I am new to this (about a month). I have made three tiered cakes. Two of them had butter cakes on the bottom tier and one had red velvet. The one with red velvet did not hold up very well. I did use wooden dowels, but it still seemed to compress a little. I would like to try different recipes, but I'm afraid some of my recipes are not dense enough. Can someone give me some suggestions on recipes that are as firm as the butter cake? Thanks in advance!

were you using fondant? that might be the problem, rather than stacking - not all cakes can stand up to the weight of the fondant. only done red velvet once, but it was a pretty soft cake, while my regular sponge is sturdier!
if your cake is constructed properly, then it shouldnt make any difference with the recipe used, cause its the suport system that bares the weight.
xx