ok so i just delivered and set up this cake. but the weather today was not good for an outside party but the customer wanted it any ways. after assembling the cake it started to bulge around the sides. was it the weather, (raining and humid) or was it something i did. i did not use any dowels should i have. first cake i was paid for so still don't know all the little tricks. anyone have any suggestion????

I always dowel multi-tiered cakes. For that configuration, the bottom 2 tiers should have dowels to support the tiers on top.

First let me say that your cake is adorable, and secondly for peace of mind I always dowel my multi tiered cakes. I would say that the bottom tier is bulging because it wasn't doweled to support the weight of the tier on top. Each tier that has another on top of it should be doweled for support.

cakes are heavy so the bottom 2 layers definitely need some sort of support like dowels.

thanks. i wish i would have done it now. i feel so bad. i havent heard anything from the people since i left there but i am hoping that it did not fall over or anything. next time i will definitly use dowels. i guess i can just chalk this up to a lesson learned.

its also a good idea to run a long dowel through the center of stacked cakes. cute, by the way.

In a pinch, if you do not have wooden dowels on hand, plastic straws from McDonald's will do the trick.

I had the same problem last weekend with a two tiered cake. The bottom cake was doweled, but it still bulged.

On a multi-tiered cake, dowels between each 2 layer tier are a must. Good sturdy cakeboards cut to the size of the tier are also necessary.

If a tier bulges after the next tier is placed on it, it probably means that the dowels were cut too short--this causes the cake to actually bear some of the weight from the tier above. Ideally, only the dowels bear the weight of the tier above.

HTH
Rae

I was told if the cake is more than two layers sitting directly on top of each other, it needs to be doweled.

It's very pretty!! I think dowels in the bottom and middle tiers would have worked like a charm!

thanks. i have definitley learned my lesson. thank goodness it did not collapse though. i did finally talk to the customer and he said the cake was great, thank god. and even though there were a few problems with this cake i have recieved a couple of more orders so it must not have been to bad. but thanks again to you all for giving me some much needed advice. i guess it is time to take a cake class so i can learn all this stuff.

deff. use dowels! plus you have to concider the weight of the fondant.

cake looks good.

It's a beautiful cake and I'm sure no one noticed!

Dowels are a must.
The cake still looks great though. It took me a minute to realize what was bulging!

i like your cake

when you all say dowels do you mean the pillars on a round plate the size of the cake layer. ??? Or do you mean dowel rods. I'm confused

All I have to day is you cake is beautifull.

very cute but you really need to have dowels running through it