As the cake layers are done, run a spatula around the edge of the pan and ease out the layers. Let them cool. Place the bottom layer on a cake plate; spread 2 or 3 spoonfuls of icing on each layer. (Don't worry if a layer tears; no one will notice when the cake is finished.) Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing; push any icing that runs onto the plate back onto the cake.
RECIPE SOURCE
Adapted from "Mrs. Kitching's Smith Island Cookbook," by Kitching and Susan Stiles Dowell (Tidewater Publishers, 1981). Used by permission of Cornell Maritime Press/Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, Md.