I know I have posted this dilema before, but here I am again.
I have tried, lowering the temperature in the oven, using the flower nail and the magic stips. And yet the cake is still doming and pulling away from the sides. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? I had a pretty positive outlook going into this cake this morning, but now....

Tried the strips...didn't like
Tred the nail....cake didn't rise well

I quit fighting the leveling by filling my pans a little more, then when cake comes out...I take my great big bread knife and with the blade touching the pan, I cut the dome off and cake is PERFECT every time!!!

I wouldn't do it any other way!

I use the strips and reduce the temp to 325. These things are not guaranteed to give you zero doming.... but they significantly reduce the doming.

I trim what I can while the cake is still in the pan. Most of the time, my cakes rise higher (about 1/4") than the top of the pan (no, it doesn't overflow .... it just rises straight up) so this is usually the only trim job I have to do. I don't add extra batter ..... but I grease only my pans - no flour ever. Cakes rise higher when the pan is NOT floured.

If add'l trimming is needed, it's usually minimal and I use the Wilton leveler, which gets mixes reviews but I'm one who loves it and wouldn't do a cake without one.

Do you have a thermometer in your oven? If you have never tested your oven, it could be a little off. What types of pans are you using? If you have dark pans then the edges of your cakes are going to cook faster then the middle.

As soon as you take the domed cake from the oven, place a towel over it and press down to level - works like a charm.

I've tried the strips and cutting to level - but they are time consuming and I am not that good with the knife. I bought one of those leveler gadgets from a cake store and decided that it was someones idea of a joke. I read about pressing it down on CC and it was a light bulb moment - duh, why not - and it works every time.

A trick that I found that works pretty well is after filling the pans raise them off the counter and drop them a few times to get rid of air bubbles, then give them a little spin so the mix will go to the outer edges, bake as normal. When they come out the mound should be very slight , I just lay a towel over the top and press gently to make level (do this as soon as they come out or the cake will just spring back into shape).

After you pull the cake out of the oven, try flipping it over to cool (still in the pan).

This has worked better than anything else for me.

Forgot to add: flipping it over gives you the added benefit of keeping a lot of the moisture in.

I just level mine as well. I was tired of messing with strips and other "methods" so I just let it happen and use my cake level to fix any doming. It only takes a second to do and is definitely better than hassling with all the other things...

I have a convection oven so I use the convection mode (not pure conv) and reduce temp. to 325 deg. I grease my pans, place parchment paper and grease that, place greased flower nail, fill pan 1/2 full, use leveling strips, tap on counter to get rid of bubbles and bake. It does bake pretty evenly but I usually still have to take just a bit off the top but at least there's not a lot of wasted cake removed. Oh, I do cool in pans for 10-15 minutes and they do level off a bit as they are cooling, then I put on cooling racks being sure to flip so that the top is on the top to prevent from cracking.
Jacqui

thanks for the advice. you will never know how much i appreciate it. Will try out your suggestions with the next one. which i will do in the am. since i am on my way to help cook dinner at the ronald macdonald house here in berlin. will let you all know how the next one turns out!!!!!
oh the pans i am using are light in color and are 3 inches deep.