Linda, You are missing one cup of sugar. There should also be one cup of white and one cup of brown along with the one cup of butter and the one cup of cream. Not sure if that had anything to do with why it broke. I wouldn't think so. If anything I would have though you would have ended up with more of a thick toffee.

Ann

Oh yeah it does.....that's why it's swimming in butter....
And that's what I get for thinking I remember!!
CWAP!!!
As my son says...RTFMS....and the "S" stands for stupid and the "M" for manual and the "T" for the...

I've had similar sauces break too. They just don't hold well for me. But tonight I was just about to post a thread that could have had the same title -- something totally different broke.

Dear friends of my DS and DDIL were getting married tonight. They don't have much money and they are a really nice couple so my DS asked if I would make the wedding cake for them. I had made the wedding cake for my DS and a secondary cake for the wedding of another of my DS (because the woman doing their cake doesn't do chocolate) but other than that I've done mainly sheet cakes and simple layer cakes.

The bride wanted one of those topsy turvey cakes where the tops slant and the sides slant in. I looked on line and figured out how to do it and it didn't look impossible though it is a lot of work - so I agreed to give it a try. My usual chocolate cake is pretty sturdy so I thought it would work. All was going pretty well. I had all three layers shaped, frosted and staked. Emergency frosting made for any repairs once I'd gotten the cakes to the hall, royal icing flowers ready to put on the cake and a decorating bag full of colored icing to pipe borders where the layers joined.

Driving very carefully - no sudden moves, I arrive at the hall and the top layer has split in the cake carrier. I get everything into the hall and the top layer is unrepairable. A quick call to someone else on their way to pick up an 8" cake of any kind on the way the the wedding. I can cut the icing off, shape it and ice it with my emergency icing. Meanwhile I'm getting the other two layers stacked and putting on the flowers. The replacement cake arrives. As I'm dealing with it, I notice that splits are developing in the middle cake layer. I try to shore it up with extra stakes and some skewers my DH brings from home, but the split keeps getting wider and wider.

Eventually, I had to take the middle tier out. The photographer did get some pictures of the three layer version of the cake before the split got too wide. Middle layer goes to the kitchen. At least I got it off before it fell totally apart and damaged the bottom layer's decorating. Not wanting to take any chances, I left the top layer on the table until just before the cake cutting. I covered the cake round from the middle tier with frosting so that the top tier could sit on that looking like it fit there.

When it was time for the bride and groom to cut the first slice, I popped the top tier into place. Not as tall or impressive as I'd wanted, but it still looked nice. The bottom tier was 3 layers, 14" round so it had enough cake to feed everyone (though I could have salvaged some slices from the middle layer hiding in the kitchen if needed.

I don't think I'll ever try making a "mad hatter" cake again. My cake doesn't have the structural strength for it. And except for my remaining unmarried son or grand children, I don't think I'll make a wedding cake again. I didn't keep track, but I had at least 40 hours in this near disaster.

The bride and groom looked happy with the cake and everyone enjoyed eating it - it may not be the best building material but it has good flavor. The photographer says she may be able to photoshop in the 3 tier cake into the cake cutting picture.

Much worse disaster than my dumb sauce! Glad you were able to repair it, and all didn't land on the floor!
Linda C