Help Please... My Beautiful 4 Tier Stacked Cake Fell Over
Decorating By Sandylee05 Updated 29 Aug 2013 , 12:49am by BinkyFinder
I had bought an SPS plate and a set of pillars , but I had never used them. The pillars that I have say "Grecian". These measure 5 1/8 inches!
Are there shorter pillars?
Thanks,
Sandy
icer101 wrote: >>yes, foam core is at michaels, hobby lobby.. ac moore, 1/2" thick.. then cut that according .. then wrap in food safe paper.. some people use plywood 1/2" thick and cover that.. then as usual dowel each tier.. then put the long dowel .. not skewers. all the way from top to bottom . if it is the foam core.. than drive the dowel thru that ..you will hear it when it gets there and also feel it. hth of course , you cannot drive the dowel thru the plywood.ha! but down to it.. some people use masonite boards under all their tiers.. and then use the dowel all the way thru. haven,t done that before..<<<
I'm still undecided about what to do. I had used the masonite board. The problem is: you can't drive a dowel rod through that. I would think the long dowel need so go through the base board.
Thank you for the reply!
I'm still undecided about what to do. I had used the masonite board. The problem is: you can't drive a dowel rod through that. I would think the long dowel need so go through the base board.
Thank you for the reply!
Put the cake on one or two cardboards. Then attach the cardboards to the masonite (I use folded over duct tape). Then you can use the center dowel.
I do this all the time when I use a silver plateau or one of my other cake stands.
do you all collect the sps system after the wedding or do you just add the cost to the cake price? I think i will be purchasing a set just to try it out.
I build them into the price, but they are not expensive-
cake ingredients - $20
cake drums - $12
sugarpaste flowers $60
Not having to worry about an $800 wedding cake arriving in one piece - PRICELESS!!! 
And yes, Sandy there are 4" legs...
I'm doing a 4 tier cake in August and the MOG is going to transport the cake 2 hours. She also wants me to make the cake 3 days before the wedding. What would be the best way to transport it? Also if I use wooden dowels are they ok in the cake for that long? If it is covered in fondant will the cake still be fresh? Sorry for hijacking the post but I'm starting to get nervous. TIA
If you go to my website and look at any of the 100 or so stacked cakes - every one made with SPS.
Frankly, it's the answer you're looking for.
Diiiiiiii-TOE!
And if you don't use SPS, lemme tell you what little wooden dowels can do. Basically, it's like using a pencil to secure your cake. They push through the cake, displacing the cake around it. So now you have (albeit minute) cake squished out in all directions. So now, before transporting, stacking, anything, you've already got cake moving outwards from your dowels. You're already at a disatvantage.
Now, you've got a bigger dowel being driven down the middle of the whole thing. More cake being displaced. More strikes against you before you even hit the road.
When you use something like tea straws or SPS, (SPS being A#1 choice, but straws are much better than dowels already), they are hollow. The legs/straws are slipping into the cake, not squishing cake out in all directions. So you have no cake displaced, because it just slid up inside of the straw/leg. Much better grip in that cake. They are much less likey to cause any of the horror stories you hear about, especially when you see the words "ripped right through the cake". Those two methods don't cause "ripping through the cake". 
icer101 wrote: >>yes, foam core is at michaels, hobby lobby.. ac moore, 1/2" thick.. then cut that according .. then wrap in food safe paper.. some people use plywood 1/2" thick and cover that.. then as usual dowel each tier.. then put the long dowel .. not skewers. all the way from top to bottom . if it is the foam core.. than drive the dowel thru that ..you will hear it when it gets there and also feel it. hth of course , you cannot drive the dowel thru the plywood.ha! but down to it.. some people use masonite boards under all their tiers.. and then use the dowel all the way thru. haven,t done that before..<<<
I'm still undecided about what to do. I had used the masonite board. The problem is: you can't drive a dowel rod through that. I would think the long dowel need so go through the base board.
