Hello all,

 I wanted to get some sound advice. I have a client who would like to purchase 3 round cakes from me with camouflage ribbon around the bottom of each. She is then going to transport them out of state and would like to set up and stack the cakes herself. The thing is, she wants to use real shotgun shells as pillars in between each layer. Would that even work? Are shotgun shells sturdy enough to hold up the weight of the cakes? All though I have been taught how to properly stack a tiered pillar cake I have never had one purchased from me until now. I am just not quite sure what to tell this client of mine. Any thoughts you all may have concerning this issue would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! 

AAre they capable? Yes, they're solid when filled, and won't easily buckle. Is it practical? Not one bit. Also, they're very short, so there sure won't be much space between the tiers. Kinda gross too, gunpowder, lead pellets...yuch.

I believe my clients plan was to cut holes on the top of the shotgun shells and empty them out before placing in between layers. that is why I was concerned if they would be sturdy or not. Its kind of a weird request, I wasn't quite sure what to say when she asked me about it, so thanks for your advice! :)

Hi Jennifer Dontz sells a mold for shotgun shells you could make them, Paint them,  hollow them out and put supports through the middle. Once painted you would never know the difference.

Jennifer is amazing to deal with and her products that I have , I love !!!!

AI would not allow the customer to use the real shells. You don't know what kind of residue will remain, even with washing, and possibly contaminate the cake. I was going to suggest making them from fondant, but george101's idea of the mold is better. The cake will probably not look right using those as supports as they are pretty short. It might look a lot better, and also be easier to stack, if you use a dummy tier and cover it entirely in the shotgun shells.

AHere is a cake with shotgun shells around the sides. I was thinking in this situation that having the shells cover a dummy tier that is smaller in diameter than the cakes, so it is recessed. http://cakecentral.com/g/i/2367627/this-was-a-grooms-cake-cake-is-completely-edible-other-than-wire-for-support-inside-the-deer-horns-water-and-fish-are-hand-painted-shotgun-shells-took-forever-to-make-but-they-turned-out-good/

This is the idea I am thinking that you can do, but just use the edible shotgun shells in place of the candy sticks. http://www.lucks.com/ENG/DECORATINGIDEA/CANDYLANDTIERED