Did anyone happen to see the last episode of Amazing Wedding Cakes on WeTv?

There was a shot of the guy from the Cake Divas putting supports into a cake...they were big & hollow (like the plastic dowels I like to use from Wilton), but he was able to cut them with scissors! I WANT THOSE!!! I have the hardest time cutting those stupid plastic things - I use dh's carpet knife, and it NEVER comes out even which is a HUGE problem! I'd love to know what that guy was using!

I think they were bubble tea straws, but I'm not sure because they looked wider than what I have (mine are about 1/2" wide).

If you haven't tried the bubble tea straws, definitely get some because you just snip to the correct height with scissors and you're done!

If I remember right I think it was pvc piping and he used a pvc cutter. I'll have to watch again and double check.

You know I thought they looked like huge drinking straws!!! I am sure glad that someone else noticed that too!!! Anybody know where to get these from??? Thanks in advance for whatever info you can give me>

Yep, I think they were bubble tea straws... I love em!
edited to add... I got mine on ebay...

I think those were Wilton plastic dowel rods but perhaps a different brand. They weren't cut with scissors, they were cut with a cutting tool that works like a heavy-duty scissors (if I am thinking about the correct episode).

They sell these lightweight, wide, disposable dowels at places like Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Just Google "Wilton plastic dowel rods" and you'll see what they are.

I have a bunch of them but stopped using them once I became a bubble tea straw convert some time ago.

Bubble tea straws.

The cake shop I used to work at used them all the time!!

You can cut them with light duty scissors and they support the cakes very well.

You can't beat the cost either especially when you do a number of cakes per week!!

I just replayed it in slow motion... they are definately bubble straws..

Bubble Tea Straws. Sugarshack uses them in her DVD. I just bought some off of ebay, and they were really cheap, like under$3. for 100.

I saw the show and I'm 100% sure those are bubble tea straws...
That's what I use for all my cakes.

How does a straw support the weight of a cake? I looked at these and economically they would be great at 50 for 2.99 but I currently use wooden doweling. What is the benefit of these straws other than being able to cut them with scissors?

Sugarshack converted me to bubble tea straws.

I have always used the Wilton hidden columns. They are a fairly hard plastic. Are the bubble tea straws as stiff and sturdy?

I use a PVC cutter to get my columns to the correct height. If you can use scissors, does that mean they are a little soft or flexible? I have never seen them.

What is the tallest tiered cake that you have used these straws on?
Can you transport the strawed cake stacked?

Would a plastic separator plate with the short legs underneath drop into the straws, or do you have to off-set the legs to not hit them?

-Debbie B.

I'm curious too about the ability to stack a 5 tiered Icake on bubble tea straws. i'll be watching this.

Can you use regular drinking straws (the bigger ones from McDonald's) to support a two tier cake?

You can definitely use bubble tea straws for stacking multiple tiers. You just need to make sure they are precisely the same height so you don't get any slippage during transport, and use 4 to 6 of them per tier (4 for smaller tiers, such as 8" and 10" and 6 for 12" and larger tiers).

Regular drinking straws will work just fine for a small 2-tier cake.

Deb - the Wilton plastic dowels are stiffer than bubble tea straws, but I've used them in 4 and 5 tiered cakes without problems. Bubble tea straws are just plastic drinking straws with a wide diameter. If you use plastic separator plates, you would need to offset the feet on the bottoms of the plates. I buy bubble tea straws at my local Asian grocery store for $1.19 per 50 straws. They're cheap and really easy to use.

1/2" foam.. yikes. That's huge compared to a cake board. Like using a cake drum under each tier.. am I picturing this right?

It's what Sugarshack shows in her DVD to give tiers extra height.

Wow.. and you just ice right over that big honkin' thing? If I did that my tiers would be 5" tall..

Good to know though.

I think I'm going to have to get some of these bubble tea straws and give them a whack.

This sounds like the same thing that Duff uses, am I right? (I can't watch the Amazing Cakes show because I'm too cheap to pay for the channel!)

But what I was thinking about posting was whether I'm hallucinating , or do they use WAY too many dowels in their cakes on Ace of Cakes? The few times that I've ever seen Geoff dowelling a cake using the things you cut with the scissors it looked like he had about 12 in each tier. Do you have to use that many? I use wooden dowels and a cable cutter to cut them so it's easy, and I never have trouble with sliding or falling tiers. I'd be willing to try another method with the straws, but if you have to use THAT many it seems kind of stupid, there wouldn't be any cake left after you're done sticking it full of holes for the straws.

I've used regular drinking straws to stack 4-5 tiered cakes.

Straws are food-safe. Wooden dowels are not. Most of them are treated.

I got my bubble tea straws online at bubbleteasupply.com You get 3 packs of 40 for only $3.75. I think total with shipping it was about $7.00. I received them within 5 days of ordering them.

I use the Wilton wooden dowels, which are sold for stacking cakes, so I have to assume that they're food safe. I wouldn't use the dowels from the hardware store...Unless I WANTED to give someone arsenic poisoning (and if I wanted to do that, there are probably more efficient ways to do it than to use a dowel in their cake)

Well, I just watched the episode again and he did in fact use scissors to cut these.

I guess I'll just have to order some bubble tea straws to see if that's what they are - they were really thick like the Wilton plastic dowels.