I ordered the straws from www.bubbleteasupply.com.

Options: $3.75 per pack (40 straws)
$35 per case (4,000 straws)

However, before my next purchase, I'm checking my local Asian market! Thanks for the tip.

You guys who are talking about SPS and not being able to "invest" in it - you do realize that it's crazy cheap, right? And that you can just pass the cost on to your customer? SFS is expensive. SPS is cheap, disposable and sturdy.

I went to Global Sugar Art and couldn't find the SPS. Is this what you're talking about?

http://globalsugarart.com/product.php?id=21160

Those are the legs but you still need the plates. If you look on the left there's a link for Tiered cake supplies.

HI,
I would like to know what kind of support boards each of you are using that have had 'dowel' shifting. I just can't see how dowels will shift if placed right and on top of boards that haven't given way.

I went to a DOS where Collette P. was years ago and she said she stopped using the wilton wooden dowels because they are not real wood any more. She said one snapped on her and that is why she won't use the wilton ones. She said she gets her wooden dowels from a hardware store...

Does anyone know if the CK wooden dowels are wood?

Also, don't the larger plastic dowels cut into your servings?
I used to use the plastic dowels without the plates, but an instructor told me that I was wasting cake space and reducing my servings.

THANKS!
Leslie

Unless the dowel is exactly straight, 90 degrees vertical, it can give way. Cake is soft and doesn't necessarily hold the dowel in place. That's the beauty of systems like SPS and SFS - the legs lock onto the plate. No shifting is even possible.

missmersh-What else is funny about the Wilton ones is how much more they charge. I was buying some at Hobby Lobby one day and they were out of the ones I always bought. I kept looking around, found some regular ones in the woodworking section for about half the cost. The same exact things. It's funny how they will charge more for the brand name.

I have had wooden dowels shift on me twice in a year. It just happens sometimes, and I won't use them anymore.

I took a class with Colette Peters 2 years ago. I remember her cautionary tale very differently.

She sent her assistant to the hardware store to buy dowels. He came back from Home Depot with dowels that later disintegrated once in the cake. It turns out that they were not hardwood dowels, but pressed wood dowels that absorb moisture. She repeated more than once, "So, make sure that you buy hardwood dowels!" I never heard her caution against using Wilton dowels, at all.

Wilton dowels are HARDWOOD dowels that are food grade (no presticides or preservatives, etc.) and that is one of the things that makes them so expensive. Hardwood dowels splinter & pressed wood dowels snap pretty straight across.

That said, I have bought hardwood dowels at Wal-Mart in the craft department. I've used them as long central dowels because the Wilton ones are too short for that purpose. I clean those dowels with alcohol and coat them with crisco before inserting.

I now prefer Wilton plastic dowels and hidden pillars.

Rae

Blakescakes,
Thank you for the clarification. It has been over 2 years since I was at that DOS and I just didn't remember quite clearly...(I have had a baby since then and I think I lost some of my memory). LOL I knew she warned against using some sort of dowel, but I guess I got confused. SORRY for misrepresenting the story.

ON another note, no one has still answered my question regarding the board support they use when using the wooden dowels. Are you just using plain cake circles without covering them? Cause if so, that may be the problem...the cardboard gets soggy, therefore causing the cake to sink down into the dowels.

I cover BOTH sides of my cardboards with wax paper so they do not get soggy. I bought some thicker dowels today for my bottom tier....you guys have me so nervous now and I have my 2nd wedding cake this weekend.

LeahS, Thank you for explaining why the dowels may shift. I would have thought that the weigh of the top tiers would put the needed pressure on the dowels so that couldn't happen. I don't have time to order the SPS or SFS, so I will just have to PRAY.


Summernoelle,
I agree about the price!!! Walmart carries WILTON dowels for $1.96 and at Michaels they were $3.29. I usually buy my dowels at walmart for this reason. My cake supply store carries CK dowels, but I think they are like 2.99 or something. I found some today in the woodworking section of Michael's like you mentioned for 1.99.

I would RATHER use plastic dowels, but couldn't they shift as well???

Thanks for all the responses!!

I think the white plastic tubes are less likely to shift than the wooden dowels. Since the hollow centers fill up with cake, I think that helps with the shifting issues. I use these a lot if I only have a 2 tiered cake.

