I am doing my first 5 tier stacked cake and I am stressing about how to support it. I'm not sure if I just need to dowel each layer or if I should do a middle dowel on every two. I have to drive about an hour and a half, so taking it stacked is not an option for me. I just don't want to get there and have a "sinking" problem. HELP!
With a cake that big you will need a lot of support, dowel between each tier, I like using the support plates ( plastic plates with the 4 pillars attached) they make the pillars in different heights so that it goes right into the cake and I feel it is better supported.
oh yes, you are definitely going to want to dowel each tier. I would do a center dowel as well through the whole thing. You certainly dont want to do all of that work to have your cake come crashing down. I have learned it does not pay off to take short cuts!
SweetM,
I just went through this same thing-I've re-posted this for your benefit...it REALLY works. Be brave 
-HTH!
Kathy
Okay, I've read and re-read this center dowel thing, and am terrified that I will just ruin a cake! Will the cake board not bend? The dowel goes right thru-oh my We are talking about the cardboard cake boards, I know, but do y'all not stack/tape several of these together for strength-(as Earlene Moore suggests)and then cover them with freezer paper? I feel like I need some serious hand-holding on this topic
Kathy
Odessa wrote:
Kathy, don't panic. We're here to help you!
(putting on superhero cape and mask, flying in through kitchen window as the "Here I am to save the day!" theme music from Mighty Mouse plays in the background )
Your bottom-most tier will, ideally, be on a sturdy base (masonite, plastic, metal, whatever your sturdy base is made of). I always make sure that this base is covered (since mine are usually a masonite/wood product). My cake does NOT sit directly on this base, though, it sits on a cardboard base cut to match the shape and size of the bottom tier. There have been times when I use 2 or 3 boards taped together and covered in foil for this, but not generally.
Now, each subsequent tier above that is sitting on a SINGLE cardboard for strength and to keep each tier from collapsing into the tiers below. When I mention that hammering or pounding a sharpened dowl through the cardboard can "stress" a cake, I mean more along the type of thing that, if there are plenty of decorations on a cake, they may be slightly prone to falling off if there is too much jiggling/vibration from the hammering. That is why I prefer the "screwing/twisting" method of putting the sharpened dowel through.
Now, I can see your face . You're thinking, "Why might the sharpened dowl have trouble getting through only one layer of cardboard?" aren't you, now? Well, you have no control over which part of the courrogation your dowel is going to go through. You may have somehow selected a thick part of the cardboard (not intentionally, mind you) to push through, and that's okay ... in fact, I like it better when the cardboard seems to really "grab" the sharpened dowel tightly. It says to me that my dowel is very secure and gives me more piece of mind that my tiered cake is not going to fall over.
Now, does this help to explain what we're talking about and allay any fears you may have? Please don't be afraid to try this ... you're going to be successful because we're all behind you?
Hang in there, it's worth it!
Happy Baking,
Odessa
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