Cake Decorating Community - Cakes We Bake

Hello

 

On a 3 tiered stacked cake is it necessary to always place a dowel from the top tier through the bottom tiers? Or can the wooden dowel be placed through the bottom 2 layers and the top layer placed without the center dowel? I am just curious to know if a dowel must always be placed from the top tier through to the bottom. Thanks

 

 

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It's mostly for transportation. I think if you transport the top tier separately from the bottom tiers you can just put it through the bottom two, then put the top tier on when you arrive. Make sure all the bottom tiers have some kind of support structure (straws, dowels, etc.) in them to prevent cakes sinking into one another.
personally I would dowell the bottom two tiers and transport the top tier separate from the other two and put them together at the event. Makes transporting easier and less stressful.
Thank you both. I think I prefer to dowel only the bottom tiers and transport the top seperately.
I never put a single dowel through the whole cake and transport it without any mishaps .
And I've been doing this for 29 years.
Thanks Ann, I was also wondering if you could stack the cakes without a dowel installed in the center of all the tiers, nice to know that it can be done with without the long center dowel.
Sorry Deidre, I didn't make myself very clear. I put 4 pieces of dowel in each cake to hold the next tier but never through the middle of all of the tiers. I think thats clearer!!!

Deidre said:
Thanks Ann, I was also wondering if you could stack the cakes without a dowel installed in the center of all the tiers, nice to know that it can be done with without the long center dowel.
Ann, thanks for the clarification Ann, but I figured that is what you meant ;-)
If my cake is finished with buttercream, I always drive a center dowel through the stacked cakes before transporting. I don't worry much about fondant-covered cakes, though ... they seem to do very well without a center dowel.

When I stack my fondant cakes, I put a few blobs of melted chocolate on the tier beneath, then stack the next cake on it. The tiers separate easily when serving, but the chocolate holds well enough to keep them from sliding during transport. If in doubt, though, dowel! lol. Better safe than sorry, IMO.
Thanks Mary Ann. Now that you mention it, in the future I would transport cakes in butterceam with the wooden dowel in the middle. Covering in cake in buttercream is still very hard for me to do. I guess I need some more practice.

Mary Ann Brooks said:
If my cake is finished with buttercream, I always drive a center dowel through the stacked cakes before transporting. I don't worry much about fondant-covered cakes, though ... they seem to do very well without a center dowel.

When I stack my fondant cakes, I put a few blobs of melted chocolate on the tier beneath, then stack the next cake on it. The tiers separate easily when serving, but the chocolate holds well enough to keep them from sliding during transport. If in doubt, though, dowel! lol. Better safe than sorry, IMO.
If I am transporting a cake already stacked, I always run the dowel through the center. It would be a shame if you had to stop fast and found cake all over the place. If I am stacking at the venue, I just skip the center dowel.
Thanks everyone for all your help. I am feeling more confident to take on a wedding cake I may do in the next coming months.

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