This is the first LARGE cake I've been asked to do. It's supposed to feed at least 100 people. I really don't want to buy anything else for this cake. I've spent enough already. The person who I'm making it for is demanding all these things all of a sudden. I'm just irritated, sorry to vent. Oh, and did I mention it was a gift?

I don't have alot of cakes posted but most of my cakes I made where gifts too,, here's the thing about gifts u can make oopps and say well sorry and they can't complain b/c they did'nt pay ,, or they can complain but whatcha gonna do .

Now back to the cake part I have made a 6-7 layer cake layering it horizontal then long ways { pwer ranger } This was my first cake I think I put a dowel or 2 in it it was when I had no clue about layering { I used no boards } lol . It was fine . I also have a football cake that is posted on here and it was pretty heavy and large no doweld he,he . OOPS , I think the main problem is wieght they can want to crack in the middle sometimes { bow } But just use a bad a- bottom board to support that middle Ps for round you can just use dowles and cut ur cake boards { free boxes or water bottle boxes } a tip I have learned when u don't have a good support system ,, be careful on ur fillings that is my problem { coolwhips , puddingd jelleys make this sucker slide ,, maybe stick to a thin buttercream layer until u get the hang of it .

You can use dowels but I've had them shift and it wasn't a pretty site. You can also use straws (lots of them) and probably have better luck. Bubble tea straws are the best. If you have an Asian Market near you can get them there or go to McDonalds or somewhere that has big fat straws.

Not a regular straw, a bubble tea straw. They are about 1/2" in diameter and non-flexible. Google them and you'll see what they are.

They're what Duff uses on Ace of Cakes, and I've been thinking of trying them myself...it would save me a ton of $.

You can also get Wilton hidden pillars or their hollow dowels, either of which would work.

If this cake only needs to feed 100, you could do that with a 6, 9, 12" round. Don't give away the farm...

Dowels are fine and not that pricey either if you get them at a cake store. I just did a four tier cake at 5 inches or so tall and used dowels and it was fine and I had to drive it to the site.. that was about an hour way and it did not move.

I have never tried the straws but I know a lot of people use them.

just had to add my cake... I was so happy with it!

4 tiers or 4 layers? either way dowels work great - have done a 7-tier stacked cake - transported 20 miles on mediocre roads - fully stacked - no problem.... 3/16" wide dowels to support tiers -if you are talking 4 tiers please remember to use a central dowel down the center of all your tiers to keep things a little more stable ( I use 1/4" dowel)!

I just bought (but haven't tried yet) SPS. I hear a lot of people rave about them and they aren't very expensive at all. There are instructions for them in the "how do i" forum.

The bubble tea straws are inexpensive if you can get them locally.Probably less then $3.00 for a big bag.

I use regular drinking straws up to 4 tiers all the time. After that I start adding a few wooden dowels in with them per layer.