Thank you for reading, but I have tried and tried many things from pipes...to straws...to wooden dowels, Ive tried scissors....saws...and sometimes all of them are just indifferent but it shows on my finished cakes. Do you guys use something or do something that levels your cakes perfectly? Please help, I had a angry bride see the inperfection and I had to refund her entire money because I believe it was my fault thank you everyone.

luz

I'd like to hear the answer to this too. Although I've been making cakes for years, mine are never as level as the pros. I've used a tiny level, but still....the only tip I can give is to get down at eye-level and look at it that way. Also, sometimes you will notice that you won't even be able to tell it's not level...until you take a photo. For some reason, all the imperfections come out clearly in a photo, isn't that weird?

Are your cake layers level to begin with??
Have you put enough batter into the pan so it b akes up high enough to level?
When cutting supports you find the highest spot on the cake (if there is one); push in one support (straw, dowel, whatever); mark that one at the icing line; cut all the other supports the same exact length.

Better yet! Use the SPS! They are already cut to the proper length. No guessing; no cutting, just push in and add plate

1) Level your cakes with an Agbay. (www.AgbayProducts.com)
2) Bake to the corect height.
3) Use SPS
4) Double check with a small level.

And you won't have problems.

You might want to also check if your work table is level. If it isn't, your cake will never turn out level.

I gave up on my wilton levelers and just started using a bread knife. I level before take the cake out of the pan cutting around the top edge. My cakes have come out better this way. HTH

Level the cakes while in the pan. If the cakes don't rise quite high enough, here's a neat trick I learned from CC'ers: Put cake cardboards in the pan, then put hte cake back into the pan. The 2-3 cardboards will have raised the cake high enough over the edge of the pan so that you can level it nice and flat and even.

If you're not using SPS, be sure your dowels are all cut the same length. Insert one dowel, mark it for cutting height, then cut the rest of the dowels the same height. Do NOT insert and mark each dowel separately. If you want to test for levelness BEFORE putting your next tier in place, put a cardboard or plastic cake plate on top of the dowels and use a level to check it.

well my cakes are leveled...but it's my stacking or my tiering that goes a little crooked once asembled.

Excuse the question...what's a sps?

My cakes barely ever come over the top edge of the pan. If they dome a bit, I press them back down with a clean dish towel, so they are level with the pan. No cutting necessary. Must be done while the cake is still warm.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-603925.html

Here is what SPS is, and Leahs instructions. Looks great, and I am going to get these very soon myself!

Yep, I love the SPS system but you have to make sure to bake or frost a little over 4" high when using them.

Istead of torting my cakes I've started baking the layers. I divide my batter into 3 pans and stack and frost. No more torting and a lot less crumbs especially for the chocolate cakes!

question.....what if my cakes are higher than 4''? could it still work? with fillings and buttercream and fondant I estimate my cakes a littl over 4'' maybe 5'' the top layers wont sink in? And have that seam of the filling coming out? Thanks a bunch guys!!

Luz

Is there a guide somewhere that states how much batter should go into the pans? I'm having troubles getting my cakes 4"

Do you mean, 4" right out of the pan? Or after you torte, fill and ice?

4" total. Is that how high they need to be to use the SPS? My cakes always end up being to short or to tall!

SPS legs come in 4" and 5". (Other combinations and a 9" also, but for this discussion let's stick to the 4s and 5s.)

The idea is to bake, fill and ice the cake so that the tier is one of those heights. Wilton has a pretty good chart on their website about how much batter to put in the pans. If you've seen Indy's pics of her cakes coming out of the oven, they bake up just a bit over the top edge of the pan, so she can use the top of the pan as a cutting guide. Generally speaking - and this varies somewhat with different flavors of cake - you'll fill a pan 2/3 full. My experience is only with scratch cakes, as I don't use mixes, but I'd have to think that mixes would be the same 2/3 full.

It just sounds like you need to put more batter in the pans. Better to cut some off than come up short.

Cake scraps are yummo.

OK so if i level my cakes with the top on the pan add filling, buttercream and fondant that will give me the height for the SPS?

I have a tiered cake to do this weekend i'll try this! Thanks!

One word....Agbay. It's changed my life when it comes to leveling cakes. Pricey, but sooooooo worth the money!