Ok, wedding cake due saturday, 12, 10, 8, 6 rounds. not bad. baked 2nd layer of 12" tonight and it broke in half. Will it be ok if I just put it on the bottom, put layer of BC, fruit filling, then top layer or should I bake another layer tomorrow? Will it be too soft if I bake again (ugh) since I need it for Saturday?
Also, I have the layers in the freezer. Plan on taking them out Thurs morning, and filling and crumbcoat Thurs night let them settle all day friday. Covering in MMF on Friday night. will that be enough time between filling and covering with MMF to avoid bulging?

I did a wedding cake a couple of weeks ago that was the 18" half round - I just used some of the buttercream to spackle the 2 halves together,(and then had to do the same to the 2nd layer on top of it!) so I am sure your 12" will be fine doing it that way. Just make sure you have a good support system for it.

I did a 3 tier 12", 9", and 6" this weekend and the top layer of 12" broke on me. I put it together with butter cream and doweled it and it was fine. Then I put the other cakes on it and not so good. I apparently had put a dowel right where the crack was and when I put the 9" on top of it, it shifted the dowel which made the whole back of the bottom cake push out and I ended up having to rebake the whole thing after I had already iced it and everything. I would recommend just to be safe that you rebake it, but that's just based on my own experience.

cakemaker - that would suck having to do all that work over again! IMO, I still think it will be fine, like I said above - make sure your support system is good (as in do NOT dowel exactly where the break is!)

I had a cake last year (carrot cake with lots of pineapple, walnuts and)it was a 16" cake - one of the layers had a 5" piece fall completely apart - I used icing and an extra 6" cake - cut the piece to fit, used cake spackle with the part that fell apart and glued it all back together. MADE SURE the supports were good -and it was fine, got rave reviews and several more orders from that wedding.

If you are not comfortable with piecing it back together, by all means, bake another layer, but for a 12" I wouldn't.

One of the first things I learned how to do was spackle my cakes back together! lol I was always breaking the darn layers and I certainly didn't want to rebake unless absolutely necessary! Glue those puppies, make sure you're careful about your support system and move on. (I use SPS so support isn't an issue for me and I don't worry about dowels.)

This is good to know. Had a 16" do this last month and I rebaked. I was afraid it would compromise the integrity of the cake. I also thought it might be a bad reflection on me if someone got a patched up piece of cake? So I have a broken 16" in my freezer for emergency family desserts!

Beachcakes - you know what is cool, is that was one of the cakes I got the some of the nicest feedback on! The bride STILL calls and asks for my business cards to pass out. If it is patched correctly, no one but you will know there was an issue.

So what we need here is for some generous soul to do a patching it up video on Youtube for us to see the proper technique for patching cracked layers!

Edna...Seriouscakes, where are you?!

just kidding.

This is good info to know! Thanks for sharing

Loucinda, that is excellent! Next time I won't have to eat so much cake!! Do you use the spackle with the crumbled cake & BC? I used that recipe once for sand on a beach cake.

Yes, that is the spackle I am talking about. It does not happen often (thank goodness only twice - knock on wood) but the patching works perfectly. (I always bake up the spare batter in a small pan - it has been a life saver both times when I have needed it)

ok, well I spackled it and so far so good, even after letting them settle no bulges or anything. There isn't going to be any pressure on this cake itself so it should hold up. Thanks so much everyone! Cross your fingers that it makes it to tomorrow night!

I just repaired a broken 16 inch oval last weekend and I took some pictures during the process. If you'd like to see them, I can upload the pictures tonight.

cheatize, I would love to see the pictures. Thanks!

Sorry, I was buried all night putting formulas in an Excel file pricing matrix. Hopefully these will attach in the correct order. It was plenty sturdy when I was done. I picked it up and moved it lots of time, traveled with it, and stacked a torted and filled character cake on top of it. It cut just fine when served, too.

Okay, they are in perfectly backwards order.
Start at the bottom and go up for the progression.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks - a visual is always nice! It even works when it is a "hunk" that breaks - just patch, spackle and go!

Loucinda, thanks for refreshing my memory on the cake spackle! I had a rough edge this weekend on a stubborn layer that wouldn't come out of the pan - cake spackle did the trick!

You're welcome!