The Bakery Used Pillars Instead Of Dowels...
Decorating By Kelrak Updated 7 Sep 2006 , 11:27pm by ngarza07
Fortunately this is someone else's disaster, not mine. My SIL and brother were having a 10th anniversary party and ordered a cake from their local bakery. It was probably a 10 in. round cake and an 8 in. round cake on top. It looked similar to this cake in this photo. The photo of their cake put together was very pretty.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-photos_display_84_-60903.html
We were not able to go, but she brought the leftover cake to us this weekend at our camping get-together. She talked about how hard it was to separate the 2 layers at her party (at a park and in the heat!). She never could get the top tier off, so she cut it with the two tiers stacked. She just served the outer portion of the bottom cake, and intended to save the 8 in layer for next year, like some people do at their weddings.
I tried to help her cut the partially frozen leftover 10 in cake. There was a plastic plate on top that we had to pry off, then I saw what the problem was. The bakery used huge pillars instead of skinny little dowels. The plastic plate was actually snapped into the pillars and that's why she couldn't get the cakes apart at the party. This bakery didn't even give her any instructions about cutting this kind of cake.
The funny thing is, at their wedding 10 years ago, the person cutting the wedding cake didn't know how to cut the cake, so she started serving huge wedges of cake, not little "wedding-sized" pieces. There should have been tons of cake leftover, but they actually ran out of cake. They just have bad luck with cakes I think.
Have any of you ever heard of using pillars inside of a cake? It isn't something I'd suggest trying! Fortunately it tasted great. Oh, and the top layer of cake that they were trying to save...accidentally got smushed and thrown away! 
For our camping trip this past weekend I was supposed to take a birthday cake for my DD's upcoming bday, then I found out that my SIL was bringing her leftovers, so I decided to take cookies instead. I was a little p.o'd that she planned to bring her leftover cake, but a little relieved that I didn't have to lug a decorated cake up to the mountains. It's hard to fit a cake in an ice chest and keep it in one piece. Now I'm just laughing at their cake disaster.
Yes..It is called a Hidden pillar system and is very effective to keep cakes from falling.I do agree though...the bakery should have made them aware of this and instructed them how to dis-assenble it.Great system though..I have made many with this system and those cakes never move!!!
Are these just regular pillars that we use for seperators? I'm a bit confused. The same ones that attach to the separator plates? Could you explain how these are embedded into the cake and used?
Thanks,
Sweetcakes23
Okay, so I guess it's not unheard of. Still, they should have explained it to her when she picked up the cake...or maybe had her pick it up in 2 separate tiers and had her stack it herself? She said she was frustrated that the cake box wouldn't close because it was tall. If she picked it up in 2 separate boxes and assembled it herself, that wouldn't have been an issue.
Thanks for setting me straight! 
Hidden pillars are just wide white hollow plastic "tubes" that you can cut to whatever length you want, stick them in the cake (like a dowel, only hollow) at the points where your separator plate's feet touch, cut them either flush with the top of the bottom cake tier or slightly higher if you want a gap for floral, etc., then place the cake above on them, with the separator plate feet inside the hollow end of the cut pillars. Like push-in pillars, only different...
I haven't tried them, but the next time I do a stacked cake, I am. It also allows you to have a solid separator plate between your cakes rather than cardboard (sturdier), AND you can leave a tiny gap that will be hidden by a border, where people could more easily dismantle the top layer from the bottom without taking half the icing off the bottom cake when they remove the top.
If that all makes sense...I really think they're probably great.
Yea! They do sound great....I think I will try them as well!
Thanks!
If you put the cake on a cardboard before putting it on the plate, I'd "glue" it with a swirl of corn syrup (which works great), or (what I use) a few bits of sticky gum that I got from Walmart probably--it's in a pack in the office supply section, yellow stuff that looks like putty; stretchy and slightly adhesive. I love it and use for all kinds of cake "safety" issues.
i put my cake directly on the separater plate, you can also cut the pillars completly flush with the cake. i measure one in the cake, then cut all the others to match the first one i measured because cakes are all perfectly level. yes, it does put a hole in the middle of the cake, but you can't see it and they aren't that big. i've also found that pipe cutters you can get at home depot are wonderful at cutting the pillars. i used a serated knife for a while, but i couldn't get a clean enough cut. the pipe cutter makes a perfet cut
How many of these pillars would you use to support the cake above?
Say, an 8" on a 10"?
The pillar took a large chunk out of the slice of cake though. We were sucking the cake out of the tubes on our camping trip. Of course, we wouldn't do that at a fancy party or wedding!
Do you glue or attach the cardboard to the plastic plate?
ROFLMAO at the image of you guys sucking cake out of the pillars.. OMG, I am dying... that is the funniest thing I ever heard 
I love the hidden pillars and have been using them forever. They are great for stacked cakes. Much more sturdy than dowels and no stress or wondering if they will hold. I've also used them, without cutting, and put flowers and or fruit between layers. I'm waiting for my the pics from my last wedding cake that I used them on. I only do about one wedding cake a year so I always forget to bring my own camera.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%