I did a wedding cake for my in-laws on Saturday...it was so beautiful and I was so proud as I loaded it in the car. I wasn't counting on all the stop n go freeway traffic and the bumpy construction...my top most layer which was filling with cherry just fell apart as we pulled in to the venue. My in-laws had said it was an indoor wedding, but it turned out to be outside so with the extreme heat the white chocolate buttercream got soft. I tried to stack it with the pillar set I have, but I am not sure if it was too heavy or if I did it wrong cuz they just sank straight through the cake. As I sobbed that it was all ruined and was so embarrassed, my wonderful husband set the cakes out unstacked and fixed them so at the very least the looked ok. This cake should have never left the kitchen!
I tried to stack it with the pillar set I have, but I am not sure if it was too heavy or if I did it wrong cuz they just sank straight through the cake.
Tell us more about the pillar set you used and how you used it, so we can tell you if you used it correctly. Cake shouldn't be too heavy for the plate system... they are made for this. It shouldn't sink through the cake unless you didn't use all parts of the system.
Was the pillar set a push in pillar type? Or did you use plates and pillars in between? If you used the plates with pillars in between did you have any dowels in the cake under the plate?
I say what a wonderful Hubby.....At least he tried to subdue the embarrassment...I'm sure the cake was okay..Cheer up!
Since push-in pillars don't also require dowels, is this similar to what you used?:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3127DA-475A-BAC0-543E0A382BAB1751&killnav=1
This setup requires dowels, then plate, then pillars, then plate. What did you do?
Do you have a photo to help diagnose what went wrong?
did you mean dowels, plate, pillar, plate???? Not being silly just making always trying to learn.
here is a link to the pic. this is the one showing the pillar system
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150708340295226&set=a.50247970225.126310.761990225&type=1&theater
Since push-in pillars don't also require dowels, is this similar to what you used?:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3127DA-475A-BAC0-543E0A382BAB1751&killnav=1
This setup requires dowels, then plate, then pillars, then plate. What did you do?
Do you have a photo to help diagnose what went wrong?
cake on plate....dowels in cake....pillars over dowels....then next plate.
cake on plate....dowels in cake....pillars over dowels....then next plate.
Pillars over dowels won't work... that's only four dowels to balance all that weight on--too wobbly with nothing holding them into the air space. Also, the nubs on the plate won't fit into the pillars correctly if there's a dowel in the way. The pillars can't support when they are free to move up and down unattached to the dowel and not properly seated on the nubs of the two plate system.
To use that system, you first assemble the two plates connected by the four pillars. Set all this together onto the doweled tier.
Place cake on cardboard onto top plate. Border.
Repeat.
For the three tier cake you needed four plates (plus the bottom plate) and 8 columns.
From your description, you were two plates short.
Sorry this happened to you.
In the summer heat it's a good idea to completely chill the cakes before transport. That way the cake is solid and less likely to slide around on you (like the top tier's layer that slid off)
Not sure if you did that or not, but it does help.
feeling very confused now.
Use the double-plate separators like this:
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/tiered-cakes/separator-plate-cake-construction.cfm
@tcbalgord: Don't let it get you down. We've all made a little mistake some time that we've been too embarrassed to ask how to fix. Kudos to you for having the guts to put it out there and ask. Easlity fixed. Keep your chin up, and give bonus points to your DH.
Wait a minute, now I'm confused. I'm making my first separated cake, 3 tier, soon. Thought I had it all figured out, using 2 plates and columns between each layer. I have used dowels on stacked layered cakes before. Do I have to use dowels in the layers on this cake to support the separator plates? It makes sense now that I'm reading this, but I hadn't thought about it before.
Yes, dowels in the cake to support the plate. Otherwise the weight of the second tier, plus the weight of the top cake, is pressing straight down on the bottom cake (and middle cake of course), with nothing there to keep it from crushing the cake straight down. Wilton books have a good "x-ray" view of how things should look inside the cake.
.....dowels inside the pillars thinking they would help hold up the plate on top...feeling very confused now......
No, that is not how the system works. As Leah (I think) said, you need 2 plates and 4 pillars for each seperation. The dowels go in the cake *under one of the plates*. It';s the dowels that hold up the upper tiers so the cake is not squashed 
.......Kimenem said: .....now I'm confused....making first separated cake, 3 tier, soon. Thought I had it all figured out, using 2 plates and columns between each layer....Do I have to use dowels in the layers on this cake to support the separator plates?.............
Yep Use straws. The are *very*! strong and will hold up the 2 upper tiers. (BTW: a layer is one piece of cake; a tier is usually 2 layers iced as one cake and what a wedding cake is made up of - in your case 3 tiers - not layers). As I said above, The dowels/straws go in the cake *under one of the plates*. It';s the dowels that hold up the upper tiers so the cake is not squashed or so the pillars don't sink into the cake
Thanks for the clarification kakeladi. I didn't realize I was incorrectly using the two terms as synonyms, I suppose that can be confusing.
Thanks also for the straw idea. Seems like it would be much easier cutting straws than dowels. Just regular drinking straws or is there a special kind for cake decorating I haven't heard of?
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