The book Cake Bible and quite a huge number of websites advocate the use of straws instead of dowels for support. The theory is that physically straws are better because they don't shake up as much mass (u know when you make those holes in the cake you are messing with the structure of the cake), they are also more hygenic than wood not to mention much easier to cut. This seems like an interesting topic. What are your thoughts?


-Sus

I think straws are great for some but will not hold extra weight and may collapse when you are travelling with the cake. I have used sucker sticks which are sturdier and much like straws and easy to cut.

To afraid to trust the straws after working on a cake to have it collapse.

I use the thick straw for smaller stacks (two tiers) and they work great. Easy to cut, easy to remove. For larger cakes, I use the Wilton plastic dowels. They are also pretty easy to cut.

I no longer use wood, because it seems to impart a taste, once it absorbs moisture from the cake. Also, they are a pain to cut.

I have to agree with all of the above. I use Wilton plastic dowels and think they are just fantastic.

i've used those huge straws for "bubble tea" from asian grocery stores for my daughters chocolate 3 tier cake. no problem at all. quite sturdy.easy to cut...just with normal sissors. i think they're around 1 -1.5cm diameter. that's for a medium to dense choc cake.

All these sound like great ideas. Maybe when I am done with school I will try stacking about 5 cakes and driving them around town to see how they hold up. I wonder if anyone has tried that yet!

I've used wooden skewers like you would for kabobs. They are easy to cut with scissors and I haven't had any problems with sturdiness with my stacked 2 layer cakes. I've not had any issues with taste or structure.

I use plain wooden chopsticks as dowels for tiered cakes, they are easy to cut with rose pruners and hold up just as well as wooden dowels, but cost a fraction of the price!

I use straws for smaller or 2 tiered cakes but wooden dowels for larger or 3 tiered cakes. I'd rather not take a chance!

Debbie

Boy boy I might not wait. I promise everyone that as soon as I finish my MA defense I will spend a weekend baking cakes and like Chris said driving around town just for the fun of it. I guess if they don't collapse I can just decorate them later and have quite a few cakes to add to my portfolio. How about I try to make it to Chicago? That's 2 hrs away from where I live. It is a challenge and I will keep you posted. I will take pictures and post them too. I have a question though, how tall/large does the cake have to be for me to be able to prove my theory?

When you stack multiple tiers and drive it around, you also should use a dowl that runs through all the tiers to hold them in place. If you sharpen the thin wooden dowel (clean and wiped with shortening), you can use a hammer to drive it down the the bottom.

I also have thick straws from the asian market, they work great. Last time I was at the cake store, i saw some screw type plastic supports, kinda like wooden dowels, but plastic. They claim that after you use the plastic screw type, you will never go back to wooden dowels again. Has anyone tried them before, and if so, do they work?

I have used the heavy thick straws by Rubbermaid that are made for the little juice boxes.They are for the refillable containers.The straws are about 4 inches long and are super heavy not like a slurpee straw from the store.I have only ever used them on 2 tiers at the most and for stacking 3D cakes,Balls on top of slabs etc .A wedding cake or something more elaborate I would definetly use wooden dowels or the wilton dowel sticks.

No straws for me again. I had a cake collapse in transport supported with straws. Wasn't a big cake so I thought it would be fine. Never again.

I always use lollipop sticks, they work perfect for me!

I've used straws on a cake stacked 3 layers. Transported it and had no trouble. Actually in my photos, the wedding cake with pink roses and the white baptism cake were both supported with straws and then a dowel down the center. I don't know if I would ever go any higher though. The straws I used are the ones you get from Mcdonald's. The big fat ones. If you are uneasy about using a straw - then don't do it. Better be safe than sorry!!

You know Kittikakes, I do wonder if maybe not all straws are created equal. I had used them in the past no problems, but that last ordeal put the fear in me.

LisaMS - Well, if that had happened to me - I wouldn't use straws again either!!! There are definitely straws out there that are thicker and wider. It's certainly something to experiment with, but not on a cake like you lost!! It's just a pain to cut the wooden dowels and well, I'm cheap! So, I would rather not keep spending money on the plastic supports. I know they don't cost that much - but, like I said, I am cheap! I have 2 more stacked cakes coming up, I plan on still using the straws. I'd be lying if I said I didn't worry about the straws supporting the weight. But then again, I worry if they like the cake, if it looks good, did they see that one crooked shell....well, you know what I mean!!!

I have made only one (1) cake, and never saw this question before...So if it's stupid, please bear with me.
Is there a reason I couldn't use something like a candy stick for a dowel? (Like the straight part of a candy cane) That way even the support would be edible...

I learned to use straws after reading The Cake Bible. It always worked. Maybe, just lucky though because I never put a dowel down the middle. I would imagine it is a little tricky though because you may have to go through a few boards, right?

Barbara Ann the plastic screw type tings are called Cake Jacks and yes I use them. They have a nylon screw in the top so you can level your cakes. They come in different sizes ( at least 2 ) I have actually taken the screws out and just used the dowel part. The store I use to get them from has closed so I will have to go online to find them when I need more. But they work nicely and I like them