My first wedding cake is due on Sunday and I have a few questions:
1. I bought dowels from Home Depot but now I read that you shouldn't use dowels that aren't food safe. Should I go get the ones from Michael's instead?
2. Is it really all that important to cover the cardboard cake circles before putting cake on them?
3. I am planning to use stabilized whipped cream with fresh strawberries as the filling. I want to get an early start on this, but I'm afraid of filling the cake too early because I know that the whipped cream may break down. Can I bake the cake on Thursday and Friday, fill and assemble the tiers and decorate on Saturday, and deliver it on Sunday? It would be refridgerated the whole time.
Thank you for your input!
I don't work with whipped icing, so I don't know how it holds up.
Good luck!!
I guess I would just buy the dowels from the craft store if you have a chance, just in case. At least they are packaged and you don't have to worry who's greasy hands have touched the dowels at home depot.
yes, cover your cake boards. This is a wedding cake, don't take short cuts. It wont take that much time to cover them and prevent them from getting soggy or soft.
i really dont have much experience with fresh strawberries or stablized whipped cream. Once I tried to make the whipped cream ( i didnt know about adding a stablizer and it deflated rather quickly. Luckily it wasnt on the cake) I think the stawberries will break down rather quickly as well, so I would proceed cautiously. I am sure some one with experience with strawberries can help you!
I can answer 1 and 2 for you! no idea on 3! 
1--- You could cover the dowels with some type of wrap...like press and seal. Or maybe it would be enough just to wash them. I had never thought about it and did use one from walmart for my paris cake.... oops!
2----- yes you do need to cover them or they will absorb the oils and can become unstable. (I think) Maybe I wasn't that helpful afterall!
Have fun! I wish I had a wedding cake to do!!
K hun here's a couple tips fer ya...
Don't take the dowels back n don't worry bout gettin some overpriced ones at michaels...
Just wrap them puppies in tin foil after you've cut them and use em that way (then you don't have to worry bout contact with the food.)
As for the rest of your dilemna, hun that sounds like a perfect plan. What are you planning to frost the cake with....... I would fill it n stuff n let it sit for a little bit before covering it with your frosting. So that the filling can settle and you don't get bulges on the sides.
Maybe others will have input but I don't see how dowels can't be food safe. They are just wood. I wash mine off first though. no telling how many people touched them before I got them. ick.
I cover my boards with fanci foil so they don't get soft and weak. There is a greater chance of collapse if they do.
Are you icing the whole cake with whipped cream and strawberries? because the strawberries start to weep after a day and the cake doesn't look so fresh. But if it's just the filling it should be ok. But I wouldn't fill it until saturday.
I'm no expert, but my feeling is that what would make wood "un-food-safe" would be any finishes that have been applied -- varnish, shellac, etc. I remember someone giving my parents a wooden spoon for the kitchen that was varnished, and no one in the house would use it for food. But unfinished wood is just wood, whether it comes from Wilton or Home Depot. And if you are concerned about who might have had what on their hands when they handled them, wash and dry them before you use them. Just don't let them soak in water to the point where they warp and don't lay straight anymore.
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