Making a Layer Cake

Thin waxed floss works well, but it's hard to find the really thin kind anymore. You should level the bottom layer, but I like to keep the top layer rounded because it's easier to frost.

If you want the top to have the roundish shape you leave that layer alone. The other layers you should level. If you can't eyeball it with a knife you can buy a cake leveler at Michaels or Walmart for like 5 bucks I think. It has a sharp string that cuts and has different heights so you can pick how thick you want each layer.
Hope this helps.

i always trim the top of the bottom layer, so that the top has something even to sit on. then if you want it to be totally even, then trim the top. just get a large knife and go straight across, it should only take a small amount off, and keep doing this till its even...

I will be the outlier here - NO NEED to trim the cake - that makes it waaay too much work. I make cakes all the time and here's the way i do it:

After you take them out of the oven, cool just a few minutes in the pans. Then, turn them out of the pans UPSIDE down onto your cooling rack. After cooling a little more, move one onto the plate you are going to serve it on, keeping the flat side up (and he original "top" side down). When you are ready to frost, frost the bottom layer first, the, place the top layer on top - if you want it flat simply keep it "upside down", the way you cooled it, as well. Voila!

If you don't cool on a cooling rack, when you take them out of the oven after a few minutes turn one over onto the plate you will use and cool it there. Proceed as above, turning the S. one out onto the base, upside down, after frosting the base.

good luck!! I love baking...

Yes, you trim it. :) (at least, we always did when I worked as a cake decorator...) The big thing that will help keep your cake intact when icing is to FREEZE it before trying to ice it. That will make the cake less crumbly, and it will taste better too. (Freezing helps hold in the moisture.) Good luck with your cake!

Try trimming the top then flipping it over so the cut side is to the middle? Seems like it would be easier to frost an uncut edge.

Cut off the cake tops... at least on the bottom level. First, do a crumb coat of icing to catch the weird crumbs on the side. After that, then do your final coat of icing.

a how to here:
http://www.bakerella.com/finally-i-found-it/

Recipe here, it talks a bit about layering:
http://www.imafoodblog.com/index.php/2009/05/18/restauran...

I've always had the same problem, but on some of the cake shows, I always see them trim the stop to make them flat.

My FIL made our wedding cake and many others. His father was a baker at ZCMI in SLC once upon a time.

He cools the cake, trims them to a level height, then uses a light frosting, maybe something with jelly?, to make the cake smoother where it is much easier to frost.

I usually make a two layer strawberry cake for my birthday, in heart shaped pans. I cool on a wire rack. I put the wire rack/serving plate upside down on top of the cake pan, turn it all upside down to flip it out onto the rack or a serving plate. I trim it off the top hump with a long knife with a serrated edge, a bread knife I think. I put the cut sides down and frost the center part then flip the top one on to that with the trimmed side down on top of the frosting in the middle. I frost the sides of the cake then the top of vice versa, which ever works for you.
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If the bottom layer has a hump from baking it will cause the top layer to break and slide off after it is frosted.

Probably too late to help, but my mom would place the bottom one right side up and the top one upside down. Hope yours turned out!

Yes definitely trim the layers to make them flat. I used to hate doing that because it made the cakes seem flimsy but then I learned that if you're using a cake mix, to get a cake of professional look you really need two mixes, smaller pans, or to bake from scratch. Once trimmed, two 9-inch pans from a single cake mix make a pretty flat cake. You can find conversions on-line (try the Wilton website) for how much batter you need in a pan for a layer to actually be 2 inches high when trimmed. And then as someone mentioned below, for a really professional look, torte each layer (cut each layer horizontally in two) and then you can put a thin layer of frosting or some other filling (jam, ganache, curd etc.) in between layers 1 and 2 and then 3 and 4 with frosting between layers 2 and 3. This makes a nice high cake that looks and tastes great! Now I'm hungry!

I cut each layer into 2 layers with a bread knife and a very gentle hand. Let the layers cool first - do not do it while they are warm. I put one of the bottoms on a plate or your cake stand and ice it. Then flip the top layer over on top of that, so that the cut side is up. Ice that. Then put the other bottom layer on and ice that. Finally, the other top layer (rounded side up). This way it makes it level up to the top. You may need to make a double batch of icing but this makes the cake level and super moist.

Good luck!