How do all of you handle flipping the cakes onto a cake board without breaking the cakes. It is important to have moist cakes, but it is getting harder and harder to handle the larger cakes and move them from board to board, or cooling rack to board. The cakes always break somewhere and once it is on the board, it is very difficult to reposition it. Thanks for any help.
Vicky, MO

I just center the cake board on the cake and hold the cooling rack and the board very carefully and just flip it over really quick. So far, I've only had one crack, and that was a 12x18 that I was stacking on top of another one. There was just no way to flip that one. Don't know if this helps or not.

I've never made any huge cakes but I always have something supporting the top and bottom of the cake when I have to flip it. If the cake was too heavy for me to flip myself, I'd enlist the help of my husband.

What I do is let the cake cool a little bit, not alot ( no more than 15mins if you have a moist cake, I notice the longer I wait the cake sticks to the pan and I use the perferred pans from wilton) and then I put the cake board on top of the cake and then I flip it over. That way I don't have to worry about moving the cake from cooling rack onto the cake board! I even do that for my wedding cakes, sheet cakes, etc...

That is fine for one cake, but in making a full sheet cake, you can't flip two cakes at once. I do flip with cooling rack with the cake board with the first cake, but am having trouble with the second cake. Any ideas? Thanks.
Vicky, Mo

You can transfer the second cake to a large baking sheet (no sides) and then slide it into position.

I use a large "pizza lifter" thingy...you know that thing they use to get pizzas out of the oven. Well I either flip it onto that or if the cake doesn't need to be turned over but instead just needs to go on top of another cake....I just shimmy that lifter under the cake and lift it on top of ther other one!

Are you talking about a wooden paddle-like tool that they take pizzas out of the oven with? If so, what size is it? THanks for your help.
Vicky, MO

..no, mine is metal/aluminum, about 12" in diameter, with a plastic handle.

I usually have to bake my large layers in advance anyway, so when I assemble the cake I do it while they're still a bit frozen. You can just pick them up and place them where they need to go - no breaking!! I'm doing a 16" cake today, in fact, and will be assembling it still slightly frozen.

I use a cookie sheet that has no side on it and slide it under, should I need to move the cake. It is also what I use when I torte and fill the cake. Glad I am not the only one with cake flipping issues!

Thanks for all the help!! Vicky, MO

I will be attemping a 16" square cake tomorrow. It needs to be 2 layers, 2" high each. The bottom layer shouldn't be a problem to flip from the pan directly onto the cake stand. But how the heck am I going to get the 2nd layer flipped or slid on top of the 1st layer?

I can't think of anything big enough to slide it off of. I don't have a cookie sheet or anything at all that's 16" square or remotely close to that big.
HELP!!! How do you do this? I'm already having anxiety over doing it and the darn things aren't even baked yet. If I find something big enough to flip the cake out of the pan on to, will powdered sugar alone keep the cake from sticking to it? I can just see it stuck like glue then I'm in a creek!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
KimAZ

Thank you Nati!
I did understand how to do it the way you explained and it did work once I found a big enough sturdy board for that darn 16" square cake. I posted the photo and thankfully my DH was able to flip the cake for me. There was just no way I could do it!

KimAZ

I've taken to using a very large--I'm guessing about 24"x18"--cookie sheet that has only one upturned edge. It is very thin, but double walled & sturdy.
I can slip it between the cut cake layers, lift off the top, add filling, and gently slide the top of the layer back on. If need be, I can put an entire 12x18 cake on it and slide it onto a prepared board (i.e. foil, royal, fondant) that I've marked, or I can slide it onto another layer that is already on the board.
At this point, I don't know what I'd do without it! Best $9.99 I've ever spent!

Rae

In 33 years, I have never put the cakes on a cooling rack first. After it cools in the pan, I loosen the edges of the cake around the pan, then place the board on top of the cake pan, centered, then turn over. I then immediately cover the entire cake with these plastic coveres I have and my cakes are the moistest ever! Helen

Would one or two of these work?

http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=BE3191

I am a gadget freak and have found the coolest tool. It is called The Super Peel (superpeel.com) I don't have to flip any more. You just slip the cake on the board and slip it off. There are wonderful examples on their website.

I never do a wedding cake without freezing the layers first. It allows me to put them together easily and it also makes the cutting cleaner at the wedding. For some reason the cake tends to stick to the knife worse if it hasn't been frozen. I cover and thaw completely before decorating so that it won't get condensation on the outside. The cake is always moist & delicious.

Full & half sheets I always make two layers. I cool completely in the pans, loosen sides if necessary, & ice the top of one cake. Line up the long edges of the pans and gently slam the cakes together. Pull the top pan off, lay on your board, replace the pan upside down (for support), and flip the whole thing over. Pull off the top pan...and you are ready to frost it.

I've never needed anything else (23 years).

Here is what I do and it solved all the problems of flipping a soft moist cake for me. I bake mine a day or a few days in advance, freeze cake then put it on my board while it is frozen, that way you can put it right where you want in and get it in the right place. Then if its 2 layered, I do the same thing, put the buttercream right in between the frozen layer. Works great!! No more cracked cakes and they are put in the right place too. Sure helped me out.

I then let the cakes or cake thaw out completely before going on and icing the while cake. Sandy