I made a 9X13 cake and had some mousse inbetween for filling- I have huge gaps on the sides-

How do you get the sides of the cake flush so it can be frosted neatly without huge gobs of frosting trying to fill in the gaps?

Do you always aim to have the cakes perfectly even?

I need some major help- I am getting petrified about making cakes- thankfully I am NOT a professional as I am not good enough, but I do make all my own cakes for events and had to make a cake today- same problem!

What is the secret when using 2 cakes with a filling in between and placing them on top of eachother and frosting as 1 cake???

Thanks a million

I wish I knew! here's a bump!

You can fill the space with "spackle", cake crumbs and buttercream. Save the top part that is taken off to level the cake and use that as the spackle. Works like a charm.

You can try the baking strips around your pans when you are baking. They help reduce bumps on top of your cakes. Or if you have an uneven top or bump on top of the cake layer after baking, you can trim it with a knife or use a cake leveler to trim the uneven portions. HTH

Normally I pipe a thick line around the outside of a cake before I fill it. And I mean I go right up against the edge. Let it harden a bit and then fill it in. When I put my other cake on top, the icing used for the well tends to bulge out just a bit and then I use a small spatula to smooth it out and straighten the edge.

Aligotmat-

That is a good idea- I will have to try that- It seems like you have to use an awful lot of buttercream to fill the sides and frost the cake- I feel like I never make enough-

Do you make huge quantities?

Do you level the cake? This more often than not will make the the cake even and lay flat against one another.

That was going to be my question as well. I level all of my cakes. First because it makes an even cake with no bump, but also because I don't like the top skin on a cake, it seems chewy to me and leaves that little brown line between the cake and the icing.