Being really new to this, every cake has a minor disaster, but nothing compared to tonight as I work on my "7th" cake. I am really looking forward to doing this one because it is the first one that will go away on it's own. It's for a bachelorette party that a friend of mine is throwing and it's for nobody I know so I won't be there. Anyway, I'm doing it for free, I want the experience; but I work full time and have a three year old so I am pressed for time and she needs it on SaturDAY. I figured if I spaced the work out I'd be fine. I made the fondant and gumpaste last night (so it had time to settle). I wanted to make the cakes tonight and do some of the gumpaste flowers. Tomorrow was going to be decorating, and possibly part of Saturday. Well, I ended up working an hour overtime tonight (which takes away from my night big time) AND I had to stop at the store for some igredients. So I was really in a hurry tonight. I have not learned how to "torte" yet, so I always bake my layers separately. Well, one of my layers started cracking right down the middle halfway through cooking but I figured I'd be able to work around it if I was very careful when extracting it. No sooner did I take it out of the oven and SPLAT! All over the floor. My nice, big, beautiful layer GONE. Nothing more than a pile of crumbs on the floor. I suppose I could attempt torting the second layer, as they are thick, but I am afraid to destroy that one too, and think it will look flat anyhow. I'm just so sad, this has been a really tough week in general, and I didn't need that!

The thing that upsets me most about this is that with my other little disasters I have learned from them. With this, there is NO lesson to be learned. The only thing I can glean from this is that if I'm having a bad day I better not EVEN so much as LOOK at a cake. It will not turn out!

Thats a good lesson to learn early on, save you alot of hassle later. It is very easy to torte. I'm taking it you don't have a cake slicer so here is what you do. Find 2 books the same thickness as 1/2 the depth of your cake. make sure the books are exactly the same depth. Place your cake in between them lay a long bladed knife flat on book and saw straight over to other book. Does that make sense. Don't be afraid but I strongly suggest not doing it tonight HTH

Thanks for the advice on torting. I have one of those wilton levelers, I am not sure if that's what you are talking about, but I've never use it; I seem to have better luck just leveling the cakes manually. Don't worry, I won't touch it tonight! It's still cooling off and I should be in bed. As soon as I feel it's safe, I am extracting that puppy and into the fridge it goes!

I'm sorry that you are having such a bad day! I know how frustrating it must be for you. It seems like whenever I'm rushed, I am more likely to make a mistake or have an accident. Maybe now you can have a 3 layer cake or even better, you can ice the layer you have left and have a yummy snack!