I have 4 wedding cakes coming up, the first of which is in about 3 weeks. I have read a few posts about how to dowel the cake.. and I have a fear of the center dowel! I just can't imagine hammering something through the whole cake and it not collapsing. I know that the dowels and cake boards will really take all the stress, and not the cake.. but what if I start hammering and the whole thing starts falling apart??

Also.. what if you want the top to be smooth. One I'm making is fondant, and there won't be anything on the top.. how do you hide the whole from the center dowel?

Has anyone had problems with the hammering of the center dowel??

I haven't done a fondant covered cake yet, so I'm unsure what to tell you on the hole on top, but I've center-doweled several BC cakes, and it works fine. Like you said, the cake boards and dowels in each tier will take it. I make sure to sharpen my center dowel very well, then I use my medium size cake spatula in reverse, so I'm holding the "blade" and the handle is doing the tapping. This puts the weight on the end that's hammering, obviously, so it's nice direct pressure onto the dowel. Remember only to tap, DON'T PUSH it through. It takes a few taps to get through each board of course, but this has always worked fantastically for me. The center dowel is so tight your cake won't budge a bit!

I was also a "You hammer a stick into your cake?????? " person. But when I was forced to try it (4 tiered chocolate ganache cake ... had to pour the ganache while it was fully assembled before delivery), omg I couldn't BELIEVE how easy and how well it worked!!!

Trust me .... from a Nervous Nelly who couldn't believe that HAMMERING anything into your cake could be a good thing ...... IT WORKS!!!

Do it. You will LUV it!!!

I am still in awe every time I hammer that dowel through the top!
It is amazing how little force you need to tap the dowel to get through the boards.
As for the fondant top, cut a small thin circle of the same fondant and smooth it over the hole.
Try it, you'll like it!
Don't forget to sharpen the dowel..

I've never had a problem with my dowels, like HBcakes said make sure it is sharp,like a pencil, and I use a rubber mallet and I just hammer it in.
The first time I did it I was scared my cake would fall apart but it did'nt and it made it through the cake boards with no shifting .
Center dowels have allowed me to transport 3 tiered cake with no issues!
Good luck and remember the dowel is your friend

How do you guys sharpen the end of the dowel? Is the dowel too thick for a regular sharpener?

The dowels I have are just the right size for normal school pencil sharpener, no problems.

I give you all credit for doing this! I still havent' done this and I would be the first casualty if I tried. Gives me the heeby geebies just thinking about trying this!

And also, what size (thickness) dowel DO you use???

it makes me nervous just thinking about it LOL. so you;re not the only one vickymacd

okay I hope this isnt confusing If you dont want to hammer it down (trust me it is easy!) because you want the top to remain untouched, here is what you do. cut a circle in each of your cake board centers, a little bigger than the dowel. put your bottom tier on its board and put the center dowel into the center. Then take your next tier and place the bottom of the tier onto the dowel (sharpen it) through the hole. and so on to the next tier. Just be sure that the dowel is shorter than the combined height of your cake.

If your dowel doesn't fit the regular sharpener, get one of those hand-held ones that have 2 holes. The larger hole worked for a thicker dowel I had to use last time.

merissa, that sounds a little better! I think the word HAMMER just doesn't mix with me and a cake! Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies! Starting to feel a bit better about it. So do you only center dowel if you're transporting?? Or if you plan on setting it up at the location, does it require one then? I'm just thinking of when you're at the location, and if people are around watching you do this..it would make me really nervous.

SERIOUSLY it is much easier than you think. Personally I do it with any tierd cake even if I dont have to transport it(either the hammer or the stacking method). Do not worry about the hammering if you decide to do it that way. just be sure your dowel is sharpened and it goes right through. I just use a mallet it to drive it through.

haha.. Ok. I will not worry anymore. At least the first one is my sisters.. at a small venue where it will be all family.. so I'm not too worried about not fully knowing what I'm doing for that one. It's the next one (which is exactly one week later) at a fancy country club that I'm nervous about. I hate not knowing what I'm doing!!

I have done it twice. It was fine. It was strange though. The next day the center dowell had worked its way up a bit and the cake topper was sitting crooked. I had to pipe some buttercream under it and it sat on that.

Debi, I always wondered about that "cake comb" (is that what you called it?) I thought what a nice thing to have and I couldnt find one. But now I think I found it. Is it actually an angel food cake cutter??

They're called cake combs, angel food cake cutters, cheese cutters, cheese combs, hair picks ......!

Here's the cheapest place I've seen them http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-399863.html

indydebi wrote:

How do you get the dowel in 2 inches into the cake? You can't hammer it that far down.. right?? Do you just hammer it as far as you can then push it in??

You could use another dowel as a nail set. They make nail sets for carpentry. It's about a 4" metal rod that you put on the nail head to hammer it flush with the wood. Use a dowel the same way. Is that how y'all do it?

Yup, I use another dowel to either push or tap it into the cake.

indydebi wrote:

oh duh Now that makes perfect sense. Ok. I think my confidence is up enough to try without worry (I sound confident don't I....)

Thanks again everyone!

Yeah, it's like one of those "ah ha" moments isnt it!

There is a great demo on youtube.com called "Assembling a wedding cake". She does not hammer the center dowel in. She sharpens one end and kind of twists it in. Check it out!

There is a great demo on youtube.com called "Assembling a wedding cake". She does not hammer the center dowel in. She sharpens one end and kind of twists it in. Check it out!