I don't know..but looking at your photo it looks like your cake may have shifted..are you sure that you cut your dowels the same length? I always had problems with wooden dowels..hate cutting them. I use straws for my supports. They are so much easier to cut and get the same length....for me anyway.

Maybe someone else can help you with what happened to your cake. If the doweling wasn't the problem I don't know.

Originally Posted by mamawrobin

I use straws for my supports. They are so much easier to cut and get the same length....for me anyway.

+1
Bubble tea straws are a fantastic option if you can find them

And it looks like there's a slight bulging issue as well?
Make sure to let your cakes settle!
I'll find the CC thread on how to do this if it helps.

Actually, I let my cakes settle after I've filled the layers, so even before I crumb coat, I place a tile or a small plate on top of my filled cake and let it settle or sit overnight. What this does is it gives your cake a chance to, how should I say, become one with the filling/icing (for lack of better words). Any excess will bulge out the sides over the next few hours, giving you a chance to scrape it off and smooth it out the next morning, before you put anything else on top (buttercream or fondant)

Then you can crumb coat, throw it in the fridge to firm up, pull it out, do your final coat of buttercream, then either leave it with just the BC or cover it in fondant. This way, your cake isn't settling with the fondant already on top of it, since you've given it the opportunity to settle under its own weight overnight.