake sitting on top of a larger one? Any insight would be so very appreciated!! My worst nightmare would be for a cave in!!!! Thanks!

I would say yes it would be necessary to dowel that size cake with that many layers.

If your going to put the 9" on top of the 14" then you need to use dowels.. If your just using the 14 then there's no need to use dowels because your not putting anything on top of it.

How thick will each layer be? A 2 layer(2" each layer), 14" round will serve a good 60 people. If you are only doing the 14", putting dowels in it won't help unless you have a cake board in there somewhere, but you shouldn't need that. If you stack a 9" on top, then yes, I would put dowels underneath that layer. Make sure there is a cake board under that 9" or the dowels will have nothing to support. Also, this will be a bit heavy, so make sure your base board is sturdy and thick enough to support the weight. There's a tutorial on the front page of this site on how to stack cakes, if that will help any. HTH

I would put one in, I always do, just so they do not slip...

when in doubt, i always dowl, just for my own peace of mind...

Boy oh boy, you would kick your self is something happen to that cake if you did not put in some dowels.......

I would dowel. I did a carrot 3 layered (2 inch layer) 10 inch round, while driving to work with it I could almost see it sliding in slow-mo ! I wished I would of doweled The cake was an instant "whimsical" cake. It was ok, everyone liked the cake but still was pretty sad

I always dowel...if only to keep the layers aligned. I guess I have a heavy hand, because when I start smoothing the sides, so.metimes I push the layers so much that they get out of alighment I used to just dowel for stacked cakes or if I had a slippery filling....but now I dowel pretty much everything. If I'm just using dowels to prevent layer slippage, I often use drinking straws instead of wood.

When in doubt dowel - and when your not dowel anyway

Thanks for all of your advice! I guess I'll be using a dowel.