((Dowel Users)) Do You Prefer Bubble Tea Straws, Cardboard Or Wooden Dowels?
Decorating By CupCake.Goddess Updated 1 Nov 2017 , 5:48pm by CupCake.Goddess

I've always used wooden dowels to support my cakes but now I'm looking for more options. I keep hearing about the bubble tea straws and how good they are. Also, I watched one of Edna De La Cruz's videos on how to properly stacked tiered cakes and she used cardboard dowels. I haven't seen any cardboard dowels yet I'm wondering what you use?
I don't use SPS as I bake on a very small scale. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

I've used both and have now grown to love the thick straws because they are just so much easier to cut. Wood was frustrating, even thick poly dowels were annoying (though admittedly, I might use the poly dowels on the bottom tier of a bigger/larger cake). But the straws are super fast and very strong. Once I read in Rose Berenbaum's book (The Cake Bible) that she used big straws I thought, if it's good for Rose, it's good for me! ;)

I know right! lol I love Rose. She has so many delicious recipes!! So I looked up the Boba tea straws and they're online at a really good price. I think I'm going to go with those because the wood ones are no longer optimal. When I initially saw them, I thought "there's no way they will hold up anything but I was wrong. I did research the poly dowels but I'm wondering if I can get them cheaper at Lowe's versus online. I assume they are stronger for the 10, 12, 14 and 16 inch cakes? @ katy_cakes


I've used both wooden dowels and large straws. I prefer the straws for the stacked tiers, but I still use a 1/2" wooden dowel or PVC pipe for a central support anchored into the cake board.

I use the large straws for support and have not had any issues yet!

What are "wide bore" straws @ maybenot? Now see...@ SandraSmiley, the central support is what I don't get. Do you stick one long dowel in the center of the cake through all of the cakeboards then trim it so that it doesn't show? Btw, I posted her cake. : ) @ Coffeelover77 I haven't heard complaint regarding the large straws. They seem to be support angels from heaven! lol!!

Disclaimer:) I have not read the replies....just giving you my 2 cents worth here:)
I am a *very!* firm believer of using plastic drink straws. I have never used a bubble tea straw.....don't think I have ever even seen one to know how they might differ. When I visit a fast food place (McD and others) and see the nice, thick ones I ask if it's alright to take some. I have never been told no nor stopped walking out w/a good handful. Even in the wedding cakes I made I used straws. As with any 'dowel' it's important to incert them properly for proper/good support.

@CupCake.Goddess, here is one way to use a central dowel for tall cakes.

I've been told over and over that a central dowel provides a false sense of security and is not necessary. It may not be necessary, but I cannot believe that, if done correctly, it doesn't help keep the cake in the proper position.
I've used two different methods for a central dowel. The first is similar to the one shown above. Cut a plywood base, drill a hole in the center for the dowel, measure cake tiers to approximate height to cut dowel (should be long enough to penetrate the top tier about 2/3rds of the way through, but not come out the top), hot glue dowel in the hole on the plywood base. I make the upper end of the dowel pointed to cause less damage to the cake as it passes through. For a four tier cake, I use a 1/2" wooden dowel OR I have used a metal flange screwed to the plywood base and used PVC pipe as the central support instead of a wooden dowel. Before I start, I make holes in all the cake boards to be used underneath the tiers to insure they are properly centered on the central dowel and to make it easier to stack. This is the method I've used most frequently and with which I am most comfortable.
The second way I've used a central dowel is to make a base from cardboard, usually about two inches thick (example: The base will be three or four thicknesses of 18" corrugated board, hot glued together. Centered on top of the base is a second circle of 16" corrugated board, made of four thicknesses hot glued together and hot glued to the base. I use cardboard cake boards under each tier and drive a sharpened dowel all the way through from the top all the way to the floor...you can tell when it hits the floor or table because it sounds different. At this point, it is tightly anchored into two inches of cardboard at the base.
Both of these methods have worked perfectly for me. And, yes, maybe it is overkill, but it makes me happy and I will continue to use the central dowel.
Before anyone starts screaming at me, I always cover all of the supports with either foil or cling wrap to be sure nothing can possible touch the cake.


Quote by @CupCake.Goddess on 3 hours ago
What are "wide bore" straws @ maybenot?
A wide bore straw is a straw with a large hole, like a bubble tea/boba tea straw or a milk shake straw. The more expensive options are Wilton hollow pillars. The premise is that the wider the hole, the more contact the edges have with the board, so "O" is always better than "o" or "."
I use a central dowel for more than 2 tiers. I sharpen a thick wooden dowel that's at least an inch taller than the stacked cake. I drive the dowel through the center until it pierces the bottom cake board [1/2 inch or more of foamcore], pull it back up a bit, and cut it off to a few centimeters below the top of the cake.
A central dowel won't prevent side-to-side shear of the cake material, but it will prevent the cake boards from moving side-to-side. Boards can slip with the entire cake staying intact, so a central dowel is some insurance against that.