Thank you for the reply!
The center dowel is not suppsed to go through the very very bottom board. That's your cake drum or decorative board....it doesn't get anything driven through it.
do you all collect the sps system after the wedding or do you just add the cost to the cake price? I think i will be purchasing a set just to try it out.
When I use it, no. I don't want a bunch of messy cake pilars and plates. It's built into the cost of the cake. I refuse to take deposits and track down people for "my stuff". They are on their honeymoon, and I'm busy with other stuff. Or not...maybe some relaxation time??
I dont have an advice. I just wanted to say sorry this happened to you. My heart just sunk when I read your title!
Leahs ...
Thank you so much for posting the SPS instructions. Why can I not understand what the hole in the cardboard is for? I have read your instructions over and over. Is it for a dowel? Or is there something on the plate that sticks in the hole? I understand the rest of the instructions ... I am making a wedding cake for 100 people in August and planned on just using the dowel on each layer and through the centre to the bottom trick ... I think this would be far safer.... for a newbie like me.
I am so sorry to hear what happened Sandylee ... I hope you were able to fix it.
I've used coast about 3 times and had no trouble with transporting, is this the same type of system with another name?
http://www.cakedeco.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?p_catid=266
SHeila
Leahs ...
Thank you so much for posting the SPS instructions. Why can I not understand what the hole in the cardboard is for? I have read your instructions over and over. Is it for a dowel? Or is there something on the plate that sticks in the hole? I understand the rest of the instructions ... I am making a wedding cake for 100 people in August and planned on just using the dowel on each layer and through the centre to the bottom trick ... I think this would be far safer.... for a newbie like me.
I am so sorry to hear what happened Sandylee ... I hope you were able to fix it.
No, for a newbie, SPS is the far safer thing than dowels. Go back and look at Leahs instructions. The hole in the cardboard is explained. It's for the peg that sticks up to hold your cake secure.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE THE SPS SYSTEM! I also asked leah_s about how a small plate could hold that! Low and behold I had to travel to a destination almost 40 miles away on a HORRIBLE country road that was so bumpy it made me nervous! It was a 3 tier wedding cake and do you know that thing never moved! I also transported another 3 tier cake and it also never moved and I was going uphill! SPS will save your career! lol! Build it into your price unbeknownst to the client, and have the security you need that your hard work will not be in vain! BIG HUGS TO YOU! Take care!
I've used coast about 3 times and had no trouble with transporting, is this the same type of system with another name?
http://www.cakedeco.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?p_catid=266
SHeila
It looks similar but is there a peg in the center of each plate to set your cardboard circle on?
Before I tried SPS, I HATED to do tiered cakes. I could never get the dowels but even and it was just too much stress worrying that they would fall. Today, we took a 4 tier cake an hour away in the rain and it never moved. I wasn't even worried actually. I used to stress so much about them and with SPS, it doesn't move.
Something else I learned today. I have never actually dismantled a cake that uses SPS. The wedding cake today was for a friend and I was staying for the wedding. When we got to the reception, there was a girl that was going to serve and they had some questions about flavors. The girl looked terrified to serve the cake. I asked her if she wanted help and she readily agreed. Since there were 3 flavors of cake, we separated all of the cakes so guests could get the flavor they wanted. It literally took me over 5 minutes to get the support out of 1 of the tiers. For that cake to have fallen would have the taken the car rolling over and then, I wouldn't have been worried about the cake at that moment. 
Anyway, I would never go back dowels. I just add it to the cost of the cake and if they bring it back, that's all the better. I got this one back since I dismantled the cake but I consider it disposable.
