Hi,
There are lots of ways this can be done. If you can, buy an agbay leveler. They are really expensive, but I hear they work great. I have the small wilton leveler which works fine for torting cakes. But it's not the best one.
Also, if you cake the cake out of the pan while it's still hot, then put a cutting board with something heavy on top of it, many times that will level the cake as well.
Two other tips I learned here for getting cakes level during baking-take a flower nail, grease it and put it upside down in the cake batter. It will help bring the heat to the middle of the cake and bake it more evenly. Also if you can get bake-even strips, and wrap them around the cake (Soak them for a bit in cold water first), that helps to get even cakes as well.
Lisa
If the cake has a dome some things you can try are:
- baking the cake at 325 instead of 350, you will need to bake a bit longer
- if using a larger cake pan use a flower nail to help distribute the heat evenly while baking
- using bake even strips, or making your own bake even strips
- cutting the dome off of the cake while it is in the pan using the pan as the guide for the knife
If it is not level because one side is higher than the other when you are adding filling switch the top half of the cake so the high side is on the low side of the bottom and vice versa. (I learned that from Indydebi's advice )
I have also seen some people on tv using levels, so if you wanted to get a cheap level to use in the kitchen that might help you out.
HTH
- cutting the dome off of the cake while it is in the pan using the pan as the guide for the knife
This is what I do. I fill all my pans about 3/4 full so that the whole thing will rise above the edges of the pan. The only time I use an inverted flower nail is when the cake is 12" or larger and I bake every single cake, no matter what size, at 325.
We learned from another caker to fill the pans 3/4 full. If they're still domed when they come out of the oven, take your cooling rack, place on top, and with your potholders, press down firmly forcing the dome to collapse into the cake. She said that it would make the cake slightly more pound cakish (is that REALLY a word?!) but then after flattening, turn your whole pan and rack over to remove and cool.
Jamm---When you cook your cakes at 325, what time frame do you find they cook in?
Paul & Peter
Jamm---When you cook your cakes at 325, what time frame do you find they cook in?
Paul & Peter
They do take a little longer to bake. I bake a lot of 11X15 sheets. I use two cake mixes with extenders (so basically the same as 3 mixes) and taht fills it up nicely. Mine bake at 325 for about an hour...or at least that's when I check it. Sometimes it needs a little more time, sometimes it's done then. I also use two batches of pound cake batter for this pan and bake at 325 for 80 minutes. That pound cake recipe is no fail and is in the recipe section (the only recipe I've ever submitted). If I'm baking a 8" round layer, for example, I would fill to 3/4 full and bake at 325 for about 45 minutes. Does that help?
Here is a great step by step fromCreative Celebration Cakes,
http://www.creativecelebrationcakes.co.uk/page40.htm
HTH.
Here's how I do it:
http://www.cakeboss.com/PreventBulging.aspx
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