i know people have said to us ea pound cake, but will it make a bige differnce if i don't??

I think you can use pretty much any kind of cake you want!

You don't need to use pound cake, but a denser cake is better than a very light one because fondant is heavy and you don't want it to collapse.

Yes, I think you are better off using a more dense cake with fondant, depending on the size of the cake and if it is a stacked cake. The weight of the fondant is better suited to a more dense type of cake like a pound cake or a firmer texture. Most commercial bakers will only use a pound cake when covering with fondant or a heavier type of cake. A local bakery here will not do more than a two tiered cake unless it is a pound cake. If you doctor up a mix by using less oil and adding pudding and sour cream, you will get a more dense cake suitable for this use.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I wouldn't use an angel food or chiffon cake, but any kind of butter cake with the proper supports should be fine.

Well, a dense butter cake yes. Just don't follow a regular cake mix as per the box as most of these are not dense enough . For instance many folks here use the cake mixes according to box directions. That will likely not give you an issue with a two tiered smaller cake, it doesn't work so well with a three tiered or larger. I can tell you from experience, the marble cake mix as per the box won't hold up, doesn't matter how well it is dowelled or boarded either. Your cake still has to be strong enough to support the dowels that will support the boarded cakes.

I don't know about the mixes; I make mine from scratch. But as long as the cake is properly supported you can do lighter butter cakes with no problem, since the cake rests on the supports, and not itself.

Well that is partly true, but the dowels are inside the cake itself and they are the structural support, much like when you built a deck and the deck is supported by posts stuck in cement filled sono tubes. If the vertical supports are not in a strong base, they will shift and crack.
I have seen it happen personally, I had more than enough dowels and doubled boarded each tier and the centre tier cracked at the dowels. It is more of a concern with fondant covered cakes because fondant is heavy.
If you look at any book that has information on covering cakes with fondant, they will state to use a firmer dense cake like a pound cake.
In most cases, even with a smaller cake you are adding an additional pound and more to each cake, with the weight of the fondant.
Initially fondant was only used on fruitcakes, it is only in recent years that it has been used on pound cakes and such. Most cake mix cakes are spongey and fragile in nature. Some from scratch cakes, particularly those made with cake flour, have a much more delicate texture. But there are always ingredients you can add to a cake mix or cut back on, that will make a more dense cake.

Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I agree with Sangria and Tastycakes.

A cake mix isn't an issue...the quality of the dowels and support structure is the reason a cake collapses or not. (If you put the dowels in angled, of course the cake risks collapse! haha) Also, wooden dowels are much better than say, plastic straws for example. A bakery near me uses wooden chopsticks...cheap and perfectly effective!

I used only mixes on multi-tiered fondant children's cakes years ago...never a problem.


Good luck!

I have used cake mix cakes and scratch cakes in multi-tiered fondant-covered cakes with no problems at all.

Well, I am not saying every cake will have problems, just that some cakes may cause problems. I would personally rather be safe than sorry and since I had that personal experience, I would rather warn others than let them find out the hard way. Incidentally, because I was suspect of how this cake would hold up, I kept an eye on it and was able to rescue it. Since it wasn't for a customer, it wasn't a problem. I am not an inexperienced person, I have done many, many cakes.
But I have seen numerous accounts of cake sliding and tipping over, on the Wilton site and in emails I receive. Multi level stacked tiers, wedding cakes. Large cakes of several tiers, not just two or three. Not cakes that were only 4. 6 and 8 inch cakes.
Like I said, take a look at the Wilton Wedding cake books and they all recommend a more dense cake like a pound cake. Like I said, the local bakery refuses to do more than a small two tiered cake unless it is a pound cake. Their cakes are cake mix cakes, made as per box instructions and they have been in business for more than 30 years.
I worry when someone is making a wedding cake that they may have a disaster like has happened on the Wilton site many times. But my worries are for the customers, after all you are making a cake that many feel is the centrepiece of the wedding. I feel a responsibility to make a wedding as perfect as possible. Personally, I find a lot of folks just take chances on wedding cakes. I don't believe in taking chances on ruining someone's special day when you can avoid that by cutting back on the oil, adding a pudding mix, adding some sour cream or using a recipe that makes a more dense cake.
Just my opinion,
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Good grief...don't your hands get tired?! ha ha

Don't worry...the whole idea of this site and these topics are "just our opinions" and experiences in cake-making...letting us share with one another what we've had work or not work.