I have some plastic dowels, so I might just go ahead and use those in my bottom tier and the bigger dowels in my middle, and the normal wooden ones in my 2nd to top tier. I am doing a 4 tier cake (my biggest one yet).
I was going to go ahead and assemble 3 of the tiers and just put the top tier on at the location...but now I am too nervous to even do that. I just REALLY hate assembling on site. UGH!!!!!!!!

How come all the cake decorators (i.e. Duff et al) you see on tv assemble theirs in the shop and then deliver and they seem so smooth and confident about it. I delivered one wedding cake and I could hardly breath the whole way there!

well, I just buy the really fat wood skewers...And I bought a pair of dog toe nail clippers to cut them (I know it sounds gross, but they were never used on a dog)....It works great, is fast, easy, and hopefully I'm not jinxing myself! But, It has worked well for me....But, I've not done anything taller than three tiers, I think If I were doing a super tall cake, I might want something better.

Duff only does fondant cakes. The fondant actually holds things together from the outside.

I use the Wilton wooden dowels, buy them at Wal-Mart and I also buy my center dowel there in the craft dept. Knock on wood, but I have never had a problem with them, I use foamboard for my base and under each tier. For the base, I use at least 3-1/4 foam boards glued together, they are very sturdy and so far so good.

can you buy precut foam core? I've only seen it in sheets at michaels and i don't know how to cut it in a perfect circle?

I have always used the plastic dowels by Wilton and I love them! However, I might try the bubble tea straws because of cost! Thanks for the advice!

I have had several cake disasters with my stacked cakes and thought it was because of the system I was using but I believe now my cake was not falling it was my fondant sliding off of my cake from using whipped icing under my fondant. I t never occured to me not to use the whipped icing. This even happened when I used a white chocolate cream cheese icing under my fondant.
From now on it will be covered in buttercream!

I have 7 in cakes stacked and its 6 in high. I forgot to dowel...it's looking ok...I have almost finished the paint on it for a wine barrel cake. I have used very thin layer of buttercream between layers... I am so worried now. Do I need to dowel now and repaint? Pls help. It's been 2 days now.

cheers

susangeorge1965 -- Although this thread is 7 years old, the rules still apply.  I'm not sure I understand your question, but it sounds like you have seven, 1" high cakes stacked on top of each other with a thin layer of buttercream between each cake.  (Don't understand how that can end up being 6" tall....)  Also don't understand the "2 days now".

Basically, if you've stacked cakes over 4", you need to dowel.  Just hammer a wooden dowel in the center of the stack and then carry it VERY carefully!    You should only have to repair the 1/4" hole left by the wooden dowel.  If you have a cardboard or foam board base for your cake construction, hammer the dowel down through the base.

i agree with apti's sound advice and i think susangeorge means a 7" cake that is 6" tall?

If I'm making a 6" tall cake, I put 3" of cake on one board, 3" of cake on another board, put 3-4 large bore straws in one cake, stack the other on top, and then ice it.  If it's going to travel some distance, I might put in a central dowel [sharpened hardwood, cleaned and then greased with crisco].

I am sorry For not explaining clearly. I have 2.5 layers of chocolate cake measuring 7 in. It's stacked on top of each other and the height of this cake is 6 in. After painting it and it's almost ready I realised that I forgot to dowel. It's seems ok now...just worried that it might topple over during transportation. The cake is on a Masonite board..so I am just worried.

It is a wine barrel cake

cheers

That looks GREAT!  Since the board is masonite, I'd suggest 2 wooden dowels for stability.  Measure them to be about 1/8" below the top of your cake and hammer in until you only have about 1/4" of dowels above the cake.  Now, very gently, push in with your finger or a pencil or pen until the dowels are just below the surface.  Since you've painted, you should be able to repair the 1/4" holes left by the dowels with frosting/fondant/paint.  

If you just want to use one dowel, that should be fine as long as you are very careful how this is moved/transported. 

This is a case where a thin, wooden dowel is better than a larger bo-bo straw or tube since the wooden dowel won't displace more than a tiny fraction of the cake.

Please post a photo of the finished cake!  This is beautiful.

Thanks Apti...will dowel it soon. Thanks heaps for advice...

Cheers

susan

This Is the finished cake...

cheers

sue

really cute!

Oh, Susan!  That is a work of art!   Did Nigel even notice all the work and effort you put in on the cake once he saw the bottle of Glenfiddich?   

People are always asking for ideas for cakes for men -- you Nailed this one!