This will sound silly to most of you. But, I'm doing a tiered cake, 14" with a stacked 12" on it. Then, 7" columns with a 10" on top of that. My questions is this: How is the bottom plate of the tier hidden? What are the columns attatched to on the middle cake to keep the top tier from falling over? I've looked at several cakes here on CC and it looks like the columns are just sitting on the cake.


Thanks for looking and any suggustions.

If I am understanding you correctly the columns sound like the kind that actually go directly into the cake. In the sps it is much more stable than the wilton kind that has 2 plates. If you look at the how do I forum it is a sticky that talks about the sps, on page 15 it is a link in which would take you to the directions on it. HTH

From what I'm understanding, you're doing a set up like the diagram in the 2nd row, 1st set up (serves 116) on this link: http://www.wilton.com/cakes/tiered-cakes/serving-amounts-all.cfm

If you use the push-in pillars, then the pillars are just pushed into the 12" cake. The will stop when they hit the cardboard that the 12" cake is sitting on. The 10" cake is on a cake plate and the legs under the 10" plate fit into the top of the pillars: http://www.wilton.com/cakes/tiered-cakes/push-in-tiered-cake-construction.cfm If you use 7" pillars, you will have about 3" of space between the tiers, assuming your cake is 4" tall. If you want more space, you might use the 9" push in's.

If you're using a 2-plate system, the plate is not hidden, as shown here: http://www.wilton.com/cakes/tiered-cakes/pillar-and-stacked-cake-construction.cfm

You are wanting to do a single plate system. With the two-plate system, the bottom plate is usually hidden with flowers.

As cakeandpartygirl said, the pillars go from the bottom of the 10" through the 12" and rest on the 12" board. The columns fit into feet under the 10" plate. But, yeah, there's really nothing else holding the top tier up.

With the SPS, the legs actually snap into the upper plate so it's as solid as a table. Don't have to worry about swaying.

Thanks ladies.

Indy- You were exactly right on your links. 2nd row, 1st, is my construction. So....are the push in pillars the same as the the columns or are they constructed differently? I mean, my columns are the Grecian style so they would take a "chunk" of cake on the way down. Once they "hit" the bottom board, exactly what keeps the top 10" from wobbling and swaying?

If I use the two plate method, does the bottom plate of the 10" need to have dowels under it?

Thanks again for your expertise!

Can't we talk you into using SPS?

Ha Leah! Yes, I'd love to. I wish I could see one in person and get a close look at how it works. Are there any links to get a close-up look?

Teresa