Cake Leveling???am I The Only One Who Does This?
Decorating By Tonja Updated 14 Aug 2006 , 9:54pm by mkerton
I said it once and I will say it again, those of you who are hump pressers scare me a bit.
Gosh, what do you have against the cake anyway that you have to push it around.
If you do not get rid of the hump, when you do wedding cakes especially, your cake will not be level.
RE: Agbay... I know the price seems like a lot, but like I said. SOOO worth it. You have to try one to appreciate it I guess. I have the two blade one, and it's a breeze!! Just to know that my cakes will not be torn apart when I tort them no matter how soft the textures are is worth it! I love my Agbay!!!
rezzycakes ... I'm glad to see that someone else loves the Agbay. I'm saving for the two blade one, and I just know that it will make my cake decorating life better! 
I tried the flower nail trick last night and it did not work.....
Do you "squish" it down while it is still in the pan? While it is warm? If so does it make it harder to get out? I was going to try the strips but now I'm having second thoughts. I also see that you can make your own strips with wet terrycloth. Has anyone tried this and does it work?
I tried the flower nail trick last night and it did not work.....
Your cake didn't bake evenly in the center? I don't think it makes a difference as far as getting a hump in the middle. It just ensures that the cake bakes well in the center.
I've used the wilton leveler and never had a problem, I just go slowly and carefully. The cut-off humps never go to waste-they go to appease my husband's requests of "Is it ready yet" So I can actually decorate it in somewhat of peace. Now if only I could figure out the frosting equivalent of cut off cake humps!!!!
OMG For $250 I would want it to perform for me! . As for knives I am in love w/ my Wusthof & it too cuts like butter & I bought it at TJ Maxx for about $20.
As for the dishtowel method I have had luck & no luck. Think the no luck was actually the cake itself--it was a total nightmare anyway. Heard about the nail, but not tried it yet. My instructor told me to use it on 10" or above & I've not baked any that large yet.
I too am interested in how you use the towel method on cupcakes--I have the darndest time w/ cupcakes. Do you just pat them individually?
I use the Wilton baking strips and the Wilton leveler and have zero problems. The strips make the cake rise higher than the pan, making it easy to trim. I do the trim while it's still in the pan, using the pan as a guide for the initial level, and doing quick back-n-forth sawing motions. This makes it easier to flip onto the cooling rack. After it cools, I may trim it again (slightly and only if needed) because I dont' want any of the 'brown' top crust in the middle of my white wedding cake. I dont' consider the trimmed cake wasted.....it's part of the cost of production.
I did a 3-tier, torted strawberry shortcake wedding cake about 3 weeks ago (Each tier therefore was 4 layers of cake with strawberry glaze between, then each tier topped with whole strawberries) and I used the Wilton leveler and it worked fine. The mother of the bride came over and told me she had been surveying the guests and the cake was a big hit! I was glad to hear it because I'd never done one like this before. (pic to be posted on mywebsite soon.)
I haven't tried it, but for those asking about the cupcakes, I read somewhere here that you can take like a sheetcake board and place it on top of the cupcakes while they are still in the pan and it will make them all even & level.
As far as leveling, I use the towel method all the time - and I forget all the time to put on an oven mitt too!!! Ouch! My biggest problem is the torting - it NEVER seems to come out right no matter how hard I try - and there are alwasy crumbs everywhere even when I freeze the cake for a little bit....... so I can't wait to get an Agbay - looks so awesome.... putting it on my Christmas list.... of course it would be my ONLY present..... but that might be okay w/ me. The only other thing I really want is Michael's gift certificates - or ooh I wish you could buy ebay gift certificates...... that would be cool... do they do that??? 
I said it once and I will say it again, those of you who are hump pressers scare me a bit.
Gosh, what do you have against the cake anyway that you have to push it around.
If you do not get rid of the hump, when you do wedding cakes especially, your cake will not be level.
I think she was joking, btw. 
that nobody understood her humor. 
imartsy ... there are indeed ebay gift certificates!!!! Yippee!! Here's the link: https://certificates.ebay.com/
There are a few restrictions (i.e., seller must accept PayPal as a form of payment), but nothing really crazy.
There you go!
I wish I'd have read this yesterday before I sweated over how to level and then torte a 14" round with the smaller leveler I have. we'll see today how good I did.
and by the way, i'm still wonderin ghow I'm going to flip over that lower level now that i've torted the 14".
I was reading this thread yesterday and thought I would try the "dishtowel" method!! Well, I made a carrot cake last night and did this method, LOVE IT!! So much easier and you're not wasting cake!! I will continue to use my leveler for torting, but from now on, I'm using the "dishtowel" method to get my cakes even!!!
Maire, where is the 14" cake now? To flip it, how about putting a cookie sheet or cake board on top and then just flip? Or maybe I'm not understand what you're saying ...
For the dish towel method, how long do you hold it down? And when do you do it? And also how do you do it to cupcakes?
Jess--
the 14" is on a big cutting board right now (Never made the 14" before so I don't have a cooling rack big enough.
when I flipped the first section (because I torted it for filling) I used a 16" cake circle to help me get it w/o breaking. I"m guessing I'll do that this time as well, but i'm a little worried about smearing the filling all over the place, KWIM?
This is the first cake i'm making for a total stranger so i'm a littl enervous!
Maire ... how about putting the half that doesn't have filling on it down on top of the half that does, and then flipping the whole thing?
I've tried "pressing the hump" (lol) a few times and I didn't like it. To me the part that got smooshed was just that, smooshed. I didn't care for the texture at all. That being said, I rarely have to level my cakes. I usually use the bake even strips and bake at 335. I might have a slight hump, but it usually settles and after turning it out on my cooling rack gets smooshed down a little bit too.
I have the agbay and love it...it is so worth the money.
But I too am sick of wasting cake. Can someone give me more details on mashing down the cake? How do you do a big 16 inch cake or a sheet cake? Do you put the towel on the cake and then put a cake board over it and them press? How long do you press? Won't it crack the cake?
I tried the flower nail trick last night and it did not work.....
I also do not like the flowernail method...it doesn't do anything and the nails are a pain to clean up.
I cook my cakes at lower temp (325) and for the larger cakes, I use the core. My cakes come pretty level. But I like a super level, flat top on my cakes, so I trim them a little. I also like all my layers to be exactly the same thickness. (I guess I like my cakes to look good even when sliced! haha)
Just an FYI. this method doesn't work on scratch cakes. I use this all the time when i use a mix.
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