I made two identical wedding cakes for my brother and my new sister in law this weekend. One for a reception on Friday and the other for a reception on Saturday. I traveled over 350 total miles, baked and decorated TWO 12" chocolate, 10" strawberry, and 8" chocolate cakes.

The first reception wasn't to bad...unsturdy table was on a hill and cake kept leaning and top kept sliding...but it survived!

The second reception was horrible. I set the cake up, cleaned up the table and walked away to put things up. Next thing I know someone runs to me and says your cake is falling! The bottom 12" layer just collapsed. The bride and groom didn't care but I was devastated!!!! They said just start serving! I had 7 dowels in the bottom layer. One in the middle and 6 surrounding it!

I had tons of comments on how moist my cake was and how great it tasted, but what a let down! I have made 3 wedding cakes now and had trouble with each one leaning or worse!

Thanks for listening...I new my friends at CC would understand the disappointment and frustration when no one else would! They kept saying, "but it tastes delicious!"

your cake is way to pretty to give up! I'm sure someone here can help you fine tune all those things.

They're very pretty! What do you use for support? Wooden dowels? Straws? Plastic dowels? Don't give up!!! There's a solution here somewhere and all of us CC'ers can figure it out!!

Don't give up!!!....I had the same thing happen to me once on a bottom layer. The cake completely fell apart, but everyone kept saying how moist it was!!! Thankfully, it was for my son's birthday and not a paying customer. ( I was still horrified) I just had to figure out a way to firm up my cake, and keep it moist at the same time. You can do it----your cakes were beautiful!

I can't help with the construction - but don't give up! I would have been thrilled to have cakes that beautiful at my wedding reception.

What kind of dowels were you using? I usually use one wooden dowel for each diameter of cake it's supportingl. Example: For a 10-inch cake sitting on a 12-inch cake, I would use 10 dowels. Some people use straws, but I just don't trust those. I also make sure that the dowels are straight; if they're a bit crooked, they can cause leaning.
Your cakes are beautiful! Sorry to hear about the mishap.

You know what Isawer? My cake that collapsed was the first and only cake I ever used straws in. I don't trust them either!

What did you use for separater plates: plastic, cardboard, ect.?

If it was cardboard, were they covered with anything?

Thanks so much for all the encouragement! I used wooden dowels. For the 12" layer I used 3 cardboard circles taped together with the decorative foil over it. For the 10" layer I used 3 cardboard circles wrapped in regular foil, and for the 8" I used 1 cardboard circle wrapped in foil but it was sitting on a plastic plate on top of the scroll.

I do add pudding to my cake mixes and they are very moist...is this the problem?

mlynnb.....yes, I've heard many horror stories!Sorry this happened to you. Many people swear by them, but I write this off to, "It just hasn't happened to you YET." Give me wood or give me death! (Although the hollow,wide plastic dowels are good, too!)

Well, I'm sure you know this - but it is absolutely imperative that the dowels are at the same height and go into the cake straight, and I think Isawyer has a good suggestion on how many dowels to use.

I've used the big fat straws several times, and have been lucky to not have any problems with them. Although now I won't put anything larger than an 8" on top of them. I've read some of ya'lls horror stories when using straws and I hope to never be part of that group!!!

I would think that the number of dowels you used should have been enough to support your second tier. Do you put them in far enough from the side of the cake to really support the weight? My cakes are always very moist and I haven't had a problem. I'd think that with sufficient support even a very moist cake would hold up. I wonder if the icing on the top of the base cake might have been too soft, but then again the second cake would/should have been sitting on the supports and not the cake, which is the whole point. Sure sorry to hear about this, but don't give up. They were very pretty cakes.

I don't have an answer, but am so sorry for the mishap! I feel your pain in knowing how perfect you want it to be and this can really throw you off! I've only taken Wilton I, but my mom has already lectured me on "Don't go into the Wedding Cake business". I'm afraid I have to agree. This kind of stuff would kill me! If you like it, keep trying!

I am in agreement with the others. You cake is way too pretty to give up now. You go girl

So, I'd agree with you that you should give up if you hated cake decorating or your cakes just turned out like big, lumpy, tasteless (that one being most important) mess. But did you SEE your cakes? And did you HEAR what people said about your cakes? They loved them!

I've never done a tiered cake, so I can't help you there, but I can tell you that you do great wedding cake work. Don't let one mishap get you down!!

Thanks so much for all the encouraging words! This site is a lifesaver with so many kind friends...

That's a cute cake.

Consider getting (and using!) a level. If your cakes all tilt, you're making crooked cakes (could be your oven) that should be made level and even before you ice and stack.

Your cakes looked good. I've only had this problem once and it was when I used some wooden dowels that someone had given me and not ones from Wilton or another reliable source. Then I was in a Colette Peters demo and she said that she uses wooden dowels, but make sure they are are made of good wood and it doesn't crumble when you are cutting it. She said that the only time she had ever had a cake collaple was when she used wooden dowels that she had bought in an emergency from a hardware store. So, see, it can happen to ANYONE!!!
Just keep at it.

