Cake Stackers Vs Sps System Which Is Best Buy?
Decorating By hollyberry91 Updated 16 Sep 2014 , 7:58pm by leah_s
I'm so glad I found this forum! I was looking into the Cake Stackers system yesterday. I wanted to get it because I wanted to try put the topsy turvy technique. I don't know if anyone remembers but there was a topsy turvy tea pots cake on the home page yesterday or the day before. She said she used Cake Stackers. Can you do this with the SPS? I do like the price of the SPS but is it not more economical to buy the Cake Stackers once instead of buying SPS over and over again? Please let me know if I'm wrong. Thanks!!! 
sillywabbits, that is a great explaination. But, it is very difficult to lift a completely decorated cake with only cardboard, onto the already inserted sps plate, especially if it is all buttercream. It makes my filling bluge (because of the flexability or the cardboard and weight of the cake) and very dificult to not get your fingers into the cake. If the decorated cake is already on the sps plate it is so much more stable to pick up and easier to not get your fingers into the frosting. But, then you can't get the legs on the plates after that either (very difficult)!
Those are the problems I have had.
Cocobean, I completely understand your point. For my smaller cakes 6 or 8 inch I double up my cake circles anyway. For larger cakes 10inch, 12 inch and higher, I would use 1/2 inch foam core or 4 stacked cake circles. I just stack them, tape the sides and cover them in press and seal. It also adds height to the tiers which also makes them look pretty. You can frost right over the edges.
For me it depends on the decorations depending on how much I decorate before I stack but at least the full buttercream coat is on and chilled before I stack the cakes.
I can not imagine trying to put legs into a plate that already had a cake on it. That would be virtually impossible. Leah uses SPS for very large cakes so I think the trick is to use stronger boards under each tier.
I'm sorry - and I'm sure I'm wrong - you all will be real quick to holler at me that I am. But none of this sounds secure at all. BC is the only thing keeping your plate from sliding? The legs don't lock into the plate below, just gravity? You guys have been lucky is my opinion. Tipping the cake 30 degrees is not a lot. Cakes can handle being tipped like that for quite sometime. I tip mine a considerable amount while piping on side decorations while only using dowels. No slippage at all. So, I'm still not convinced it's any better or any worse than the dowel alternative (as long as you take steps to make sure your dowels are level). It's just another method.
The wilton cake plates are exactly as you describe just flat plates. So you would need to tape the board to the plate.
The SPS plates have a little nubby thing that sticks up. It looks pretty small, probably less than a 1/4 inch high but once you prep your cardboard with the little hole and place the cake on the plate and line the hole up with the nubby. You would seriously have to damage the cake to get the cake to slide off the plate. Adding the buttercream to the plate just keeps the cake from being able to spin on the plate. Some people do use tape on the SPS plate for extra security.
I wish I could draw pics on here to explain the difference between SPS and the center dowel issue. I know people have great success with dowels and and bubble tea straws so I will never say they do not work.
What I like about the SPS is there is no pressure on the lower tiers of cake. The plate takes all of the weight, no questions asked. Using just dowels, and a cake circle between the dowels and the cake means the cake circle can slide off but more importantly if the dowels aren't just perfect the weight distribution on the dowels can be an issue. If one dowel is not inserted perfectly straight it can shift. The center dowel helps with all of this but the dowel can rip right through the cake depending on the activity. Now that said. If I ever one a cake business I will be investing in a Cake Safe which uses the center dowel approach but it's not just stuck in the cake, it's actually bolted into the top and bottom of the cake safe.
SPS is great and the best part is it's cheap enough if you hate it , it wasn't an expensive experiment.
I'm so glad I found this forum! I was looking into the Cake Stackers system yesterday. I wanted to get it because I wanted to try put the topsy turvy technique. I don't know if anyone remembers but there was a topsy turvy tea pots cake on the home page yesterday or the day before. She said she used Cake Stackers. Can you do this with the SPS? I do like the price of the SPS but is it not more economical to buy the Cake Stackers once instead of buying SPS over and over again? Please let me know if I'm wrong. Thanks!!!
