I'm Scared To Push The Dowel Through!
Decorating By projectqueen Updated 9 Apr 2006 , 7:29pm by SquirrellyCakes
Well, anniversary cake is coming along. Held my breath and got the top layer on top of the bottom one. Now it's time to put the center dowel through. I'm afraid it's not going to go through the cake board and the top will come flying off or something.
I think I read somewhere to hammer it in but that sounds like an accident waiting to happen. I mean, use a real hammer on top of a cake?
Any suggestions or moral support?
JUST DO IT!! i was sooooo afraid of this...sharpen the dowel, put it in place and then hammer it in...it'll gove some resistance but nothing will happen...don't worry...and next time, if you'd like, try making a hole in the cake board before you put the cake on it, then once it's iced you can put the dowel in the bottom cake, sticking up and slide the top cake through that hole...no need for a hammer..
I did it! Thanks, cakefairy! I just needed to hear that.
Congratulations! I was so scared the first time I needed to do that that I made my DH do it for me
Cakefairy, that is a great idea about going in from the bottom.
Cindy
Yeah, I thought so too when I came up with it and mentioned it a few years ago on the Wilton site and various sites, haha!
Hugs Squirrellly 
Well, thanks for leading the way for so many of us, SquirrellyCakes. I knew I had read that idea before somewhere but I don't know if it was you or someone else talking about it.
I do have a related question. What is the best way to cut a hole in a cake board? There is this application and I also have a tall tier stand. Do you put the cake on a cake board or directly onto the plate? If on a cake board how do you make the hole and then cover the cake board gracefully?
Thanks,
Cindy
Congratulations! I was so scared the first time I needed to do that that I made my DH do it for me
Me too! I was so nervous that I didn't even think about sharpening the end! My husband said that he would do it and when I saw him with the pencil sharpener......I feel so dumb. 
And believe me, he has not let me forget that!
Now I hammer that dowel right down the center!
Glad you were able to do it!
bj 
Well, thanks for leading the way for so many of us, SquirrellyCakes. I knew I had read that idea before somewhere but I don't know if it was you or someone else talking about it.
I do have a related question. What is the best way to cut a hole in a cake board? There is this application and I also have a tall tier stand. Do you put the cake on a cake board or directly onto the plate? If on a cake board how do you make the hole and then cover the cake board gracefully?
Thanks,
Cindy
Hi Cindy,
The plates on the tall tier stand sort of slant in towards the centre for balance, they are not flat, if I remember correctly. So I find it a lot more secure putting the cakes directly on the plastic plates. That stand can be tricky, watch that you don't tighten it too much, I know a lot of people that have broken it.
For other applications, it varies a lot whether you want the cake on the plate or stand directly or on a board first. I think a couple of good reasons for boarding them first is they fit into boxes better for transportation, you don't have to worry about it taking as long to get the stand or base back or someone cutting too hard and damaging the stand or base. I find even with the separator plates, because of the little feet, they don't sit nice in a box and sometimes it makes the cake too high for the box, another consideration. But I have done it both ways.
I cover the boards first and then make the hole. I use the end of a knife or a pencil to poke a hole through, for masonite you can use a drill. I don't make a huge hole, basically just a poked hole to push the boarded cake through the dowel from the bottom up, does that make sense? You don't want that hole to be bigger than the dowel, you want the board to grip the dowel somewhat. So I make it smaller. Often I use the sharpened end of the dowel to poke the hole in the board.
I have no qualms about pushing the dowel through from the top though, haha, even bought myself a plastic mallet for just that reason. I too use a pencil sharpener or a paring knife to sharpen the end. The main reason I figured this "from the bottom up method" out was for times when you don't want anything piercing the top of the top tier. So you cut the dowel shorter than the combined heights of all of the boarded cakes.
Generally if you are doing a cake with a lot of delicate work that can break easily, you stack the cake first and insert that centre dowel and then you decorate so you don't have to worry about the decorations falling off from the vibration of pounding that dowel through.
Haha, you don't know how many times I have explained this step-by-step, tier by tier, for someone doing their first stacked cake. It was sort of the running joke on the Wilton site.
Hope that helps.
Hugs Squirrelly
projectqueen - glad it turned out good for ya! I was nervous, too, the first time I had to use a big center dowel!! 
The whole hammer thing is what bothered me the most, I think...LOL...I could just imagine dropping the hammer, somehow, and smashing the whole thing beyond repair!! 
I just couldn't do it with a hammer! LOL So I stopped what I was doing and went out to DH's shed and dug around until I found a rubber mallet....does the same thing, but just has a more 'gentle' apperance...LOL 
A few weeks later I went to Home Depot and bought myself a small one and painted the handle hot pink so DH wouldn't want to use it! lol (The pink thing really works! While DH's tools always come up 'missing' or are scattered around the house in various places (which he blames on me!? lol) my tools, with the cute little pink handles, always stay in the same place & are there when I need them...LOL. No doubt, because he has no desire to use them, though they work just the same as his!! HA! ) Anyway - the rubber mallet I bought works just as well on the small lollipop sticks as the bigger wooden dowels...It's a great little tool & not as scary as using a 'big, bad hammer' on a pretty cake...thought I'd share! 
Haha, JennT, I think we have the same husband. I can't tell you how many screwdriver sets he has bought and not one can be found when you need it. So I bought myself a set of tools and actually lock them in a metal filing cabinet I lend them out to him, but only when he is supervised and hands them back when he is done, haha! Otherwise I would be using that mallet, on his head, haha!
Mine is plastic, almost a rubberized plastic but really lightweight, not like the regular mallets. Heehee, I likely bought it at a dollar type store just because I was desperate.
We won't even discuss his tool organizing skills, nothing works! I love those handyman shows where they have organized work shops and a place for every tool. I have only ever met one man that kept his tools organized like that so I don't think those shows are anywhere close to reality tv.
Hugs Squirrelly
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