Sticking The Center Dowel Down... (Crying)
Decorating By SarahsSweets2006 Updated 16 Aug 2007 , 5:21pm by FrostinGal
I am sure there are more posts on this topic... or maybe this has onlyu happened to me but I have (HAD) a 4-tiered cake and was sticking the center dowel down through all the layers and all of a sudden, the top 2 tiered smushed and fell apart. You see, the cake board under the top tier buckled-warped? Which sent it downward into the 3rd tier. 2 tiers ruined. I lost it for a bit but called my friend whom it was for her mom... and said I will be a little late because I am making a new tier. This time the cake will have 3 instead of 4. My friend was cool with it and the cake is in the oven as we speak. I have finished the borders on the cake and hopefully I can get this out soon.
How do you prevent the cake boards from getting soggy from the cake? Are you supposed to wrap them in something? Please let me know for next time.
Put some Saran wrap on the cardboards before you stack the cake on them, that will help you. Plus it makes the cakes neater to serve.
I'm sorry that happened to you! I'm glad your friend was understanding.
Deanna
I also sharpen my dowels on the end going thru the cakes
I too sharpen one end of the dowel in a hand held pencil sharpener. I do tap the dowel through the layers using a meat tenderizer to get them through the cardboard.
i hope your next tier came out ok
Thanks for the advice.... but I had sharpened the dowel and tapped it down... the only thing I hadn't done was wrap the cardboard in foil. The moisture from the cake and icing made the cardboard soft and when I tried to punch the sharpened dowel through it, it just made the board bend. BUT, all was not lost. Like I mentioned, the bottom 2 tiers were saved and I got the 6 inch tier done and the cake turned out GREAT! They all loved the cake.
Waahh I am so sorry for your disaster. I live in total fear of tapping a center rod thru and having it collapse my board, so I cut a hole in the middle of the board. Of course this can backfire if your dowel doesn't line up w/the hole. Definitely another vote for wrapping the cake board though, or using the kind that is coated.
So glad to hear you were able to salvage much of the cake and that your redo turned out great! Phew!
I sharpen my dowel and use foamcore for the boards it just seems to add more stability
I'm with Enchanted: sharpened dowel through foamcore (no additional covering). Never had a problem.
Regular cake cardboards are very flimsy and can buckle along the corrugation lines very easily. Also be aware that wrapping them with foil or saran can result in small bits of that stuff being driven into cake layers as the dowel is pushed through.
Rae
In my 17 years I have never had this happen. I use regular cake boards and for my dowel I use bamboo skewers (from the kitchen section at Target). The dowel is not long enough for all 4 layers so the bottom three layers get a skewer and then the one on top gets a skewer threw the top layer and the other two layers. I have never had and issue, ever!!!
Andrea
SarasSweets2006 ~ I think you handled this fabulously! I'm sorry that happened to you. But what a great "save"!!!! 
One question for those using foamcore ~ Because it is thicker than the cardboard cake circles, can you please let us know how to cut it to get nice clean edges? Thanks very much! 
When I had to center dowel a tall cake I made the holes in the board first then place the cakes on the boards as normal. Insert the dowel into the center of the bottom tier ( the pointed end of the dowel is facing upwards) then carefully lift the next tier over the dowel and slide the cake over the dowel (you do need to keep the cake level). Repeat as required.
When you have done all your tiers, mark the dowel level with the icing, pull the dowel up very slightly and cut off, pushng the dowel back down again.
This probably works better with fondant cakes and I'm not sure if buttercream would be too soft?
One question for those using foamcore ~ Because it is thicker than the cardboard cake circles, can you please let us know how to cut it to get nice clean edges? Thanks very much!
I use an electrified hot exacto knife by Creative Marks/Walnut Hollow. Works great.
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Rae
I don't cover my boards with anything, but I do glue 2 of them together with the lines running different ways. Most of the time I don't use a center dowel, but when I do its either a bamboo skewer or the sharpened thicker one. Never had a problem. Oh, and my cakes are always chilled as well. haha the other night tho (well more like 5am Saturday morning, you know how that goes) I grabbed my jar of tylose to pound it in since the reason part of my mind apparently was already asleep and the damn thing broke! I was able to get most of it off (fondant cake that had already begun to sweat) but it still left a grainy texture... so the girl got a little pearl dust on her cake as well. as a present from me. lol
You certainly handled your disaster very well! Glad they enjoyed your creation!!
I use one cardboard circle, unwrapped, but I place it and the cake on a cake plate that has a 1 1/2" hole drilled into the center. This is supported by pillars that are trimmed to the height of the cake beneath. Then I gently pound a sharpened 1/2 or smaller dowel down the center of the cakes, trimming the extra dowel just before I hit the bottom board. Gives me the stability needed, vertically and horizontally.
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