SPS won't do what the caddy wompus stand will do like that tea pot cake. Cake Stackers or the Caddy Wompus stands are your best bet for that. I don't do this professionally so cost wise you may find Cake Stackers to be more economical but be sure to get a deposit on this baby and inventory every piece. From what I understand there are lots of small parts and if you don't get them back from each event you will be ordering parts etc. SPS is cheap enough if they throw it away who cares and you can just add that into the cost of your cake.
sillywabbits wrote,"What I like about the SPS is there is no pressure on the lower tiers of cake. The plate takes all of the weight, no questions asked".
I had a cake disaster recently where I was using hard separator plates (I think they were Wiltion) the separator plates had short little legs that fit inside large plastic hollow tubes. Kind of the same idea as the sps except for the little nub in the middle of the plate. Anyway, the cake had to go on a 3-4 hour ride. I heard it was fine most of the way but when customer got to destination the bottom tier of cake had basically exploded. (Sounded to me like it was from the weight of the cakes above). It was a three tiered cake.
If this kind of plate takes the weight of the cake above I can't figure out why the bottom tier exploded. Any ideas?
Cocoabean, I'm so sorry that happened to you. Was your cake taller than the hollow pillars? If the pillar/ plate system isn't actually resting on the cake drum then I could see this happening.
I have not used any system where the plates had shorter legs and then the were inserted into hollow dowels but as long as the hollow dowels were all the same height and not shorter than the cake tier itself the weight should not be on the cake. Did you have to cut the hollow dowels?
If you use that system again I would use a sewing ruler to determine the depth of the cake and make sure the cake is not taller than the legs. Also once the plate is on the dowels use a level to make sure the dowels were evenly cut and the plate is level.
I'm so glad I found this forum! I was looking into the Cake Stackers system yesterday. I wanted to get it because I wanted to try put the topsy turvy technique. I don't know if anyone remembers but there was a topsy turvy tea pots cake on the home page yesterday or the day before. She said she used Cake Stackers. Can you do this with the SPS? I do like the price of the SPS but is it not more economical to buy the Cake Stackers once instead of buying SPS over and over again? Please let me know if I'm wrong. Thanks!!!
If you buy the Cake Stacker, you will love it!!! I use mine every chance I get, including using it as a cupcake tower at a graduation party this weekend!
It is a big purchase, but it's a one time purchase. And, there are small pieces, but when the cake is taken apart, the pieces aren't all loose. If you watch the videos on their site, you'll see that unstacking is simple. the center dowel unscrews and the cake just lifts out of place. The customers don't have to take it completely apart. Just provide a box and they can put the partially disassembled Stacker in the box. I don't even ask them to clean it before they return it, that way the small pieces all stay screwed together and nothing gets lost.
It's the best investment I've made for my cakes. 
Silly question, I am sure but,, if I have three 2 inch cakes that I want to make one tier of my cake (the bottom tier) is it safe to stack all three of the 2 inch cakes ontop of each other, or do i need to stack two of the cakes and then another cake board and the the 3rd ontop? kinda confusing i know,, help please
I just tumbled back into this thread. Sillywabbiz, what a great explanation! You have everything correct!!
I now have a single blade Agbay just for slicing off the top icing to get a perfectly level cake that's exactly the right height. (Still use the double blade Agbay for level and torting the cake.)
And as for picking up a completely decorated tier with just a cardboard under it? Pshaw . . . I do it all the time. I pick up 14" round cakes with ONE cardboard underneath and set it down on the SPS plate. The filling doesn't bulge (if the cake has properly settled.)
Leah,
just reading your last post to this topic. Did you say you use the single blade agbay to slice off icing to level a cake? Please do tell....im intrigued! Thanks
WOW....sounds great! Ive never heard of that technique before! Thanks 
AOk Leah, I'm confused...can you please break that down into newbie terms??
ASo you would put the SPs plate on the top layer then cover your cake with buttercream n fondant I'm a little confused how the top layer would work
ANo.
You fill & frost your cake as usual. Once finished, insert the plate & columns. Put next tier on top of that plastic plate. The very top tier needs no plate or column.
Cake Stackers is made of steel and you HAVE to get everything back from the bride. it's a lot of driving around and pure schlep But but but, nothing compares to what it can do. That cake can go on a plain in economy class and sit next to a child and it will look as new. TOO expensive and TOO permanent - has tons of little screws and bits. you have to do a count everytime.
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