Do I need a central dowel????
Hello all,
I am a newbie, like in reality and in all seriousness :) (not like, oh am just a humble newcomer but my cakes look awesome and impossible!). I haven’t made a cake higher than a tier in my life. So, my son’s 3rd birthday is coming and am thinking of making him a Cat in the hat cake which will be two tiered. The bottom tier will be 4" by 8" vanilla pound cake. The top tier will be the cat’s hat. It will be made of four 6 inch cakes stacked on each other, with the top shaved diagonally, a bit. Am trying to achieve a height of 7 to 8 inches for the hat. It will be iced with butter-cream, with fondant stripes.
Now the questions, since the cake will be at home and doesn’t need to go anywhere, do i need a central dowel pierced through the entire cake? I’ll be putting support dowels and cake board in between the tiers and also in the middle of the four 6 inch cakes. If i do need a central dowel, is it possible to drill holes in the boards beforehand and somehow align them. I don’t want to hammer through…since its butter-cream, am worried that i might ruin the icing in process.
I might have bitten more than i can chew…but maybe cake God will look after…and I just wanna see that glee on my son’s face :). Any help will be really appreciated.
Thanks,
Neha.
4 Replies
Hi, Neha,
I’m always concerned that multi-tier cakes will slide in transit, so even though you are not transporting the cake, I would still use a central dowel just in case it gets bumped (yikes!!)! Because of the height of the cake, you may want to put through the central dowel before adding the final stack of cakes for the hat – at least the main cake and half of the hat will be secured. This may be a bit of an overkill, but it would make me feel better!
DJ - Fun Fiesta Cakes
Hi, yep it seems like a good plan… especially since i have an overactive toddler at home. And thanks for the midway suggestion. I believe i can comfortably put a dowel through the bottom tier and half the cake and then i can slide the top half of the cake down on the dowel. That way alignment of cake board wont be much of an issue. I hope my understanding is correct.
Thanks once again.
Hi Neha,
I never do a central dowel. I’ve transported three 3 tier cakes to banquet halls 30 mins away and have never put a dowel through the centre! If you’re not transporting it and it is staying at home, no need for a centre dowel. Just make sure to refrigerate between adding the third tier so that the icing between the bottom tier hardens.
Good luck!
Yum Cakes and Treats
Thanks to both of you for helping me out :). Sorry for the delayed response, I was travelling.
Thanks.
