Hello,

I always level my cakes and for some reason even then, I often end up with a cake thats taller in the center, not pretty. Does anyone know why this happens and what I can do to stop it from happening again?

Thanks!

I started using the Wilton Bake Right Strips when I bake my cakes. Now they come out perfect, well, what I consider perfect. If it's after you fill them it could be that you aren't putting your filling in evenly. If it's just with leveling,  you may want to invest in a good leveler. I use to use the basic Wilton one with that really thin metal that wrapped from one end to the other but it tore my cakes apart when I leveled with it. I now just use a serrated knife and a leveler. 

I prefer using a flower nail: http://www.cakecentral.com/tutorial/57138/cake-baking-flower-nail-method-tutorial

and I always bake my cakes on 325F.

 do you always back at 325..regardless of size of the pan?

have you tried letting your cakes settle after you tort them?  I know there were a few threads from people who would put a weight (some were using a ceranic tile) on the top after the cake has been filed and left for an hour or so to let everything settle in.  It might help?

I bake at 325 degrees  for all cakes regardless of size of pan, but with the 7" -  9" I use the bake even strips, larger than that I would use the flower nails.

What do you do with the flower nails?

Check out the link above in my reply for flower nail instructions. I always bake at 325, I only make butter cake and pound cake. Sponge might be different,  but I don't bake those.

I use the baking strips and on anything larger than a 9" round I use a flower nail (or two, perhaps,  in a rectangle cake). I also bake at 325 .  Just increase the bake time slightly  

Cakes are  fairly level when I take them out  I just sometime need to do a slight trim.  Hardly much trimmed off though in the end  

Wow I have definitely never heard of using a flower nail! Does anyone know why that works? Just curious. I think I'll try what you suggested forjenns because even after I have each piece level (I literally use a level on them) once I put frosting or filling on and stack them after a little time has passed it has that domed look, that or maybe I'm not scraping enough frosting off in the center. Idk, but I'll try these methods, thank you all for your help!

I would suspect that the flower nail method works because it is metal and conducts heat which would help bake the middle of the cake at a similar rate as the parts closer to the edges of the pan.  (I pulled this answer from the sky, so correct me  if I am wrong)

I don't use either method...bake strips or nail.   What I do is just gently and quickly flatten any dome with my hand after I pull the cake from the oven.   It has to be immediately after removal so it will be quite hot.   You can use the bottom of a like sized cake pan to press it down also if using your hand to touch a hot cake makes you nervous.  

As for filling, I dam and fill and then apply some pressure to the top of each layer as I build up the layers  to release any air and to maintain a level surface.   I actually surprise myself at how level my cakes are without any measuring or using anything other than eyeballing it.    It's too bad cake structure isn't as highly appreciated by customers as decoration is. (Because it is super important for a sturdy cake)

You are correct As to Why the flower nail works.  I also freeze my greased pans for the same reason, it slows the baking from The pan to the center and you get a more even bake and no dome.

Freezing the pan?  I've never heard that before... and it helps?  I'll have to try that sometime!

I don't recommend compressing the cake. You work hard to get a light airy cake-why would you then want to squish it?

I only press down a dome if the dome is very slight.  (Meaning it isn't "worth it" to me to cut off)  bigger domes (which I don't get usually) I would level using a different method.  

The difference in the quality of the cake is negligible.    But again, I am not trying to shove a huge dome back into a cake.....nor am I using such force that it squashes it like a pancake.   It's just a firmish pressure for a few seconds to flatten the dome. 

If you google "leveling a domed cake" several bakers use/suggest this method.   But I think it is yet another debatable choice that a baker makes......like pretty much anything we bakers do,  someone is going to disagree or do it differently.