Hi,
I'm making this cake for this weekend. I recently had a cake disaster and I am trying not to repeat it.

My question is: would you double-dowel down the center for this cake? It's fondant and the layers are 6", 9" and 12". It will go from my house approximately 15 minutes to the caterer and then another 30 minutes to the reception area.

Any opinions/ideas would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you!

you shouldn't have to double dowell...just dowell as normally would

Thank you Cristi!
When you get time, look at my 5-tiered wedding cake, all basketweave, in my photos. It fell over en route to where it was going! I wasn't driving but I guess it has made me a little nervous about another tiered wedding cake!

Oh it was beautiful!!!

Dowell as normal.. run dowell down through the middle...


And then after this one..

Go to SPS systems!!! You will NEVER have to worry about a cake falling again!!!

What does "SPS" stand for?

single plate system


It looks like a wilton plate (don't get scared LOL) .. but it has a notch in the middle.... it punches a little hole in the cake board itself... then when you put your cake/board on the plate it doesn't go ANYWHERE... the legs fit into the plate so snuggley they don't move a bit!!! VERY nice... nothing moves... AT ALL

(oh yes and I am going through your gallery now.. YOU ARE GOOOOOD )

Thank you Cristi!! I will definitely keep this thread for future reference!! I think once I've made another tiered cake and everything goes well, the anxiety will go away - hopefully!!!!

Margaret , I still do not totally believe your cake "fell". I think they had a driving incident and will not admit it.

one center dowel for this cake should be fine

I'm all ears! Had a problem with a 4 tiered cake this weekend. Had some sinking because I used straws for reenforcement and did'nt use enough on the second tier. Had some sinking but nothing tipped over. Don't think I'll trust straws again!

Thanks Sharon!! I almost emailed you but know how busy you stay!!

Thanks all!!

Cocobean, don't give up on straws just yet, i swear by them and they are sooo easy. How many did you use and what were the cake sizes? Was the cake chilled for delivery? I always move my cakes cold and use 2 more straws than the diameter of the layer above (ie. a cake gets 8 dowels to hold up the 6" above it). I do up to 4 tiers (6-9-12-15"x4") this way. The 5th tier + gets a couple of wooden or plastic ones thrown in for good measure.

mjs4492,
If you don't mind me asking, what did you do when your cake fell? I am asking because I am always scared to death this will happen to me and I feel like if I'm more prepared then I won't be so scared.

TIA! ~Mindy

Try SPS. You will never go back. If you PM me with you're email (don't forget the email) I'll send you the instructions.

Christi and Leahs, what do you use to cut the dowels on the SPS system? I can never get my cakes to be a perfect 4" so I always have to cut them.

I use a miter saw to cut mine... but it takes awhile to do it perfectly...
(I recieved miter box for Mother's Day LOL)

I make sure to bake to the correct height. I do not cut the SPS legs 99.5% of the time. Cutting them sort of ruins the ease of use factor.

I did not get notified that there had been replies to this thread so I'm a bit late to reply..... Very interesting info given since I was here last!!

Here's a picture of my finished cake. I took this one to the caterer and she was then responsible for the trip to the reception. I felt much better doing it this way than the last tiered cake I made for her.

Mindy: I almost s--t when the caterer called me to tell me the cake had fallen during transit. There was no way I could be certain that it was something I had done wrong because I never got to see the cake disaster. She said the center dowel rod looked like it had broken. ?? I used a 1/2" one for the center so I'm not too sold on this response yet. Next time I will insist on setting a 5-tiered cake up myself at the reception place. She had instructed me to have the cake completed when they picked it up.

Anyway, this recent cake made it so my confidence level has been picked up a little bit.

A 1/2" dowel broke???? For no reason???? Doubt it! Sounds like the driver had a hand in this mishap. Anyway....your cake is beautiful and it's good news that it made its way safely!

It made it to the caterer that is!!! I'm hoping it made it to where ever it was going. Haven't heard anything one way or the other about that.......

Thanks for the compliment!

I've got a table saw to cut my sps legs. CK doesn't have the 4" ones, so if I can only get the 9"ones, I cut them on the table saw...zip and they are done.

I have had a cake tumble using the sps.....just can't help a bad curve. Dh was driving, we had a 4 tier cake on the sps system. He took the curve a bit too fast and the cake just tumbled. 1st tier and 2nd tier each upside down, then the 3rd slid right off. I was in shock. I was screaming and crying and yelling. Luckily I deliver 2 hours in advance so I had time to get home, re-ice and repair, making it to the reception with exactly 2 minutes to spare.
I had made the cake the day before, kept it in the fridge over night and took every precaution. DH just wasn't familiar with that curve. I now deliver only 3 tiers high. If it has 4 tiers, the to goes on at the reception site. This week I have a 5 tier, so each of the top 2 will go on at the site. Less stressing for me.

THANK YOU cake queen!!!! Your story made me laugh! It's not funny whatsoever but it's good to know it has happened to someone else! Your poor husband!! I can just envision that drive!!!! I know when I received the call about my cake falling over during transit, I immediately became speechless and sick to my stomach! I didn't know whether to be upset at the girl delivering the cake or upset that the little bride's most important day was messed up!

Very interesting about the SPS system and the falling over bit. I'm sure it's a great system for support but I did wonder about the falling cake issue. That answered a question I had about that.
Support seems to come in many systems but bottom line: height of a cake has to be a no brainer when it comes to traveling a cake. I know I learned a very good lesson the hard way and hope to have helped someone else out with the same problem.

Thanks again!