I baked 3 cakes for a wedding cake I will be decorating tomorrow but one is shorter than the others. I don't want to cut the others. I am thinking of putting extra crumbcoat and fondant to even it up. Its going to be on a cascading cake stand, is this ok?

Don't you level the cakes? Measure the shortest and cut down the others to match or bake another if you want them all taller.

Diana

I recently saw a post where someone was saying they put extra cake boards under tiers to make them taller - cut the same size as the cake then just ice over them. That would work if you don't want to cut the others down.

torte the one (cut each layer in half and fill between the layers) and don't torte the other two (just leave them uncut with one layer of filling between) is that a possibility?
chances are on a stand like that nobody will notice unless it's more than 1 inch shorter than the others! It's when they're all lined up around the tiered cake (as satellite cakes) that it becomes obvious of the difference in height!

If there's not much difference I would just do the boards and/or extra BC - but if it's a BIG difference I would trim the others down. So really it depends on how big the difference is.

about a quarter of an inch. They have already been torted and crumbcoated. I was thinking of adding an extra thick layer of fondant but I am worried that it may look obvious on the board.

I wouldn't worry about it, nobody will ever notice. I did a 5 tier wedding cake (in my avatar), 1 or 2 of the tiers ended up taller and I was really worried about it, but when it was all said and done - it wasn't noticeable.

You're the only one who'll notice. I mean, how many newlyweds walk around with rulers at their receptions to measure their cakes?

I have just done the cake. There are so many things I am not happy with but I did the best I can. Putting a ribbon round the base made it look nicer but the tops of the tiers are not dead straight / level even though I used a wilton leveller which I think is a complete waste of money as its too fidely and you end up slicing it bent. I hope it doesn't look too unprofessional tomorrow.

Wilton leveler is crap. Throw it away now and order an Agbay.

Done the extra cake board / drum idea and it worked, turned out to be the same height as the others. I have learnt quite alot of this from this first wedding cake experience, I have such a headache and had weird dreams last night. I have just delivered it and fingers crossed there will be no problems with the actual cake. It has cream cheese filling and the venue was quite warm. Will the fondant add protection?

For the future, what does an agbay leveller look like? Is it costly? I live in a very small flat with a tiny kitchen and my space is limited. Is it possible to put it away on a shelf / cupboard when not in use? I have now added my pic and it should show up on the site within 30 mins.

The Agbay is a little pricey...$175 for the single-blade model. Whether it will fit on a shelf depends on how long your shelf is. Check out their site, and you can see the dimensions and demos. It is sooooooo worth every penny!

http://www.agbayproducts.com/

I am by no means an expert, but my time spent with professional bakers has shown me that torting is something that you eventually get, and that most people seem to do it free hand. Once its torted and filled, make sure the cake is level, then again after its rested, since its a lot easier to fix then. Get a level out if you need to!

This is something that you just need to practice and practice over and again.

I leveled it, then torted it. Won't it be more difficult to level after its been torte as it may slide off the layers when handling it? I do have a spirit level but every time I use the wilton leveller its never straight.