Torting A 14 Inch Cake - A Desparate Cry For Help!
Decorating By Pyxxydust Updated 18 Jun 2007 , 5:33pm by vitomiriam
I tried to torte a 14 inch cake this morning with the large Wilton leveler, and it was a disaster! The blade keeps bending and isnt strong enough to go through the cake evenly its terrible! What a mess! Its amazing the little one works absolutely perfectly for only a few dollars why would the more expensive big one be of such poor quality?! I wish the little one was just a bit bigger so I could use it for this 14 inch. Anyway, now Im panicking, because Ive already torted and filled the 6 inch and 10 inch tiers for a wedding cake this weekend, so of course Id like the 14 inch to be torted too. I tried using a serrated knife but my knife skills are sorely lacking, plus the knife is much shorter than the cake so it just didnt work well. Does anyone have any ideas on how to torte a large cake without a leveler and without using a knife? I heard something about dental floss or fishing line does that really work? How do you keep your layers even? Any advice would be MOST appreciated!
Thanks!
Desparate in Atlanta
dental floss. cut a very long piece (long enough to wrap completely around the cake plus a foot).
Put toothpicks around the cake at the line where you want to cut (only suggesting this step b/c the cake is large) - this way you make sure you are hitting it where you want it to be cut. wrap the floss around the cake, criss cross the ends (like you would if you were going to tie it) and bring it taut, then gently/firmly pull (not towards you - basically just pull then ends - if you picture the cake as a clock and you are at 6, the threads will be heading toward 8 and 4). The floss will cut the cake VERY cleanly.
I have heard nothing good about the large wilton leveler.. ((hugs)) The fishing line works great (as would dental floss but I have never tried it) sewing thread works too if you don't have floss or fishing line. Then just take a large cake board and slide the torted cake top onto the cake board to lift it off. Good luck!!
I always use thread when torting my cakes, works like a charm. To make it even easier I set the cake on a turntable, spin the cake against the blade of a serrated knife to score a mark around the cake. Then when I am ready to torte I just put the thread in the score mark to start, that way I know the cake will be cut cleanly and it will be perfectly level too.
Even for small cakes the leveler has really done damage for me. I just use the bread knife. I've gotten comfortable with it...but, I hear it doesn't work for everyone 
Aparently I've been having the same issues but didn't even realize it until I read this thread. I just cut a 10" last night and it frusted the heck outta me! I am so glad this was posted because I really thought it was me... 
to the large Wilton leveler.
Wilton leveler = cake shredder. Buy yourself an Agbay. It's pricey but it's AWESOME. It cuts through my very dense carrot cake as if it was butter. I love love love it!!!!
I've only used the large leveler on a 12x18 cake, and it was fine. I wonder if it is harder to use with round cakes? Or maybe over time it loses it's strength and bends?
Glad to get some new info about the floss and wire, will have to remember that because my knife skills are lacking as well!
Hi,
I just torted a 14" square cake for the first time using fishing line last night. It worked but boy is it uneven. I didn't even think about marking the sides with toothpicks. Oh well.
My problem was trying to get the top torted layer back on the bottom filled layer. OMG!!! 
It wouldn't come off the darn cookie sheet even though I had tons of powdered sugar on it. I ended up having to cut it into 4 sections then lift those off the cookie sheet and onto the cake. It was that or attempt to flip it over and I figured it would break in a million pieces so I didn't want to try. This cake is so heavy, 6", 10" and 14" squares all with filling. I have no clue how I'm going to carry it!! Please pray for me!! 
KimAZ
If you want a line marking where to cut, you can put your indention around the edges using the small leveler. Just get it started as far as you can get the little one in and spin the cake around, just going in a couple of inches around the entire diameter. That way the line you use for your floss will be exactly the same height all the way around and it will get the cut started... Good luck!!!
Good news I finally was able to tort the cake with the fishing line! Thanks for the great suggestions! I didnt do it myself though. We put it on a high counter in between my kitchen and living room. My hubby held one side and I held the other. We scored the side of the cake where we wanted to make the cut. We had to hold really tightly on to the wire to make it work (major ouch for the old fingers!) and sort of saw it into the cake. One we were in, we were able to slide it right on through to the other side. And it make the most perfectly clean cut youd ever seen I was really surprised! We did this for all of them and put the extra layers on their own cake boards, covered in saran wrap so it wouldnt stick, and then I was able to slide it right back on to the cake when I was ready. The cake is in my pictures (white wedding cake), and I must say, I was very pleased with how evenly the height of all the tiers came out, when it could have very easily gone the other way if I couldnt get these 14 inch tiers layers done right. It ended up working wonderfully well, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was all over. Thanks for all of your help and suggestions! Cake Central to the rescue once again!
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