Ok, I think this is the cake that just wasn't meant to be. I'm thinking I should scrap the whole things & start over again without the topsy turvy element.

I took my second tier (which is 6" cherry chip cake torted 5 times w/ smbc filling iced in SMBC & decorated with fondant accents) out of the fridge to place on the bottom one & the icing had cracked in 2 places. At least I thought it was just the icing. SO I did a quick patch job & now my once mostly smooth icing looks pretty bad but I figure ok, I can always ad more accents or just smooth it over after a little time in the fridge. So I place the straw dowels into that layer. No problem. Then I think ok well maybe I need to add more stability & pushed a hidden pillar through it. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!?!?!? Of course it starts to crack now in 3 more places! I've patched it up & put it back in the fridge.
But, my question is - Is this cake doomed to keep cracking & eventually split into pieces? Should I just bake up a new tier now & not tempt fate? I really don't want to waste the time & $$ spent on this already since it's not a paid cake. But I am bringing it to a baby shower for family & would be MORTIFIED if it didn't make it there or if it fell during the party! The party isn't until tomorrow so I do have time to redo if I must!
I won't be able to put a dowel through all three tiers now because it would split for sure!

I've never had this happen before & don't know what to do! PLEASE HELP!!!

If it were me, I'd re-bake--and only torte such a small layer once or twice. I think the 5X torting probably left you with too much soft icing and not enough sturdy cake. In this situation, even the slightest variation from level will cause breaks.

Also, it sounds like you're planning another tier, too--a 4" ? If so, I'd most definitely re-bake !

Rae

Thanks Blakes - Right after I finished posting I thought about it & already have the new cakes in the oven. I agree that it probably was from torting it too many times. Last time I did a cake like this I only stacked the 2 layers of cake together to get the whole tier - no torting - so that's probably where I went wrong this time. I should've known not to try & get too fancy with a delicately balanced cake like this.
Oh well - I guess I've at least got some cake to eat to heal my wounds.... hee hee....

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This cake is going to be the death of me!!!
DH just opened the microwave & said "Why is there melted butter in here?"
OH CRAP!!!!! It was supposed to go in the batter that's cooking now!!!
I GIVE UP!!!!! I'm going to go buy a stinking cake from the grocery store!!!

So, how will a cake mix that has only eggs, water, vanilla, sour cream & extra flour & sugar added to it turn out? Hmmm.... I made small cupcakes with the extra batter so I guess I'll test those before making the SMBC....

JUST SHOOT ME NOW PLEASE!!!

How much butter is missing? I think they'll turn out fine, really.

I know someone who ALWAYS makes cake-mix cakes without the oil, and they turn out great. You have the sour cream in there, so that'll add some moisture and richness. I doubt you'll miss the butter!

Laura.

I bet is was just fine--probably stayed together better than any other cake and tasted great. It seems that with mix cakes, the oil component is the one thing that you can cut down on or leave out all together and still have a satisfactory result.

Let us know how it went!
Rae

It has to turn out better than my cake I made once. I got the whole thing in the oven and found the sugar, still in it's bowl. Yep. The SUGAR. Tasted just exactly like you'd think. Good luck to ya!

I too am in the process of making several cakes when I realized that I omitted the oil in all of the cakes. One of the cakes broke slightly and I tasted it and it tastes fine actually a bit better. Good Luick with your cakes.

For those of you who do not want the oil in your cakes, but are afraid to deviate--I ALWAYS use applesauce, YES applesauce in lieu of the oil. I still get a very moist cake, and it cuts down on the calories and fat. It doesn't affect the flavor of the cake at all.

Ok -in case any of you want to share my pain with a new update.....
So the cake tastes ok - not quite as good as usual but edible anyways. So now I go to make a new batch of SMBC because of course I don't have enough left from the other batch to ice & fill this cake too.
So, I heat the egg whites & sugar, gets to 140 degrees, take the thermometer out & move the bowl to the KA - for some reason the thermometer looks odd - I look closer & the bottom where the bulb is has shattered!! So most likely there's bits of glass in this batch of BC.


Well, at least I hadn't already added the butter. I'd have been right mad then. At this point I'm actually finding it all very comical.....
Ok - so now I've made my 3rd batch of BC for a 6 inch cake!!!!

It's all iced & decorated & stacked & dowelled. Now I just need to finish the top tier & borders & I swear it won't be done soon enough!!!
And just to add insult to injury while I was attaching the fondant cut outs to the second cake I spilled 3/4 of my brand new large bottle of clear vanilla.

This cake has now officially cost me more to make than ANY other cake I haev done to date!!!

I feel your pain. As I kept reading .....the worse it got . I'm so sorry that this is all happening to you. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Don't let it be the death of you. If you have any energy when you are done, please post a picture. - rhondie

I'm sooooooooo sorry! You're really having a rotten day! Let us know how it all turned out. Forgive me, but by the time I got to the broken thermometer part I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. I was laughing with you though!!! Believe me I can totally relate to days like this!

rhondie - It won't be the death of me.... but it may be time for a little break from cakes after I finish next weeks wedding cake!

Wendysue - no worries - by the time the thermometer broke on me I laughed too!! What else COULD I do?!

Anyways, it's done now and even though I'm not entirely pleased with it (it looked much better in my imagination and I wasn't able to get the tilt I wanted on the 2nd tier even after rebaking because I didn't torte those 2 layers at all for fear of another one cracking on me!! ) here it is:
The inspiration for the middle tier was from a cake done by Boween.

OH. MY. GOBS.

Oh....My....GOBS of Icin!

GORGEOUS!!!

REALLY GREAT WORK---I'm so impressed!

You poor thing!!!! After all that, your cake is beautiful!!!! Very creative. I love it!

oooh! I loooove the top tier baby bottle! How clever!

It's beautiful, and you deserve a blue ribbon with all you went through! Take a well deserved break.

Thanks everyone.
Well, 5 am & it's still standing! & no cracks!!! YAY!!! It should make it to the party after all. I'll let you all know what everyone thinks after the party.

Well after all that u have been through....Your cake is Adorable.... great job....have been wanting to do one myself(topsy turvy)...now maybe i will

That is absolutely stunning! No one will ever know what you went through just by looking at the finished product!

No one will know you had problems. It looks wonderful. You did a great job.

Beautiful!!! Congrats on a fabulous cake!! What kind of icing recipe do you use??????

Thanks everyone.

Wendy - I use Toba Garret's SMBC recipe from her book The Well Decoraed Cake. It's wonderful!!!

Swoboda...that is one fabulous cake!!! Great job! -Rhondie