You'd think by now that I'd have known to do a look up on something before I tried it for the first time, right? Ha-ha.

I saw the Wilton castle kit, bought it for a friend's party, and put together a fabulous castle. Then I picked it up to try to walk it down to the party and lo and behold... every pillar simply fell off.

Can anyone explain to me WHY Wilton doesn't construct stuff in such a way to make it USEABLE?????

There is NO way to secure the pillars into the base or into the cake. If they were bottom-less, you could push them into the cake at least. If they had a hold drilled into them, you could use a mallet to put a dowel in and drive into the board.

The most frustrating thing is that WILTON DOESN'T TELL YOU about this issue before you make the cake so you actually come up with a solution!!!!!!!


ARGH!!! Anyway, I just walked the whole thing down to my friend's and assembled it there on the table.

But I'll be using it again in a few weeks for another cake and I guess I'll be scouring the boards until then to try to figure out how on Earth to secure the silly thing!

GRRRRRRR

Could you use royal icing to attach to the board? When I make castles and use cones, I use the royal icing to secure them.

wow sorry that happened to you at least you were able to fix it at the party but they meaning wilton and other companys dont tell you that some of ttheir stuff is crapping or unstable becasue they want you to buy it

can you drill holes in the bottom?

I had the same problem when I used them to do a castle wedding cake. The instrux actually say to use candy melts to secure a lollipop stick to the bottom, but that obviously doesn't hold! I had to do the same thing, I transported the cake then attached the pillars.

You can use chocoalte to secure them too.. And yes they can be drill. But yes, it has been a big issue. I think so big, a lady complaint to wilton and she was refunded her money.
They should have made a special board that people could secure them. You always have an option of being creative and change the castle shape.
Edna

So, these things are just 4 towers with turrets on them? And how much are they charging for the convenience of fighting with plastic to stay standing while you transport it?

Got a husband? Got a drill? Are the towers hollow and open at the bottom?

Drill some holes the size of a skewer, cut the skewers down to a comfortable length. Place some florist's clay (florist's clay sticks to darn near everything) opposite the hole in the tower. Push the skewers through the holes, into the florist's clay. Then push the skewers into the cake.

Theresa

I feel your pain...I bougth the same kit because it looks beautiful and pretty easy....yeah right!! I had a heck of a time putting it together and the whole time I thought the towers were going to fall.
I did ended up using chocolate to glue the towers to the cake board not to the cake...that was the only way that they didn't fall.
Good luck! I'm sure you cake was beautiful.

I've used the wilton castle kit twice now and each time I used melted chocolate to secure wilton's pillar pegs (which I bought at Michael's) under the towers. Both cakes were covered in fondant so I just used a little water where the tower touches the cake as added security. I dd the same water trick on the towers on the base and used buttercream on the bottom. The first castle was at home so no biggy transferring it. But the other castle cake was at a neighbor's down the street...the towers stayed up through transport to the car then from the car into my neighbor's house with no problems. Hope this helps.

Sorry to hear about yr problems with wilton Kit...

I used it W.Kit too, but I had to push the towers down in the cake, the ones on the bottom/side had to glue down on board with icing and put the icing flowers around them to keep it glued.... good thing with mine cake wasn't transported far just few mins in elevator to apt.

I got that thing too...and I ended up building my own...with papertowel rolls and fondant-gumpaste...I havn't had the time to figure out how to use it!!! I love Wilton...but sometimes I don't think they put a whole lot of thought into some of their products...LOL...Linda

It's always good to know you're not alone in your frustrations....

I forgot to mention that I tried to use royal icing to glue the towers to the board but it didn't dry in time to secure anything. I also had the problem of the pillars in the top tier leaning over. I didn't feel I could push them down into the cake because they would displace cake (it was carved) and were very near the edge. I figured they might just bulge it out on the sides.

Thanks for all the tips. I like the floral clay idea big time. I am also big into power tools so I am going to get out my drill and dowels and do what another poster suggested in another thread...pound those bad boys in!

There should be a support group for people who love Wilton but get frustrated with their lack of "do-ability."

Hi. My name is Cathy and I'm an, er.... Wilton-holic.

It's always good to know you're not alone in your frustrations....

I forgot to mention that I tried to use royal icing to glue the towers to the board but it didn't dry in time to secure anything. I also had the problem of the pillars in the top tier leaning over. I didn't feel I could push them down into the cake because they would displace cake (it was carved) and were very near the edge. I figured they might just bulge it out on the sides.

Thanks for all the tips. I like the floral clay idea big time. I am also big into power tools so I am going to get out my drill and dowels and do what another poster suggested in another thread...pound those bad boys in!

There should be a support group for people who love Wilton but get frustrated with their lack of "do-ability."

Hi. My name is Cathy and I'm an, er.... Wilton-holic.

I had the same issues with the kit. Now I just use RI to glue the pillars to the board and to attach the plastic dowels to the bottom of the pillars that you stick into the cake. I never could figure out why they just didn't leave the bottoms open on those things!!?? And using melted chocolate in the Arizona heat doesn't work all that well! DUH!

Melted Candy Melts adhered the turrets to the cake board and my fondant-covered cake for me.

Pain in the rear, but it worked!