YUM! It sure looks good to me! I'm not much of a baker so I can't offer any helpful advice, but you look darling(and not too stressed out) and the cake looks wonderful!

Well, the cake may not have been perfect but that lady in pink sure looks pretty dang hot in those glasses and apron.

Who is she and what's her phone number?

Joe

That's the best 10 layer cake I've ever seen, looks delicious! Did you get any pics after it was cut?

You have to be very proud of how you coped with the all the set-backs and produced a beautiful cake. It's great!

I'm afraid I am more easily defeated than you.

Jim

My goodness Tracey, your cake looks wonderful! Your husbands co-worker is going to go nutso. Smiles. You did a fabulous job of dealing with the setbacks. I can imagine how frantic you were. I think the frosting between the layers is going to be great.

I will address your questions though. The cake sticking. She did say that she heavily buttered the pans, then...put parchement paper rings in and then buttered lightly and floured the parchment. Since only one of yours stuck you did good anyway.

The filling stuff. Looking at yours it looks like you didn't cook yours long enough and probably didn't let it cool enough. But the cooking long enough looks like the major problem. See how theirs is lighter colored than yours? In the Smith recipe it says to cook it until it begins to thicken... they say it took about 3 minutes but, like other baking that's a guideline and you need to cook it until the syrup carmelizes somewhat and starts to thicken. Was it damp or rainy? That could make it take longer. Then you'd need to do as they say and let it cool until it is spreadable, but not too cool so that it is no longer spreadable.

Hope this helps for NEXT TIME....darfc..

Carolyn is going to love it. You're a really great friend. Thanks for posting all those pics too. Love seeing the process.

It looks awesome! And once you get past "several" who really counts the number of layers anyway?!?!?!? You should be very proud of yourself - I bet it is absolutely delish and our friend is goig to be blown away by it.

Alexa

It looks super. I am guessing it wasn't much fun when removing from pans? I hope you get a cut picture also.

It turned out great! She'll never know there was supposed to be 14 layers.

I loved looking at the pictures too! You look terrific!

Looks gteat to me and I'm sure your friend will love it.

Nancy

Boy after all that I sure wouldn't have such a nice big smile on my face!

The cake looks gorgeous and I'm sure she will love it and the the story!!!

It so beautiful! Gorgeous, fabulous, wonderful. I'm sure she'll love it. And I don't blame her. Nice one.

Chase, that was what I was thinking! I would have been too visibly frustrated to have a picture taken.

What a trouper you are and adaptable.

WOW!! She will never have to know there was a problem...the cake looks fantastic!!! I need my fork. LOL

Linda

It looks amazing and scrumptious! And so do you!

That cake is beautiful, no matter what you had to go to get there. Filling or frosting, I'm absolutely certain is is delicious and I'm jonesing for a piece myself! Knowing what a regular layer cake takes (but not 14) I am very impressed with you!

I have no doubt you and your friend will be delighted when you cut into it. Don't apologize for a thing; she won't know the difference!

Tracey, that's a good looking finished product! You did good...no on knows how many layers that was supposed to be...

oh wait..we do...but it's our little secret!

I'll take that cake anyday! Looks fabulous, and what a trooper and good friend you are!

I know she'll love it!

Shelley S.

LOL, Joe, she IS hot, isn't she? (grin)

Tracey, you did good. Real good. I'd eat that cake any old time. Now would be nice, LOL.

Your friend's gonna love it.

Annie

I agree that both you and the cake are gorgeous! Fantastic job! I bet it was delicious. :)
Nancy

That looks like one fine cake to me!!

And now that you've done it once, you'll probably find it easier to avoid pitfalls the second time around - if you ever decide to tackle it again that is!!

I find that the first time I make something that I've never tried before, it might not work out unless I was making it for myself - then it comes out perfect, but if I'm making it for a gift or for someone else, something inevitably goes wrong!!

You might feel like it was a disaster because you know what you were trying to achieve, but as others have said, no one else is going to know how many layers it was originally intended to be! I think 10 is amazing! Anything over 2 layers is beyond most people so twist your arm around and give yourself a pat on the back for one beautiful cake!

