Just made the bottom 12" tier of a grad cake and I used this recipe:

1 (18 1/4 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

It came out perfectly, but I realized as I'm making the middle tier that I forgot the sugar!!! Did I ruin this layer? Do I have to re-make it? Will the frosting make it sweet enough? Please HELP I'm freaking out! Thanks!

Oh My Gosh. I don't know. Is it done baking? try tasting a little piece, like what you will be cutting off to level it.

Hopefully someone else can help!

1/4 cup shouldn't be that big of a deal, I think, especially if you are starting with a cake mix in the first place. If you need to level it, take a piece from that....or cut off a sliver to taste. Go from there...with frosting maybe it'll be okay.

Best of luck to ya!!

It'll be a bit less sweet but it will still be sweet because of the mix.. you and your customers just might wind up liking the not too sweet cake better. And if so that saves you some sugar. Try the scraps and see.

you probably won't even notice the difference for 1/4 cup. Keep in mind you'll be icing this cake with sugar again. Biggest thing is it turned out ok, so I think you're good to go

The cake mix has sugar in it. The directions on the box do not require any additional sugar and the extra amount you were to add was really not that much. While I can't say for sure, I would think you should be okay. Not everyone likes a super sweet cake anyway. If you could find a little piect to sample, I would say try it, but don't worry too much.

tell us how it turned out... would be good to know.

Thanks so much! The killer of it is is that it came out perfectly level, and it looks great (I doubled the recipe and made a 12" x 3"). I was worried because of the sour cream, but I trust you guys and really value your opinions. Thanks for talking me off the ledge. I use buttercream dream, which isn't too sweet but I think it should be sweet enough to counteract the s. cream, especially if I tort into 3 or 4 layers. OK-breathing now!!!

I don't think there will be a huge difference.

1/4 cup? No problem, you'll be fine.

Taste it and see how it worked. You can add some simple syrup if it needs sugar.
Edna

I think the cake will be fine.

Maybe you could brush the top of your layers with a simple syrup...that stuff is super sweet so it might help to put a little sweetness back in.

My German friends don't like sickly-sweet cake so I generally half the amount of sugar in all my recipes. They come out great and taste better!

Thanks again ladies! I really appreciate your help.

UPDATE: OK so I chickened out and made another layer to replace the original one, and had six kids make cakeballs with the it. Verdict: It was a waste of time to rebake the layer. The kids all loved it, even though I forgot the sugar. I asked for advice and I didn't follow it. Shame on me-I should have trusted the cake divas instead of giving in to paranoia. Lesson learned!