I don't sell, but I do torte all of my cakes. I like frosting and fillings, so it's a good way to get a lot in there without having to worry about sliding. Plus I think it looks really nice. I would never consider not torting a wedding cake, it's supposed to be fancy.

I think in the baking world, to use the word "torte" to split a cake layer is perfectly acceptable, and also well known.

Your not the only one wanting to know whether to torte or not...so afraid I will make my 2-in layers lopsided when trying to cut each into a 1-in layer....I like frosting with my cake...and with a  2-in cake you get more cake than frosting...but I scared to cut it...;)

question for those who torte (4 layers). if you use american buttercream, and i use a thick dam of it around each layer, then fill the layer with buttercream.. how do you go about doing this thick dam with 4 layers, that seems very time consuming and when i go back and fill the outside gaps like putty it seems like that would be hard doing that on a 4 layer cake?

do you all dam your 4 layer wedding cakes ? for those using american buttercream only, please answer as i know smbc is totally different you can just refrigerate with no dam needed..

Thank you....think I will use a buttercream...

I am sure I'm in the minority, but for large cakes,  12" or larger, I bake 1 inch layers and skip the torting. They are a bit sturdier that way. 

For my vote, I torte 3 layers of cake and 2 layers of buttercream (3 if you count the top) for 4 inch tiers. i only put in a dam if I have a special filling, which may leak out. 

and there is more than one definition of torte... it usually refers to a "multi-layered" cake, which is why "to torte" has become synonymous with cutting or stacking  many layers into a cake.  

you know, "to text" isn't officially a verb...yet, but we still say, "i'll text you."

this is a torte (noun)

Torte is derived from Torta, which means flat cake or flat bread, splitting a thicker cake into thin layers got dubbed 'torting' because you were essentially making thin, or flat, cakes.

I love how I can remember that from culinary school, but can't remember how to open a pressure cooker. lol

I always torte my cakes, it's a bit more work, but they are tastier and prettier, both things that myself and customers like :)

I torte almost all my cake, except for fruit cakes of course. Torted cakes are set apart from your regular run of the mill cakes.

AI torte every cake. Use an Agbay and it only takes seconds.

Although I hobby bake, I aspire to have the cakes I give away taste BETTER than they look.    Recently I purchased an Agbay Deluxe Single Blade (about $215 with tax and 10% Cake Central.com discount).  It was worth every penny.  This is the only way to torte cakes.

Here are some beautifully photographed examples from ********************* cakes.  Although they no longer bake and sell cakes, they do offer a cookbook, Evil Cake Overlord, with the recipes for these cakes.  Go to this url and scroll thru pictures 38 -45.

http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/ww_photo/celebration-generation?o=37

Here is another gorgeous photo of a European style, 12 layer, torted cake.  (You will need to scroll down a little bit to see the photo):

http://www.weddingcakesgreenbay.com/faq/

I always torte too, I think it just looks nicer. Plus I don't have nearly enough pans to be baking 1 inch layers! 

i have a dumb question...i don't usually torte, but i have been wanting to start doing that since it looks so much nicer... ok heres the dumb question...say i do 4 layers of cake and 3 layers fillings/buttercream...which layers get the filling and which get the buttercream, or do they both get a thin layer of each? id think doing that would make it slippery....

I always torte.  Always.  Here is how I do it:

1. I bake in 2" pans, collaring my pans.  I get as much height as possible, and "save" as much cake as I can when I torte
2. Only cut off as much as needed to get the tops totally flat.  This will save you a headache or a cake-tastrophe later
3. I then torte in half in the middle
4. I put in fridge or freezer for at least an hour.
5. I take out of fridge/freezer and I use a Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper thick BC to make a dam.  The BC is so thick, I've had to mix in the powdered sugar with a gloved hand because my mixer can't handle it.  So thick I could roll a "rope" out of it.  No stickiness at all.  I use an "open" coupler for the dam.
6. Fill (I prefer flavored BC)
7. From the top, I have cake, fill, cake, fill, cake, fill, cake (two cakes torted and filled per tier).  It makes for about a 6" tall tier.  It's really nice looking
8. put back in fridge or freezer for at least 20 minutes before I do anything else.  Cold cake+filling is much easier to control.

Good luck!

Hmm. Probably a bad idea for people who prefer to avoid frostings or fillings. (You may recall that my dad's birthday cake last year was a pound cake, baked in a Bundt mold, with no frosting whatsoever, except for a greeting, piped onto the side. And you may also recall that it took a fair amount of futzing around to get a tiny batch of my usual dense, non-whipped, all-butter BC to a consistency that was long enough to be piped, but stiff enough to go on a nearly-vertical side without sagging, slumping or running.)

On the other hand, "torting" is probably mandatory if you're baking a cake for a civil liability attorney.

Hi all,

I was just wondering if I will need a dam for my cake if I am torting, filling with a sleeved fruit filling, and frosting with ganache before I cover it with fondant?  I tort all of my cakes and ganache them before I cover them in fondant, and found that I never needed a dam with my smbc fillings because I don't fill completely to the edge and the ganache keeps everything in place nicely once it is sets.  I was planning on doing the same with the fruit filling, but now I wonder if the ganache will be enough to keep the torted and fruit filled layers from leaking, bulging, and slipping?  Or, should I just use some extra ganache and add a dam to all of the layers?

TIA! 

AAbsolutely dam with fruit fillings. No question.

Okay, thanks Leah!