ABest stacking system i found yet' is the "stable Mabel" with the "stress free" rings awesome and worth every penny .have delivered 3 to 5 tiers and as far as 1 hour away. Goggle each they come right :-)
AI don't post a lot on here, and I'm not sure how old this thread is but I have a question about sps. I've always used the straws and wooden dowel method as I have the sugarshack DVD. I've transported many 3 tier cakes without an issue. This weekend I made a three tier wedding cake for my niece and added a cake seperator (styrofoam). I read posts from people who had used them and transported the cake just fine. My cake tipped over:(. Very heartbreaking. With sps could I use one of these seperators and would the cake be stable or do you recommend assembling these cakes onsite? I would hate to assemble a cake on site because I freeze each tier for a few minutes to stack it (Sharon's method from sugarshack). I would appreciate any advice.
I don't post a lot on here, and I'm not sure how old this thread is but I have a question about sps. I've always used the straws and wooden dowel method as I have the sugarshack DVD. I've transported many 3 tier cakes without an issue. This weekend I made a three tier wedding cake for my niece and added a cake seperator (styrofoam). I read posts from people who had used them and transported the cake just fine. My cake tipped over:(. Very heartbreaking. With sps could I use one of these seperators and would the cake be stable or do you recommend assembling these cakes onsite? I would hate to assemble a cake on site because I freeze each tier for a few minutes to stack it (Sharon's method from sugarshack). I would appreciate any advice.
Sorry your cake fell over - how was it stacked? Perhaps you could have used the longer 9" SPS legs cut to the right length to go through the separator (I would puncture the styro first, rather than just trying to push the legs into it) AND the cake below it. The plate on top of those 4 legs would hold the cake above properly.
Why does everyone not re use the sps plates and pillars? Even though thay may not be inexpensive to repurchase, that is a lot of plastic for the land fill. Coukd you not get a few re usses out of them before they get tossed? Just wondering...
You could re-use them, if you can get them back from the customer easily (cheaply). Wash and sanitize and re-use.
I don't want to debate dowel vs. SPS...that's another thread! LOL....I use dowels and an center dowel..it works for me. But the #1 reason for a successful trip.........COLD CAKE. My cakes sit overnight in the frig. I travel fully assembled with a COLD CAKE. I get to the reception site early enough so that by the time the cake is cut, it is back to room temperature.
A
Original message sent by ddaigle
I don't want to debate dowel vs. SPS...that's another thread! LOL....I use dowels and an center dowel..it works for me. But the #1 reason for a successful trip.........COLD CAKE. My cakes sit overnight in the frig. I travel fully assembled with a COLD CAKE. I get to the reception site early enough so that by the time the cake is cut, it is back to room temperature.
AEveryone debates putting fondant covered cake in the fridge. I have done it successfully, I put my cake in a box and then a bag. Just don't touch the cake until the condensation is gone (cake shouldn't be shiny). I'd recommend searching the threads and doing a test cake-depends on what your comfortable with, as I said some swear by it others wouldn't dare. As long as it isn't filled with something perishable refrigeration isn't necessary.
Ahttp://cakecentral.com/t/660247/can-i-freeze-a-fondant-cake
This thread is about refrigerating and freezing fondant cakes, it's from earlier today. You might want to try searching the threads before you post so you can get a quicker response.
Rosie...I have a commercial frig and my house frig. The house refrigerators have such a great humidity control, that my fondant and butter cream cakes stay bone dry. My commercial frig is another issue. I always chill my cakes overnight before travel...fondant or butter cream. The roads here are bad enough to have to worry about a warm cake falling apart.
DTS....Dowel that Sh*t. I do 13 wooden dowels on my fondant 12" layer. Then a skewer the whole think. Anything more than 4 tiers is getting assembled on site. PERIOD.
Rosie...I have a commercial frig and my house frig. The house refrigerators have such a great humidity control, that my fondant and butter cream cakes stay bone dry. My commercial frig is another issue. I always chill my cakes overnight before travel...fondant or butter cream. The roads here are bad enough to have to worry about a warm cake falling apart.
Thank you Debbie, that makes sense!!! I'm a hobby baker and my fridge is very old, but I will do a test and see what happens 
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