would that work? just wondering if anyone has tried this, I know it would mean more baking time but I was wondering if it would produce a more level and stable cake? and save a step too.
let me know your thoughts

Save a 5 minute step but add a 30-60 minute baking step.

I say just torte it. Unless you have a commercial oven and can bake them all at once.

I know, I know... it would add extra time but I think that the cakes are less sturdy after being torted... maybe it's just me. I might be doing something wrong.
I was watching Amazing wedding cakes on E! Sunday and I thought for sure that the cake layers looked like thin baked layers not torted ones. So thats where the idea came from..

By the way I LOVE that show

I do this for some of my more fragile cakes that don't stand up to being baked in a standard layer cake pan. I bake the cake in a parchment lined full or half sheet pan (jelly roll), and then cut out the circles with the appropriate sized cake ring.

I also do this for my petits fours... MUCH easier.

I've made a lot of 12 by 18 sheet cakes for family dos, and because I would end up with crusty or burnt edges before the middle was cooked, I started doing two thin layers and putting them together. It works okay except it is tricky flipping on that top layer (I have never been able to get it to just slid off a cookie sheet, it always sticks). Also, even though it is a thin layer, it isn't perfectly flat on top (my experience, but before I got bake even strips), so if you don't want to trim the top, which I never did, you had a taller middle than the edges. This might not happen for you, but that is what I noticed doing it, but I never put any real effort into making it work any better.

Even a perfectly baked cake doesn't turn out completely level, and would have to be trimmed a little. I don't see how leveling 2 thin cakes is easier than leveling one and torting it. Maybe it's just me, though. I like that there is a perfect match between the 2 torted layers; they fit together, as long as they're "lined up" properly.

I agree w/you observation that the cakes do not seem to be as 'stable' onced torted. The only time I hesitate to torte is for wedding cakes because of that.
Maybe you are putting too much filling in.
I remember attending a demo yrs ago - I do believe for commercial baking - where they insisted filling should be just a *smear* but make several layers.

Try it believe me it's faster. Cake is cheap time is expensive. It takes me over an hour to bake a 12x18. It takes less than an hour to bake four 1/2 sheets.

Mike

I like to bake my layers separately. I think they are a lot more stable than torting them. On the smaller size cakes I can fit all the layers in the oven at the same time and it takes less time to bake than a thicker cake. On the larger cakes, when I take them out of the pan, I put them on a cake board before I level them, then I leave them on the cake board, wrap and freeze. Coming off the cake board still slightly frozen, so I never have a problem with breaking the cake. I find it a lot easier this way.

Keep in mind also that if you are trying to bake thinner layers in the same size pan, you may have unintended results. I have a white cake recipe that constantly shrunk on me...as did every other white cake recipe. With the help of CC I discovered that it was actually because I was baking my layers too thin; the recipe called for 3 thin layers but didn't mention that they should be done in a shallower pan! First time I filled that pan up properly: finally a cake w/no shrinkage. Since I don't want to buy a full set of 1" pans I am now going to try the same recipe with thicker layers...the opposite of what you are contemplating!

Just something to consider