I have heard so many good things about using the straws so I am thinking of trying them in a wedding cake I am going to be making in June but not sure how many to use or whether to combine them with wooden dowels. It will be a 3 tier stacked cake. The bottom will be 14" round, middle 8"square and top 6" round. I am not so much concerned with using just the straws in the top two tiers but wondering if I should use them with dowels in the bottom since alot of weight will be on there. How many should I use in each cake?

I should be getting mine today in mail,,so I will be trying them out this weekend for a 3 tier cake! So, I'm curious to know too! GReat post!

5 under the 8" square, like a dice pattern, and either 3 in a triangle pattern, OR 4 in a square pattern under the 6" round.

I suggest using similar amounts to Edna. The bubble tea straws aren't quite as large as these, but will give a similar amount. Good luck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvaCSW78ybc&feature=player_embedded

I use bubble tea straws on all my tiered cakes. I use the same number of straws as the cake it is supporting. So, I would put 8 straws in the 14" cake to hold up the 8" cake and 6 straws in the 8" cake to hold up the 6" cake. I put them in a circular pattern for round cakes and a square pattern for square cakes. I never put any in the middle because I like to put 2 offset wooden dowels all the way through the cake.

I like how using less, like my suggestion leaves much more cake that doesn't have holes in it at cutting time. And having them distributed beneath (middle) gives more support.

Thanks everyone, for the replys. I got my straws at a local Asian store for only $1.49 for 40 of them. It sounds like I would not need the wooden dowels along with the straws even on the large tier, am I correct?

Dowels are pointless unless you aren't confident in your delivery methods. I'll use a dowel if a situation warrants it, but 99% of the time, I don't need them.

Bubble tea straws are actually stronger and more stable than wooden dowels. So there is no need to turn tho them for larger tiers.

I also use the same placement as Jamie.