I am doing a wedding cake and the bottom layer is a 12 in round. It split all the way across the middle, my fault, when I was flipping it out of the pan (I use 2 cooling racks) and the one got stuck on the other one....anyhow...it split! Can I still use it or should I bake another. It will be a double 12 in. round bottom with 3 more layer cakes on top.

Do you think it will still be stable enough if I use it on the bottom?

Thanks for your help

IMHO, your cake is salvageable. Just make sure the cracked pieced is "glued" back with BC in between. Next let that cracked piece be the actual bottom of the other layers. If you are planning on using dowel rods, please do. Lastly freeze it before & after frosting it. HTH! It's gonna be okay.

I am kinda nervous about using it, my dh said I should just bake another one. I honestly think it would be okay....but hate to take the chance. I will probably just bake another one and salvage that one for my son's bday cake next weekend, I can use pieces of it.

Thanks for your reply

To me when I crack a layer, I'm not concerned about the stability of it because it's my support system that holds the weight of the layers above, not the cake layer itself.

Having said that, I am more concerned about the overall aesthetic look of the cake when it's cut and served. I don't want some of the slices to look all "patched up", especially if it's a Wedding cake.

If you have a use for this layer next weekend anyway, I'd wrap it well and freeze it.
I'd bake another, but that's just me.....it would bother me too, especially if it's cracked right in half.

Good Luck,

You may want to use a larger cooling rack to flip out your large layers, don't use 2 together, get 1 large one.

For a tiered cake, make sure that you dowel that bottom each so that the other tiers aren't actually resting on each other, but have support from the bottom up. That will help with stability more than anything.

As dkelly said though, if the crack is really bad, you don't want the cake to fall apart when it's cut into slices. If you think that will happen, baking another cake might be worth it.

I agree exactly with DKelly. Wedding slices are so small and that crack might make it difficult to cut and the appearance would be questionable once served. I've glued together sheet cakes before that cracked on me and they were always fine but if you have a use for it next weekend... just save it and start fresh.

I would bake another one for the same reasons mentioned above...and for peace of mind!!

It has happened to me! I just stick them together on the plate you will be using. When you ice use a little bit thicker icing than you normally would and ise plenty of doel rods to keep the top weight off as much as possibe. You shouldnt have any problems. I never have! Good luck and go with what you feel is right for you!