Hi Everyone!
When watching these shows, I notice they always (for the most part) deliver their cakes already stacked and assembled. Stack a bunch in the van and off they go! How do they get the cakes to travel like that without falling over?! Most decorators I've asked wouldn 't dare stack more than 2 tiers.
I deliver all of my cakes stacked. I use wooden dowels (I get them at the hardware/home improvement store) and masonite boards throughout (no cardboard), with a center dowel that is anchored to the baseboard, which makes for a very sturdy cake. Some decorators also swear by the SPS support system.
Honestly, I had never heard of anyone assembling their cakes onsite before I came to cake central.
I have always assembled on site, even though I use the sps system. I live in az where it is obviously very dry and worry about the satin ice cracking. So far I have never had a problem with that as long as the boards are sturdy and dont bend.
I think I am going to bit the bullet and try to stack before I leave next time.
there is a sticky at the top of this forum with everything you need to know about SPS.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-603925.html
PinkZiab -- Did you make the system yourself? If I'm understanding you must make a hole in the center of each layer to fit on the support???
I didn't invent this stacking system.. it's used by a lot of professional pastry chefs/cake designers. I do pre-drill the masonite circles with holes, obviously, but I don't make holes in the cakes ahead of time. I just lower the cake down over the dowel using the hole in the masonite as a guide and let it poke itself through the cake. Unless it's a cake with very large construction and I have to use a large center post (such as a PVC pipe)... in that case I would make a hole in the center of the cake to accommodate the pipe.
Oh, instead of separater plates or cardboard you are using the masonite. I dowel from top to bottom for support when transporting. You would not be able to do that with your method, correct?
Yes I use masonite under every tier--no separator plates or cardboard. I do have a center dowel, but it's fixed to the base board first and the tiers are lowered onto it (as opposed to stacking the cake and then hammering a dowel down through the tiers) and the bottom tier also gets hot-glued down to the larger base/presentation board, and of course every tier is doweled for support as well. I prefer this method because the center post is fixed firmly in place, and also there's no mark on the top tier to cover up where the dowel went through. It makes for a VERY sturdy cake, and I haven't had one collapse yet.
Oh, instead of separater plates or cardboard you are using the masonite. I dowel from top to bottom for support when transporting. You would not be able to do that with your method, correct?
Yes I use masonite under every tier--no separator plates or cardboard. I do have a center dowel, but it's fixed to the base board first and the tiers are lowered onto it (as opposed to stacking the cake and then hammering a dowel down through the tiers) and the bottom tier also gets hot-glued down to the larger base/presentation board, and of course every tier is doweled for support as well. I prefer this method because the center post is fixed firmly in place, and also there's no mark on the top tier to cover up where the dowel went through. It makes for a VERY sturdy cake, and I haven't had one collapse yet.
PinkZ: Do you use a particular circumference for your center dowel?
Are the masonite boards food safe or do you cover them?
sorry duplicate post 
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