I use wooden dowels at the moment for the few tiered cakes I Make but after reading horror stories I think I better try SPS.

I'm making my friends wedding cake in April and I'm taking it to the venue which is about 40 min drive and i'm panicking now that it'll not make it to the venue

Does anyone know where I can buy them in the UK, I can order them off the net so anywhere in the UK is ok.

I don't want to be putting the wedding cake pic in the 'cake disasters' gallery

there was a post on this firly recently, and the outcome was that you cant get the proper sps, but you can get wiltons version of it online.
(i tried a search to find the post - but found nothing, but i think thats just cause the sites not working for me just now)
xx

What am I going to do now...all these people saying wooden dowels are no good and the wilton colums are not as good.

Waht if my friends wedding cake collapses because i use wooden dowels

Oh well, I just have to take the chance.

http://www.almondart.com/acatalog/Decorative_cake_pillars_and_accessories.html uk version.
i just think loads of people use dowels without a problem, as long as you are careful and use use enough support, it should be fine, with careful transportation. u could stack it in single layers, do it all onsite.
xx

I was going to stack it on site but I called my tutor (as I don't go to classes anymore) and she said it's best to stack before...I don't know what to do.

I think I will just have to drive at 10 mph, it might take me about 3 hours to get there but at least the cake will be in 1 peice

I've been to he Almond art shop...they are very helpful.

Hi there, lot of decorators in UK use wooden dowels. I think its best if you go to the venue and assemble the cake there. Once I did a three tier wedding cake and delivered it already stacked. It was only 30 minutes drive. What I did was, I used a tiny bit of royal icing under each tier. So it was more secured.


HTH.

peach, I think you'll find that a lot of these disasters have happened to people who make their cakes from box mixes. Those are nowhere near as structurally stable as a scratch cake as they are much softer and airier. If you have used a scratch recipe (which I'm sure as a Brit you have !), then you should be fine. I never stack more than two tiers together for transport though, I always finish wedding cakes on site if I can, much less stressful! Good luck!

Edited to say: If it reassures you a bit this cake:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_839353.html

survived the 1hr+ trip to Amsterdam in the middle of August just as you see it here, fully stacked and decorated and supported with wooden dowels (and like Bashini with a little royal under each cake board). Don't stress it, it can be done!

You can use wooden dowel and have a cake stable enough for transport -
1. make sure you use the firm mdf type boards for each layer not just cardboard
2. use plenty of dowels - at least 4 per layer
3. make sure everything is very level - be careful when you cut the dowel
4. use a centre pole - a thicker piece of dowel that goes through all the layers and the boards, pre drill the boards before you put the cake on!

Takes a bit of time but the cake won't budge once it's assembled,

Good luck!

Did you try on this website?

http://www.design-a-cake.co.uk/

They have lots and lots of things, and since I live in Italy, I order often from them....it's very helpful and the goods arrive very quickly (whereas from the USA it takes a lot and you may have problems with the customs)

Thanks to everyone for their advice, and yes bonjovibabe I do bake from scratch...I have made tiered cakes before and not had a problem but they usually sit directly on top of each other.

I just tried to attach a pic of the cake i'm making but it's too big and I don't know how to change it.

I was going to use dummy cakes between each tier as you wont see the pillars as the roses will be around the edge.

I thought with the dummy cakes it will be a bit more secure

I e mailed the company that supply SPS in the US and they've e mailed me back with their UK supplier...there's no web sit so I will call them tomorrow to see if they stock SPS and i'll let all you UK people know

sugarshack.co.uk i use them all the time for my cake supplies their customer service is second to none and they have gone way,way beyond the call of duty for me on more than one occasion.

hope this helps please post here and let us know how you got on.

Well, I called the number that was sent to me.
I asked if they sold cake decorating products, they wanted to know where I got their number so I explained...he went away and when he came back he asked if I was calling from a shop, I explained I wasn't, I just make cakes as a hobby and he said 'sorry I can't help you'
end of call.

So I will now look at Sugarshack......