Question about my birthday cake disaster last week

So I was making a layered birthday cake for my sister's party in Richmond last Saturday. I had everything planned out, even bought the fancy sprinkles and a new piping bag. But when I went to flip the first cake layer out of the pan, it just crumbled into three big chunks. I think I let it cool too long in the pan and it stuck to the bottom. My heart sank because I only had enough batter for two layers and the store was 20 minutes away. I ended up patching it together with some buttercream and calling it a "rustic" style. Everyone actually loved it and said it tasted fine, but I was so embarrassed. Has anyone else had a cake fall apart like that and found a way to fix it on the spot?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinson.hannah8d ago

That buttercream patch job sounds like a smart save, honestly, since "rustic" cakes are basically trendy now anyway. Did you try popping the crumbled pieces back into the pan and warming them in the oven for a few minutes before assembling? Have you noticed if the brand of cake release spray you used makes a difference in sticking?

terryk288d ago

Hannah, I gotta jump in on one thing. Popping warm crumbled cake back in the pan with buttercream, that's a risky move. Those warm pieces will just melt your buttercream into a greasy mess halfway through assembly. I tried that once with a lemon cake, ended up with a slippery slide of butter and crumbs on my counter. Better to let the cake fully cool, then use a thin coat of buttercream as "glue" to patch those pieces back on before the crumb coat. And for your spray question, yeah it matters. I swear by Baker's Joy, the one with flour in it, never had a stick since I switched. The cheap store brand sprays left me chiseling cake off my pans like I was mining for gold.