I recently baked a 12x18 sheet cake. It baked up nicely. I flipped it to cool and a rack, all was well. BUT THEN, I attempted to transfer it to a cake board and it cracked right down the middle. What do I do to keep this from happening again.

Thanks!

I have a huge cutting board that my 12x18 fits on. I place the cutting board on TOP of the cooled cake...then do a complete flip over again. I do not try to move a fresh cake. I then wrap and pop in the freezer for future torting. HTH.

I would place a cooling rack against the top of the cake to flip it once again, place some icing on my cake board and line the board up as even as I can with the cake and lay the board on the cake. Proceed to flip the cake over with the board held securely and holding the rack along with the cake so it does not slide, this holds everything in place and the cake does not crack. You can put the cake into the freezer until it is well chilled but not frozen, this makes it easier to handle large cakes also. If I am going to be stacking large cakes I freeze them and put the first layer down and when it has thawed then I put the icing on or the filling and then put the next layer on top and wait for it to thaw. If I have 2 or 3 tiers then I have them all in various stages of thawing. I hope this helps you out.
evelyn

Big racks and never leave either the top or bottom side unsupported when flipping. I have one big rack and a rimless baking sheet that I use.

I hope you repaired the break and used the cake.

I used to have this problem, too. I ended up buying some cutting boards in a range of sizes and they work perfectly. These are so great that I use one side for my fondant/cakes and the other for cutting. I get them 1/4" thick flat, with no grooves. Here's the website http://cuttingedgeccb.com - you'll love them!

Rather than get wordy, here's a link to my blog where I explained how I do it. It includes pictures.
http://2chickscakesandcatering.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/repairing-a-broken-cake/

I hope it's okay to do this. I don't make any money from the blog. Zero, zilch, nada.

Basically, you frost each side of the break, put it back together, and patch any other places as necessary.

Thank you all for all the help and GREAT advice...

If you can't repair it- wrap it well and freeze it. You can make cake balls, cake truffles, or cake pops with it later. You can also use parts of it to make mini-cakes- even small carved cakes.

I used to have that problem until I started using the large cookie sheet from Michael's. I think it's a Wilton, it's aluminum an extra large, flat only one side has a ridge to hold it. Works great, I just slide it in between cakes and slide it on top of bottom sheet an no more cracks. Use your 40-50% coupon it cost $20 so maybe you can get it cheaper with coupon.

You can also use your cardboard cake boxes to transfer.

question...why not flip it over onto the cake board???

Sometimes my cake boards flex too much or I have once again forgotten to get one out of the closet.

Duplicate post, please also see:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6507524.html#6507524

HTH