Does anyone know what is between these tiers? I have a request for a cake similar to this, and I have no idea what would be sturdy enough to hold up a cake like this. Any ideas?

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1246171
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1241140
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1428544


TIA!

I would say they are 1" or 2" thick styrofoam tier separators, covered in ribbon or fondant.
You would of course have to dowel/SPS each tier under them though.

If you look at my pictures, my stencilled cakes are done in the same way but with the syrafoam the same size as the cake on top creating a tall tier effect. These were cake dummies but I don't know how sturdy this would be with real cakes. Anyone know?

I agree styrofoam , I did one with 5 tiers and just made sure I had the plastic dowels in and no problems at all. As long as it's done right no problems. SPS works also. Everyone above is right.

def. foam dummies...

How do you adhere the foam with the two cakes tiers above and below it? And you dowel or SPS the cake tier only, right? Thank you

I guess that you just stick it with royal icing. I would split a 3 tier cake with the foam below it attached and transport the 3 tiers seperately Just in case it cannot with stand the journey. Then I would assemble it at the venue spreading a little royal icing between each tier. I would just dowel the cakes. Can someone correct if I am wrong as I am not that experienced.

Maybe I am not picturing this right, but the foam doesn't seem like a hard enough object to hold that much weight above it (especially the ones under the lower tiers) without possibly being punctured by the dowels and jeopardizing the structure of the cake. Does the foam sit directly on the cake or do you attach a cake board to the bottom?

I also used foam but I did use foamcore board the same size as foam above and beneath the foam. Covered in fondant and attached to the cakes at the venue with royal icing. (in pic's- pink 15 cake)

I haven't done one of these cakes yet but have thought about it

Personally I also would be worried about a 1 or 2 inch Styrofoam piece holding the wait. It it's square like in the sample photos I personally would go to the hardwood store and have some 1" pieces of wood cut to the size you need. Then if you need it to be 2" high you can screw 2 pieces together.

Then your supports won't damage the wood and the structure would be nice and strong.

The styrofoam dosen't support the weight, it's the SPS that supports all the weight!!!!! Cut the SPS columns to the height of the cake. Insert the columns and plate assembly into the iced cake. It should be flush with the top surface of the cake. Then I hot glue the styrofoam to the top of the plate. Wrap with ribbon or you can cover the sides of the foam with icing. If you use ribbon, it needs to be a ribbon that won't absorb the grease from touching the icing. There is a ribbon that is called "floraribbon" that is great for that. It comes in a roll that is about 3" wide, and it can be cut to whatever width you need and it will not ravel. Or you could wrap the sides of the foam with fondant. Each tier needs to be measured and columns cut to the exact height of each tier. The styrofoam can be any height, 1", 2", 3", etc.

Use this column assembly in each tier except the top tier. Do not stack these until you are at the venue site.

I usually use 1/2" thick boards and wrap the edge in ribbon. You can use whatever you want for the board as long as it is sturdy enough to support the cake. If your cake is covered in fondant and the board is covered over with the fondant, that will work great also.

This cake is then placed on top of the styrofoam piece that is on the cake below. It does NOT have to be glued on. It's not going anywhere. Then stack the rest of the tiers in the same fashion. As long as you have the SPS supports in there it will be very sturdy!!! Hope this helps!!!!

I used 2 plastic plates the size of the styrofoam. I used the green hard kind wrapped in plastic wrap and sandwhiched them inbetween the two plates. It doesn't shift I didn't transport like that put it all together when I got there. The weight of the cakes keeps it in and the dowels hold the weight or the SPS. The round cake I did 4tiers I think with 3 seperators that's how I did it. If you want the flowers flush with the cake use a smaller seperator. My Bride wanted her flowers to hang out some so I used a larger one. I hope I explained this as for you to understand. I'm visual too and when they explained it to me I had a hard time until I did it. As long as it's doweled properly the rest will come to you as your doing it.