Lisa

p.s. can anyone tell me why random words in certain posts are in green with double underlines??!!

Great job, Tracey! You came through with flying colors. I would have thrown the whole thing in the trash (after a snit fit) & gone to a bakery, I'm afraid.

Lisa, iVillage has evidently instituted pop-up advertising on certain words. The Kitchen Table forum discussed it this morning:

How to get rid of the Intellitext (green underlines) links:
Click on the ? in the box that pops up when you hover over a link.
When you get the page loaded - there will be a tab for DISABLE - follow the instuctions.
Close out of everything - then reopen the KT - the links are then gone from the posts.

Here is a link that might be useful: iVillage links in posts?

Lisa, it's probably because you're not using Mozilla Firefox as a browser. Those double underlines are hyperlinks that I believe take you to advertisements for the items. I would highly advise downloading free Mozilla if you want an ad-free internet experience.

You made a really delicious molehill out of a mountain.

Please post more pics of the recipient enjoying the cake.

Awww, thanks guys for helping me to NOT feel like a complete failure! I appreciate all the compliments and the advice. I ended up using Baker's Joy and the cakes just popped out of the tins. I am way too lazy to cut out 14 parchment circles, butter the pans, then butter and flour the parchment. No way. The layer that stuck had a big glob of butter that didn't get mixed into the batter properly. As for the glaze, just for kicks I put it back on the stove and boiled the heck out of it just to see what would happend. It was STILL like soup and never did set up.

We delivered the cake this morning and she seemed very happy to receive it. She's going to serve it tomorrow at her family celebration, so I asked her to please take a picture because my cooking forum friends wanted to see it cut!

Thanks again-you guys are the best!

I don't care *how* many layers that cake does or doesn't have. It's my kind of cake!!

Sue

I read down the page, gazing at the picture, all the while thinking how generous and sweet you are to go to so much effort! And then... the finished product picture scrolled up. All I could think was, "OH HOW PRETTY!"

The recipient of this cake will be thrilled! And your friend is right, SHE doesn't know it was supposed to be 14 layers and have filling or whatever. All she will see is a lovely cake that tastes wonderful and that clearly took a lot of time and effort by a sweet friend. What could be more beautiful than that?

I think your cake looks wonderful and I bet your friend does also. That is really special of you.

I'm so proud of you for your persistence!! I know I would have been frazzled and likely not able to pull that cake off as well as you did. Good job! I'm sure it will be well received.

Bri

Well Tracey, I missed the beginning of your adventure but I will say that cake looks great... as do you! I'm sure they will love it...thanks for sharing and the pics!

David

Got an update on the cake. The birthday girl loved it, thank goodness! She ended up taking it up to Chili's where they met some people for dinner. Apparently, the servers even got some as they were impressed with the layers. Carolyn said they came back and asked for a second piece to share with the other kitchen staff! And to top it off, one of Carolyn's friends wants to place and order with me for another cake.

Thanks again guys for all the encouragement. Oh, and Joe, I'm still LOL at your compliments on my glasses and old pink apron. You made my day!

Here's a pic Carolyn took of the cake after it was cut.

Oh yum, now that looks even MORE delicious. So, if you make a cake for the friend, how many layers does she expect it to be? (grin) Oh, be sure to charge by the layer!

Annie

That looks delicious! The pic of it sliced reminds me of the Dobos torte my aunt used to make when I was younger.

I missed your original thread but if you're looking for tips for the future, you might want to google the instructions for a Dobos (or dobosh) Torte, for a many-layered cake.

Here's a picture I found at Roadfood.com.

Tracey - it looks fab and what a nice compliment that you already have and "order" for another one!

Alexa

Hey Tracey! Don't forget...my birthday is in April!! ;)

(don't worry, I'm just kidding...kinda)

Mandy

Oohh, that Dobos torte looks so good! I've never heard of that before.

Mandy, too bad we aren't planning on coming home for Easter or I could bring you a bday cake. Maybe this summer :)

Tracey