I Will be delivering a 5 tiered fondant cover wedding cake two hours away from my shop. I am having some problems with my supports in my cakes. It seems like there is some settling and I am getting a bit of the awful lumpy sides after I deliver the cakes. First question, should I be making my dowels a little longer so the cake really never touch? I use plastic dowels. Right now I have been making them even with the cake. Second question what kind of cake boards is everyone using. I was using cardboard but they are useless when they absorb the cake moister. Should I be using a plastic boards? I am concerned about not being able to put a central dowel. Any advice. This will be a very heavy cake.

Get SPS--you can order it online from Oasis or Global Sugar.

The plastic dowels lock into the plastic plate. Your cardboard cake rounds sit on the plastic plates and are held in place by a center spike. There is a "sticky" with all the info in the Cake Decorating Forum.

It is SUPER stable and made for transporting cakes safely.

Good luck
Kristy

I have heard that SPS is expensive. So what do you do if your customer doesn't want to spend the extra $?

SPS is not expensive. Everything you need for a 3-tier is about $20

A set of legs for a 3-tier cake is about $8 and the individual plates range from $2-$8 depending on the size. You can work the support price into your per serving rate or charge a "materials" fee for the equipment. Make it very clear to the client that this is a critical item that will keep their cake from collapsing. I would rather spend the $ on SPS than take a chance on having a wedding cake collapse. No second chances there.

Kristy

I have a pretty tall cake I will have to take two hours away in a few months.... I'm actually going to build a center support and thread the cake layers over it, as well as of course using bubble tea straws and cardboards as usual.

That as well as I will be sure to refrigerate it until its nice and firm, and also keep the vehicle a/c on very cold to keep it as firm as possible for the trip.

Good luck!

Is there any way to stack on location? This might be a less stressful option. I don't believe I would trust any c5 tier cake to travel 2 hours regardless of the support system, to much can happen in that length of time. But if stacking on location is a no go...I would say go with the SPS...I have heard a lot of raves about it on here. I personally prefer stacking on location.

I don't like having to stack on location because then you have to put borders on and whatever else.....

The one I'm transporting is a special design that has to be preassembled...thus the central support....

indydebi - Do you use the compressed cardboard circles that are foil covered (but part of the circle) or do you use the cardboard ones that have a foil wrapped on them (these are a little thicker but not as compressed)? I hope that makes sense.

How many tiers high do you guys find is comfortable/safe to transport without stacking on site? Three? The wedding cake that I have coming up (forgot to put in SPS in the quote) is three tiers and I will be using the bubble tea straws. Travel is about 45 min across town. Do you think I should take it stacked or stack it there. It's pretty simple, ribbon around the tiers with some calla lilies on the side. That's another question - how would you attach the calla lilies? I was told before to make them and bed the wire straight down. I want them to look like they are laying on the side of the cake, not sticking out.

Indydebi- I love reading your responses to various topics you see to have a huge amount of information. I was wondering if your a scratch baker or doctored mix? I am trying to find a few good recipe's to make for a wedding cake but I need to use a doctored mix if possible. There are so many different recipe's out there and I just cant figure out which is a good recipe to go by in general. I have heard so many things about sour cream and pudding mixes. DO you have any idea's or suggestions? I was also curious if I make a fondant cake the day before the wedding would it still taste ok the next day on her actual wedding day? I have also found that although the pre made buttercream is easy to use the fondant doesnt stick as well to it. Do you have this problem?

the only doctoring I did to Betty Crocker was to add an envelope of Dream Whip.

I have used the super enhanced cake formula from the recipe section here and everyone raves about it. By adding to the mix it makes more batter so I can make more out of one box.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/1953/super-enhanced-cake-formula

Good luck