Ladies,
I am working on a three tiered cake for my daughters sweet 16 this weekend. I need advice on the dowel procedure. The last dowel that goes through all the tiers. How does it go through the cake boards??? Do you before hand make a whole in the center of the boards??
next question...I am transporting the cake to the party site which is about 20 minutes away. Do you reccomend I assemble the cake at the site or can i transport it? I would love to assemble at home because of all my supplies being on hand. But I dont want to risk having the cake damaged.
Thanks
I use a pencile shapener to put a point on the last dowl then I use a tack hammer to push it in. If the dowling is done right you should be able to transport it already put together
Thanks londoncakedreams...that sounds like a great idea.
mkerton good luck on the nieces cake!
I made my first stacked cake for my sisters wedding on June 17. I made a 12' 10" 8" cake and decorated them. Then I placed each individual cake in a storage bin(clear ones from WM) turned it upside down so that the lid was the bottom. I put rubbermaid shelf liner on lid so they wouldnt slide around. Transported to church and assembled on site. I had 4 dowels in bottom 12". 4 dowels in middle 10" and placed top 8" on top. I personally did not put the central dowel in once I seen it was very sturdy and knew it would not be sitting there long. Only 1 hour before the wedding began. It was so nerve racking but such a great accomplishment. A bunch of people attending the wedding and helped serve food watched me put it together so that did not help my nerves but they seemed thrilled to watch me do it.
princess if you have the pics already in your computer you can upload them by clicking into galleries and then click "upload picture" follow the directions from there.
genesiscakes-
How wonderful are you! I did it! I thought you had to have a scanner to do all that stuff. YIPPEE! I got all of them on there I have done so far but the best one I did I cannot upload. Is there something else I can do to put it on there? Thanks again!
Ok.... I Highly Recommend DO NOT assemble it before. While the ride may be smooth, and you dowel it first.. So much can go wrong, A small shift can cause the bottom layer to crack, break or worse. I you have dense layers that have any kind of weight then dowel the cake. Put atleast 5 dowel's in a circular pattern +1 in the center for the fact of the stack. As for how to do it. Measure from cake board(botom of cake to the top and cut the dowel. Sharpen with a pencil sharpener and then press in with even pressure. Feel free to PM with questions.
Just for the record, I only deliver my cakes assembled. I put about 6 to 8 dowels in the bottom, large tier. At least 6 in the next one. And 4 in the small tier. Then the one big dowel down the 3 tiers. Never had a problem of the cake shifting & I only do primarily wedding cakes.
I use dowel rods for each tier and then one large dowel rod down the center. I've never had a problem and it takes a huge amount of stress off of me knowing I don't have to "put on a show" assembling on site. If you go to a lumberyard they sell construction pencil sharpeners that will sharpen the larger sized dowel rods making it easier to "hammer" into each tier of the cake.
Susie
But HOW do you tap in the center dowel without it breaking the cake/cake board?? I've just not used the center dowel yet.. Could someone please explain?? Thanks!
Ok - this is what I do. If I know that I'm going to be stacking the cakes and therefore am going to have a long dowel rod that has to be pushed through all the tiers I "weaken" the center of my cake boards BEFORE I actuall put the cake on them to frost. I do this by making a small 1/8"-1/4" hole in the center of the board using the sharp end of a steak knife. That way I know that the dowel will get through the boards a little easier. What you should do is sharpen one end of the dowel to a point - just like a pencil (you can get a sharpener large enough for a dowel at a hardware store). Push the pointed end down into the center of the top tier until it hits the first board then take a hammer and GENTLY tap the dowel straight down until it goes through the board-it should hit just about where you weakened the board. After it gets through the first board, again, push the dowel to it hits the second and GENTLY tap it again with the hammer until it penetrates that board. Continue the process until the entire dowel rod is at the bottom of the very bottom layer. After that you can cut the dowel rod off at the top even with your frosting. I hope this explains MY method a little better.
This forum has been such a time-saver for me...I was about to post this exact question about the stacked construction of a wedding cake. Thanks everyone for answering my questions before they were even asked!
I have a very small 3 tier wedding cake that I am about to ice for tomorrow. It is an 8" base layer, with a 6" center layer, and a 4" top layer (heart shaped).
The wedding is about 30 miles from my house and I believe I will assemble the bottom 2 layers and dowel it well before I leave my house, then place the top layer on site. That way it will be easier to dis-assemble when it's time to serve the cake...they want to save the top tier, and I'm not sure how to remove it when you use the center dowel through all the layers.
If anyone has other recommendations let me know!
Thanks everyone,
glenda 
You will first need to remove that center dowel rod that goes through the whole cake. Then you'll need to remove that top layer. What I do is use a spatula to lift up the top layer up a little so that you can grab it off the cake. You'll more than likely have to repipe their border on the bottom and then do a little magic on the top of the layer to cover the hole created by the dowel rod inserted originally. Have a box ready to put the cake in.
What I do is instead is when a bride says they want to keep the top layer for their anniversary I simply offer to make them a new small one when their anniversary is close...that way they don't have to worry about freezer burn, space, etc. They like that idea and go for it but have never come back to me one year later and said, "hey, can I have my cake now?". Just a suggestion...I wonder what everyone else does...hmmm.
I had never thought of offering a free anniversary cake for the couple's whose wedding cakes I make. What a neat idea! I do not charge for the top tier, as it is traditionally not served, but I might offer the other instead. (I also do a free coordinating smash cake with all first birthday cake orders!) Thanks for the tip!
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