I keep reading how some of you hammer a dowel down through cake boards through all the layers of a multi tier cake. I shudder whenever I read that. Those boards are pretty "tough". Does that actually work? (well of course it does right? )

I keep picturing my cakes just toppling right over if I do that. Does anyone actually make the holes in the boards first instead of hammering the dowel through?

The cakes just seem so delicate to be using a hammer on them

you just have to have a designated (dowel rods only no pencils) pencil sharpner and sharpen the tip of the dowel really sharp.

I'm with you pippindipity! I learned here from SquirrellyCakes to place the long dowel in the bottom tier and then, with holes the sizes of the dowel pre-cut in the cake boards, lower each subsequent tier down onto the dowel and voila'-no stress, no knot in the pit of your stomach waiting for the board to buckle! Others here swear by driving the dowel down thru the boards though so there must be something to it-just not for chicken little here!

Since you will not be adding a center dowel in every layer, it does not hurt to cut a little plus sign + in the center of the boards, either.

Theresa

I was with you guys until this past weekend. I was terrified, but it had to be done as I had to drive the cake already assembled to the party.

Just sharpened the dowel with a pencil sharpener and hammered it right through with absolutely no problems at all. I didn't put holes in the boards because I didn't realize that I would need to do it until it was too late. lol Always the way ... I probably wouldn't have been able to line them up anyway.

Trust me it worked without hurting the cake at all!!!

For me, sounds like a disaster just waiting to happen.

I do the same thing dodibug was referring to. I hammer a long dowel, sharpened at both ends into the bottom tier and down through the cake boards, then lower the pre-drilled cake boards over the dowel.

The cake slides down easily over it.

And I still add the mulitiple dowels around the tiers to support the weight.

This doesn't bother me very much, but I remember the first few times I did it ... scary! One think I learned a long time ago is that when I get to each subsequent board, stop the pounding and, using your hands, try the following:
1. take hold of the dowel securely
2. twist the sharpened dowel while applying downward pressure until the tip of the dowel breaks into the board
3. go back to the hammer and gently tap the dowel through to the next board.

It helps to turn the dowel much like a screw sometimes ... it's a little less jarring to your cake and so you run less risk of knocking something out of place when you are hammering.

Remember ... it's just a cake and cake is a very forgiving medium.

I can understand some of your concerns for hammering the dowel rod through all the cakes, but I do it all the time. I do not go to the trouble of marking the boards or little holes in the center of the cake. The whole idea is for stability, to me by pre cutting holes in the boards and the cakes loosens up the structure, where it might wiggle. By hammerin down you are only making the hole the size of the dowel, and the same on the cake. I only hammer when I am using regular cake boards, I do not hammer through cake drums. I don't baby that hammer, but you do have to be a pretty good shot , if you miss, your hammer will be in your cake.

The center dowel is not scary after you do it once and you see that nothing happens. I don't know what kind of board you use but if you are really nervous, I do know that the dowel penetrates foam core cleaner than corrugated cardboard.

How do you dowel through a 4-tier cake with a total height of 16", when the length of the dowel itself is 12", or does a very long dowel exist?

You can get dowels approximately 36" from Home Depot or Loews.

Walmart carries them as well in the craft section. Good luck!!!

Thanks for that hint, I'll try and check if I could get those sizes here in FRANCE

I think I remember reading something about being careful about those dowels because they aren't necessarily food safe and may have been treated with chemicals.

Just wrap saran wrap on your dowels if your worried about "food safe and may have been treated with chemicals."

I always do this and I consider it a MUST for tall cakes.

You don't need holes in your boards (even if you make them, good luck finding that exact spot from the top tier down - impossible!). Just "tap" the hammer lightly (this isn't sheet rock, its cake and cardboard, easy to get through). I give you my word, you will be FINE!!!

XOXOXO
Debbie

I have done the center dowel several times now but I have to ask you all this.

Do you put the center dowel in BEFORE or AFTER you've decorated your cake?

I've done it both ways and I find that when I do it after the cake is decorated, I tend to "mess up" more. Meaning, slipping a bit with the hammer, messing up the borders or getting hairline cracks in the buttercream from the pressure of the pounding.

For instance, I did a 3D duck cake sitting on a round cake. I put two center dowels in the duck's head and tail end straight down into the lower cake but it made that round cake have cracks in the buttercream and I was so irked. It was perfectly smooth prior to the pounding. I did not precut holes in the cardboard cake board.

I have tried the method of lowering the cakes on the boards with precut holes onto the dowels too but I guess I'm not very good at centering them because they are always off by a little bit. Drives me nuts and by then it's too late.

KimAZ

personally, I do it before I decorate so I can hide the hole.

I have done it both ways - you must be careful not to be hard on the hammer as you near the end. You always have to plan on hiding the hole with something.

With fondant I have done a few things - put a flower there, a cake topper, - or, most recently, I took a tiny peice of fonant and put it over the hole. It was a birthday cake and I put the letter "D" from birthday over the hole (D for Dowel I told the caterer, lol). It's in my photos, the calla lilly birthday cake.

I have only done this once and OMG, my hand was shaking and my heart pounding as I gave that dowel a whack (albeit a light one) with the hammer.

But, sure enough, as everyone has said, it just went right through the board nice and easy and when I was done I thought to myself, wondering what I was making all the fuss about.

Next time I have to do one I will not worry about it in the least. It was easy as pie, um, I mean cake.