Ah! Okay, that's great! The central dowel seems like a lifesaver. I've used them around the cake but never in the middle. : )

@ kakeladi I am dying with laughter! The next time I get fast food, I'm taking a whole lot of them!! lol That's a really neat idea!! @ SandraSmiley thank you so much for the video. You're right, it definitely would give me comfort knowing the boards will remain in place! Great information guys!! @ Maybenot, I can visualize what you do with your cakes. The next time I have a two tiered stacked cake, I'm going to use a central dowel AND @ Kakeladi's fast food straws! Muhahahahahaha!!

I first seen the bubble tea straws on YouTube video by krazy kool cakes after a lot of searching I found a Asian supply store and bought 2 bags maybe 50 straws to a bag but I believe they are a thicker plastic than a drinking straw I did a 5 tier practice cake I used wooden dowel in the 14" but all the rest I used the straws it set on my dining room table for 3 days no problems

I love using the plastic plates with feet and larger diameter hidden pillars. Seems very secure, once feet are placed into pillars. make sure it's centered perfectly before pushing into cake because you can't move them afterwards. I just use it he hobo straws for smaller tiers.

MamaGeese those are sooo 'old school' :) That's how I made cakes when I started in this business way back in 1980. When I taught classes I would spend at least 1/2 of one class showing how to insert those & other dowels - making the students do it over & over until they got it right. Back then we didn't use straws yet. It is soooo very important that *any* dowel/support be inserted into a cake properly.

I've been wanting to try those Wilton purple dowels and caps where you slide the cake onto the board from the top. The large hidden pillars I like do kind of mess the cake up on the inside, but they are very sturdy when cut flush to top of cake before you push the plate feet into pillars. I wish the plastic plates had center holes like the cardboard does, so you could run a dowel through top all the way down to base. My cakes are so heavy that once I place them they're not going anywhere. I've noticed so many new support systems out now, would love to try them, but some of them look quite flimsy.

I use the plastic O dowels for tier support and a wooden dowel through the middle.

I always use boba tea straws. I get them at a local Asian grocery store. I also use a center wood dowel into base board. Yes, proper support placement is always a must. Be sure to spread them out far enough from the center, just short of the tier that will go on them, and be sure to use enough of them.

Jacob58 how much did they cost? That sounds pretty cool. Why did you use wooden dowels in the 14 inch cake?
MamaGeese I like the plates with the feet too. I watched a YouTube video on them. A baker made a 4-5 tier cake with them and it was very secure. Kakeladi, 1980?? lol Omg! I was born two years prior! Hey, old school works! : )
Caketherapy, oh so its Boba! I've been calling them bubble since forever!! lol Just short of the next tier...okay got it!


They're called both. I think Boba was original Asian & they probably Americanized it to bubble.

They're called both. I think Boba was original Asian & they probably Americanized it to bubble.

The plastic dowels from Wilton ...I meant the O to represent the shape of them. Sorry if I mislead anybody.

Caketherapy oh! okay lol. That makes sense. : ) No problem Bakerlady2, I see them at Michaels all the time. : )

Bubble straws are dirt cheap, they work well because you don't displace the cake from it's original spot (other than the first one that I insert, remove and cut to size then use as a sizing straw for my other ones).
Sorry but I find it quite gross that anyone would use straws from a fast food outlet dispenser to put in their cakes, not only is everyone, including germy, touch everything, non hand washing kids (yep I have one old enough to be in this category) touching those dispensers/straws, getting too many and putting a few back etc but you have no idea how dirty or clean that dispenser is inside or it someone accidently dropped the straws all over the counter when they were restocking etc.
They are about AU$2 for a hundred pack, so buying some instead and keeping them in a sealed ziplock bag wont break the bank.

@bubs1stbirthday, as to using dirty fast food straws, most straws in the USA (that I have seen), whether in a fast food or fine dining restaurant, are sealed in a plastic or waxed paper wrapper so they remain untouched by anyone (or thing) until you open the wrapper and remove the straw, sort of like opening the back of bubble tea straws.


Ahh - well that makes sense then, all of ours are generally just in a dispenser that everyone has access to, I will also admit I find sharing of personal germs rather gross (even my kids can't drink out of my water bottle or it needs to be washed - just one of my probably many oddities) so for me using straws that everyone has touched is a little too much but individually wrapped ones are a different story.
Quote by @SandraSmiley on 9 hours ago
@bubs1stbirthday, as to using dirty fast food straws, most straws in the USA (that I have seen), whether in a fast food or fine dining restaurant, are sealed in a plastic or waxed paper wrapper so they remain untouched by anyone (or thing) until you open the wrapper and remove the straw, sort of like opening the back of bubble tea straws.
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