No to be the bearer of bad news but in the first pic it looks like the second tier is not level. In the pic with all layers stacked, your top tier does not look centered. (The close up really shows it.) I can see the scroll legs are closer to one edge and not centered. I think that was the problem. Does anyone else notice?

Forgot to mention, don't give up!

Also, one other thing (in case you're not aware), prior to putting the dowels in, take the cake circle for the cake you will be placing atop and trace the outline on top of the layer, then put in your dowels. This is also your guide for placing the cake. Hope that helps.

My 2 cents: If you think about it, when you push a wooden dowel down into a cake, all you are doing is smushing the cake down with the dowel, therefore there is now way the dowel can rest completely on the bottom of the plate. I stopped using wooden dowels and started using plastic hollow dowels and haven't had a cake lean since. I am only replying because I have had this same problem for so long and was relieved to solve it. Plenty of people use the wooden ones without incident....go figure!! Good luck!!

I am not an expert on stacking cakes, but i have read some comments by other decorators with far more experience than I have that even a properly dowelled cake can collapse or crack if the cake itself is not sturdy enough. The moistness of the cake could be at least part of the problem. The cake is the foundation and it is only as stong as the weakest link so to speak

It's a beautiful cake!

Don't let this stop you.

We've all had our "leaners", "sliders", "droopers"...
just gotta learn from it and do better on the next one.

Seriously, don't give up -- you've already had the worst happen to you, right? It's unlikely to happen again.

Dowels should be removed from the shelves and plastic pillars put in their place. Everyone sometime somewhere has trouble with the darn things. Plastic dowel rods and hidden pillars are SO MUCH safer -- it's a pity Michael's doesn't stock them! (I'm writing letters about that again this year, hoping it will make a difference)

Did you know that when Wilton did the tiered cakes episode of their new series "Bake, Decorate, Celebrate!" they didn't even MENTION wooden dowels? There's a good reason for that, I think ; )

In the future, try a party cake with hidden pillars and see if you like the difference. Use a pipe cutter (available at hardware stores for about $12) to snip them so you don't have to bother with a serrated knife. The easiest method I use is this:

Measure the height of the cake, including icing (you can use a straw for this). Cut 4 hidden pillars exactly this height.

Use the plate size that corresponds to the next tier size OR one size smaller (a 6" or a 7" plate under an 8" round will keep the plate hidden). Center the plate over the base cake, feet down, and lightly press the feet into the cake to mark it. Insert the four hidden pillars. Press the plate into position on top, fitting the feet into the four pillars. Add double-stick tape or a dollop of icing or wet/sticky fondant to the plate before adding the 8" tier, just as insurance against the cake shifting if someone accidentally bumps the table.

I hope your disaster days are behind you : )

Laurie
www.sweetcelebrations.us

All these great suggestions helped me for future reference.

I haven't done wedding or tiered cakes yet, but after reading all these comments, would I be wrong to ask if it would be better to use from (Home Depot, Lowes) plastic hallow dowels maybe cut to size? I have no idea, but I understand the process of squishing the cake down with a wooden one. Hallow would make sense and straws are not strong enough.

What a bunch of AWESOME ideas and support! My grandma is having a fish fry this weekend and I have decided to do a tiered cake ...with plastic hollow dowels for practice! Thanks again for all the support and encouragement!

I found this out in another thread and I do it now too (so far, it works for me) to level a cake. Immediately after you take the baked cake out of the oven, take a cake board or another cake pan-use the bottom of it; and push down on the cake before letting it cool and removing it from the pan. It helps and I haven't had to cut my cakes to make them level. Press all around and hold for about 2-3 seconds. Hope this helps. One more tip I just remembered, someone else said they cut the tops off the cake using the edge of the cake pan as a guide (basically keeping the knife flat against the top of pan and slicing straight across) before removing from the pan but I guess that only works if the cake has a peak/dome shape. Try and see what works best for you. Good luck on your cake for the fish fry but hey, I know you can do it now that we've all given you our tidbits.

I use dowels for every tiered cake and I haven't had any collapses.

Make sure the dowels are the same size as each other for each tier, that way the cake will be level. If you are sticking each one in and marking then cutting it, they may not be level. Mark one then cut the others the same height.

Make sure the top of the dowel is slightly below the top of the icing, otherwise your cake is sitting on the tops of the dowels only and could possibly skid (put some shredded coconut or shaved white chocolate on the icing of the bottom tier so the icing doesn't stick to the board of the tier above.

Don't forget the center dowel!

Is your cake very firm? That is what wedding cake is... often a little drier, a little denser to stand up to the torting and stacking.

Don't give up!