I baked my 1/2 sheet cake today for sunday.. I think i turned it out of the pan too soon! i flipped it out after taking it out of the oven and a piece of the bottom tore apart !!!! i dont know what to do?
bake another one or will it still be ok?
the top is fine... I was giong to wrap it... and put in freezer so i can tort it because they want vanilla pudding in the middle.. wha do i do!!!!!!!!!!

I guess it depends on how big a piece split off! You sound as if it is a large piece! I'm no expert, but I don't think you can tort the cake with a large piece already split. Maybe you can put the filling in where the split is.

This is a pretty big cake, did you put your cooling rack over the pan and then turn it over to get the cake out of the pan? Janice

i posted a pic. of the missing piece..what do youthink/

If it were me, I would rebake, I just don't think I would be able to do a satisfactory patch job. But that is just me, especially with the filling.

Okay, that isn't so bad, I thought you meant a whole layer across the bottom!

If you have simple syrup or apricot glaze, something along that line, I'd put that on and stick the piece back on the cake with that and then very carefully wrap it and freeze for a few hours. When it is frozen it may be possible to tort it and keep the piece intact. Since you were baking ahead of time, you should be able to try this and if it doesn't work, rebake! Janice

Ute, I was making monthly half sheet cakes for an office for a while, the cake was so hard to handle, that I started making two quarter sheets and decorating them side by side as one cake! Janice

It could possibly be done...very carefully!!! But I'd be afraid of further damage when trying to put it together after torting.
If you are willing to try it, I'd use the broken part as the bottom layer and using a large cookie sheet with no sides to slide between layers for lifting it off, with the cake board you intend to use on top so you can "easily" turn it with enough pressure held. Does that make sense?

Once it's on the board, use icing and the pieces you have to patch it up.

Or just make another one....lots of cake to use!

If i attempt to fix it today.. and i decorate... will it be ok until sunday?

freezing and patching is your best best in a case like this, i think. i would definitely consider veejaytx's suggestion of using multiple smaller pans to fashion larger cakes in the future. i used to work at a donut franchise that did a large cake production, but we only baked in 8 inch square and round pans, so i'd have to cobble together quarter, half, three quarter, and full slab (sheet) cakes out of a series of 8-inch squares. i even had an emergency where i had to fashion a square cake out of a round cake. for the most part, unless a specially-designed interior (like checkerboard or convaluted layering) is an important element of the cake, most people don't pay much mind to the inside. at another bakery i worked at, one night the supervisor had to build up the rather thin end of a un-even chocolate cake with ganache; she felt bad doing it, but had no other choice since the baking for that day was finished hours before and it had to go out in the morning. you can only do what you can.

I've patched many cakes and nobody could ever notice. I learned how to make a "cake mortar" at one of my cake decorating classes. You take about 1/2 - 1 CUP of buttercream icing and melt in the microwave. Then you take some of the extra cake from when you leveled it and crumble the cake and stir to make a very thick paste - then you carefully piece the cake together with the "mortar" inbetween the cracks - this dries and makes the cake look perfect. I also put it over the area on the tops and sides and smooth.


I hope your able to fix your cake.

Susie

woo hooo! i just posted a new post ! i fixed it!!

i was thinking more about baking large cakes to be cut into layers (torted). there is a way around baking such thick cakes (which break more easily) as well as avoiding the issue of torting (which can be perilous with bigger cakes) altogether. you might consider baking a series of thinner layers, like jelly-rolls. this is what we always did in college and in most bakeries i've worked in when making half or full slab (sheet) cakes, and it works equally well with smaller cakes too. for larger cakes you would need a few commercial-size (though still able to fit in a home oven) baking sheets with low sides (like big jelly-roll pans) and silicone parchment paper sheets. line the pans and fill with batter, bake (for less time than the recipe calls cause theyre thinner just watch them and youll see when theyre done), cool, and then run a knife around the edge to release the cake layer. the layer will be attached (but not stuck) to the paper, which gives a support that allows you to handle each sheet of cake like a heavy little quilt, which is an absolute dream compared to big, fragile cake layers that need to be shifted around on boards. invert the first layer on your cakeboard and then peel off the paper, spread on the filling, and then invert the second layer on top, peel of its paper, and so on. you'll then need to chill or freeze the cake, and then trim up the sides with a big saw knife (serrated bread knife) to make them straight and square.

I agree the best answer is to line your pans with parchment paper. I always do that and the cake doesn't stick or break.

Wandy