To Those That Use Bubble Tea Straws
Decorating By cai0311 Updated 26 Jul 2014 , 6:53pm by mattyeatscakes
The 5 tier cake in my pics was done using bubble tea straws. Bought SPS to do it and didn't even use them.
my 3 tier square cake in my pics... i used bubble tea straws.. and lots of them... for each tier. wished i had used the wooden dowels.. hth.. i have the sps system also.. but am not truly sold on that either.. maybe for a small tier cake.. don,t know?
That's all I use on all of my tiered cakes. I used sharpened wooden dowels to spike down the center. I use two cake boards(regular corrugated cardboard kind most of the time or one foam core board) for cakes with more than two tiers and one board for two tiered ones. I use fewer straws than I when I used dowels. I have found that the pastel colored bubble tea straws are flimsier than the clear ones with the stripes...I have also found that regardless of which support method chosen, the collapsing problems occur when the base isn't thick/stiff enough.
We did a three-tier, three-layer each topsy turvy cake and the bubble tea straws worked just fine!
Paul
I just received my first order of bubble tea straws (that I decided to try thanks to all recommendations here on CC), but mine are not the striped version. In fact, I did not even know there were two different kinds of bubble tea straws. I don't have a store that sells them so I have to order online. Is there a way to select the clear and striped kind when you order online? (Sorry I went a little off topic)
We got ours from Panera. The manager was really nice and agreed to sell me a bag of 500 for $10.
Paul
I've stacked up to 5 tiers as well--almost 4 feet tall.
As for measuring, I just stick the straw to the cake, mark it, take it out and cut it.
Those must've been some taaaaaaaaaaall tiers!
yep, just like that
and it doesn't matter that there's cake inside the straw...I just leave it in there and replace that cut straw into the same hole the cake plug came from.
I buy extra fat straws at Cash & Carry. I use a lot of them too. in a three tiered cake i will use 5 or 6 in the bottom tier and then at least 4 in the next tier. I always center dowel with a sharpened wooden dowel, even for 2 tiered cakes.
switching to thick fat straws was so much easier for me because I just make sure each tier is level, i actually use a level, and then I place the straws in and cut them with clean kitchen scissors flush with the top of the cake. Since each tier is level then the whole cake will be level if each straw was cut flush with the level top.
i find it much easier than marking the first dowel and cutting the rest to length. I could never actually get them all the same length no matter what I used to cut them, shears, a saw, a box cutter, never level.
when in doubt use more straws than you think you need.
i bought my first order of bubble straws at a local asian market ( i payed .99cent for 25 ) and as far as how much it can hold the more u put in on the cake the better support u can have , if u just put ony 4 on a 3 tier cake YES is not going to support very well, I rather put many straws then those wooden dowels that so hard to freaking cut . lol
AWhen using bubble tea straws for a 4 tier cake what would you use as a base plate or board? I've only ever used cakestackers, which are AWESOME, but if I'm doing a wedding cake a couple hours away i don't want to drive back to pick up my expensive cakestackers. So I'm looking for something different for those far away cakes so that once I drop it off I can forget it.
I just picked some up at Bed Bath and Beyond. 100 for $1.99. They call them milkshake straws.
FYI Rose Beranbaum talks about piling weights on regular straws to test for strength and found them to be able to carry a lot more weight than a cake without compromising the support.
I just like the big straws because they are easier to see, and lord knows, caterers will serve a cake with a straw in it!
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You mean underneath each tier? Cardboard rounds, tuff boards, whatever you usually use. I personally cut my own with foam core (not from the shelves at hobby stores, ordered in bulk and prepped for sanitary surface).
Where do you order your pre-cut foam core circles from?
ABubba tea straws are the only support i use, tried the wooden dowels. Ewww.. So hard to cut, and the cake around it tastes woody..
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