I have been doing cakes for friends and families for a while but now I want to take this into a business. I have sooo much to learn and so I really appreciate this discussion board.

I watch these cake shows where you see them handle these cakes (before they are frosted etc..) pretty roughly, flipping them around and the cakes hold together well. What is a good versatile recipe that is easy to work with (sturdy and does not have to be baby-ed) that can be changed up in flavors. Is it a sponge cake they are working with? I am always amazed at how they will grab up a layer, flip it onto the board and it never crumbles, falls apart etc... I always feel like I have to handle it with kid gloves or it cracks or falls apart. Know what I mean?

I use a fantastic poundcake recipe that has taken me years to develop(sorry I don't share it) But, I can tell you that it has extra leavening(salt, baking powder) in it to create a very moist, but light cake that is excellent for carving and stacking.

Good Luck,

cakeymom

Any type of cake can be used to stack. It isn't the cake that supports the upper tiers of cake, it's your support system (dowels and boards, or SPS, etc...)

As for easy to handle. I freeze all of my cakes and handle them while they are thawed but still pretty cold, they're much firmer when cold

As for what people on the shows use, i've seen mention of pound cake and sponge.

Thank you...all advice is really appreciated.

There are several that people have shared on here. But there is one that seems to be a fav among most the CCers here.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7445/the-original-wasc-cake-recipe

I use it as well. It's a great recipe, really versatile. HTH!