I am new to cake decorating. I'm very interested in learning all that I can. My first of many questions is how do you stack a cake. I'm bought separator plates that have little nubs for pillars. At the time I figured they just go into the cake but later realized they are for pillars. Can they still be used or should I not use them? I also bought small wooden dowel rods and could not get the cake to lay on the bottom layer. Eventually I cut them even shoter than the layer because the cake would not sit on the bottom layer. No matter what, there was still a bigger gap than I liked. What should I do?? How should I stack layers?

I use foamcore boards cut to the exact size that I need. That way they're flat and disposable. If I'm right though, you could use the separator plates that you got with the hollow plastic dowels that Wilton sells and end up with a very sturdy cake.

The dowels should be cut to the exact height of the cake, not taller or shorter, and then the plate or cake board sits on top of the dowels with no space in between. It sounds like maybe you had the nubs on the plate sitting on the dowels, but if you're using wooden dowels it would be better to have the dowels positioned so that they were touching the flat parts of the plate instead.

Hi and Welcome to CC, Jezzie27.

Decoding CC acronyms:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926-.html

Everything you need to know to make, decorate and assemble tiered/stacked/layer cakes:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-605188-.html

HTH