I was wondering if a cake board/circle have to be the exact same size as the separator plate? Would you really need a separator plate for stacking tiered cakes? I already have the Wilton hidden pillars and was going to use them alone until I came across the separator plates, which are quite expensive for a single piece. Could anyone kindly share their ideas on this and with pictures if have?

Thank you!

Yes, I use a separator plate. Don't know what else you would rest the next tier on. They are not really expensive here...couple of cents. Not sure if I fully understand what your plan is with the hidden pillars but no plate???

Hi Julia1812, so does the cake circle and the separator plate have to be the same size?  For instance, a 12" cake circle on a 12" separator plate.. or it doesn't really matter?  I was planning on using just cake circles but now I'm leaning more on the sep. plates because of all the good reviews about them...

For a stacked tier cake, I used the single-plate/hidden pillars method for many years.  I liked how the 'feet' of the plates gave extra stability to the construction.  Now I often just put each tier on a cake drum or cut out a cc from foamcore board and use the hidden pillars or similar disposable dowels.  I then sharpen a long wooden dowel and tap it down thru the entire tiered cake and into the base board.   You can't do that with the single-plate method unless you actually drill out a hole in the center of each plate (which a friend of mine actually did!).

Either way- I use a plate/cake drum/cc the same size as the tier.  If your cake design calls for a relatively small base border, you can even get away with using a plate and/or cc one size smaller. . . a 12" tier on an 11" plate.

Thank you both for your inputs.  This is some great information!  I will surely put your suggestions to good use.

cakedout - how have you secured the drum (or whatever you used) to the plate? I'm planning to use royal icing but was wondering if there's a better way (I'm assembling the cake on-site).

Hi annakat444, I put a little glue in the middle of the plate before I place the circle/drum on the separator plate.  I think it's best to assemble the cake on-site with cakes still on drums/circles and then when you assemble you put them on the separator plates.  It will be my first time using the plates but from reading the other reviews I learned that this is a very stable method.  You wouldn't need anything else to stabilize.  hope this helps.