Whew! I am in the process of baking the cakes that I need for the wedding cake I have to make. I bought a 12" x 3" cake pan today to bake the bottom tier. Keep in mind I have never baked a cake this large before. I used an aluminum tumbler as a heating core and to bake a hole in to the middle of the cake so I don't have to try to cut a perfect hole in to the cake. OK I think I'm doing good and everything is going well for my first wedding cake and first cake of this size when I think to myself "I don't have a cooling rack large enough for this cake!!". I needed to do some quick thinking and decided to tie together 2 of my cooling racks. So I did. When it was time to put the cake on the cooling racks I grabbed the racks right at the seam where I had tied them together and the cake pan at the same time and then did the big flip! Of my gosh!!! The two racks buckled right where they were tied together and all I could see was my beautiful cake splitting right in half!!!! As quickly as I could I managed to place the racks on the table and was very afraid to pull off the cake pan. I just knew my cake was going to be in 2 pieces! To my amazement it was just fine!!!! I couldn't believe it. I mean I literally saw the cake bend in half! The very first thing I said when I saw that it was ok was "Thank you Lord"!
Now I have to make a 10" and a 8". Let's hope they flip a little bit smoother. LOL

If anyone has any suggestions on how to flip these large cakes please share them with me

News Flash! I just checked the cake again and IT IS CRACKED RIGHT IN HALF!!! What do I do? The pices fit together perfectly. Do I need to bake another whole cake or will this one be fine like it is? I still have to make another layer for it and I have to torte and ice them. I have posted a picture of it and marked the crack with a white line. Please Help me!

TIA
Lazy_Susan

Do you think it would be alright if I used this cracked layer as the bottom layer and then the next layer that I have to bake (as long as it flips out ok) as the top layer? That should help hold it together huh? Please help... I already have a freezer full of chocolate cake that I can't use because the bride changed her mind about her cake flavors (my fault because I baked them early).

u should be fine one u frost the cake pretty sure no one will be able to tell..good luck

I really, really wouldn't risk using this cake for a tiered cake, you could end up with a disaster on your hands when it gets assembled. Rebake that layer, for your own peace of mind!

Edited to say: you said that you wanted a hole in the middle of your cake - is that because you will be using the tall tier stand and need a hole for the column? If so, then this maybe OK, but if you are doing a stacked or pillar assembly, I would definately not take the chance and just rebake it (a pain, I know, but safe!).

Have you thought about cake spackling? Toba Garrett's book mentions it for repairing "damaged" cakes. It's a mixture of cake crumbs, filling and icing (really thick) that you apply after the crumb coat. Smooth, and then refrigerate until hard. Apply thin coat of buttercream and then fondant. I personally haven't tried it yet, but her pics are awesome! She says it gives a slight nutty taste, even though there aren't any nuts. HTH

Yep, with no other weight on it, I think you'll get away with it on this occasion! Good luck, can't wait to see the finished cake

Thank you everyone I'm gonna give it a go! I think I'll be ok as long as I handle it very carefully. I think that since I have to torte it that when I put it back together after icing it, I will place the crack in like a plus design so that each part of the crack is over or under a piece of cake that isn't cracked. Did that make sense? LOL It did in my head

That should work. No one will ever know except you.

Good Luck! Make sure to post pics of it when you finish. It will be lovely.

I just wanted to let everyone know that my second layer has just been flipped and we had NO CRACKAGE!!! I found out that I didn't have to use 2 cooling racks. The cake fit on one cooling rack with just a tiny bit of over hang.

Good job, can't wait to see the cake photos!!

let the cake cool, put it in the fridge....once its thuroughly cooled take it out and torte and fill as usual...these things happen sometimes...but i never rebake-just follow regular procedures and peice it together as u go

I can't wait to see pictures of this one!

Just to reassure you about the cracked cake, think about the larger rounds that are baked in halves and then placed together to form the full round. I can't imagine that the crack will be a problem, esp. with the construction you're using!

Laura.

Like slejdick said, they sell half pans that are intended to be put together to make very large cakes, and you can stack directly on top of them, so I really think that you will be fine. Be sure to post pictures when you get it done. It sounds like it will be beautiful!!

Sounds like you have it all together on this one. In the future though, you can use one of the racks inside your oven (outside of the oven, of course) as a cooling rack for larger cakes. Good luck and post pics!

Just a memo: The large wilton racks are not sturdy enough or have support in the center to hold larger layers - why don't they do better at this stuff?? Anyway, LeGourmetChef has a great large rack for ONLY $9.99!! I snapped that baby up fast!!