This is just a super quick and easy tutorial on how to have your cakes coming out of the oven level.
You can also level your cakes after they have been baked, a method that almost all bakers use, but this helps you get an even cake layer prior to baking.
The first thing you should so is start with a good recipe! If your recipe has the proper ration of baking powder and/or baking soda, you should have evenly distributed cake coming out of the oven.
Every time I make my favorite chocolate cake, it comes out perfectly. Its like Ina Garten knows how to cook or something.
Now, on to the baking!
Start with a clean pan. This is a six-inch pan I got from Walmart.
Use cold Cake Strips. That is simply strips of towel wrapped snuggly around the edges. Be sure to soak them in cold water first! Just wring out the excess water and wrap around your pan. You can secure with a pin or tie the towel in place.
Those towel strips are just my cheap version of these Cake Strips.
Photo courtesy of Wilton
Mine are old. Tattered. Used. Loved.
Now, get a solid layer of cooking spray in your pan. You can also use the butter and flour method, but that is slightly time-consuming and the new baking sprays work just as well.
You can also use homemade GOOP, which is nothing short of AWESOME.
I try to make sure the sides are fully covered. This helps the cake break away from the sides more easily.
It can also be helpful to measure out your batter. I find that the easiest way to do this is to know how many cups of batter your recipes makes. For instance, my Perfect White Cake makes 4 cups of batter, so I know to add 2 cups to each pan.
Now add your batter. I typically set my timer for five minutes less than the recipe suggests… this way I can monitor the cake closely in the final baking stages. Have a toothpick or small sharp knife on hand to test cake.
If there are cracks insert into the cracks, otherwise just insert into middle of cake. If it comes out clean or with one or two crumbs, you are good to go!
I once heard a famous baker say, “If you toothpick comes out clean your cake is over cooked and will be dry.”
Here is the cake out of the oven. Slightly brown on top. Has pulled away from the sides.
And is totally level.
I also own one of these handy dandy inventions.
Not every recipe is perfectly calibrated, and not every baker oven is perfect either.
You can also use a long, sharp serrated knife to cut off any dome or excess on your cake.
Those are just a few tips that have helped me, and I hope they can help you too.
And with any luck, you will get to see the final product of that rainbow speckled cake very soon!
UPDATED:
I recently learned that if your cake comes out domed, while it’s still hot from the oven (and in the pan), press it down your hand after covering it with a clean dishcloth or a paper towel.
Worked like a charm.
Seriously. You are a level cake baking genius. Okay, I know you didn’t invent it but I am giving you credit since I never heard of this before. I’ve been baking uneven cakes and then calling them bad names when no one listens. Thanks!!
And here I was thinking the oven I’ve had for the past 10 years was at fault for my pointy cakes! It’s the first electric oven I’ve ever used and every.single.cake comes out pointy, and so do my cupcakes. Doesn’t matter what recipe I use.
I’ll give your tip a try. I don’t have any old towels at the moment, just donated them all, but I’ll try the tip above about the kitchen paper and foil. If it works, then I think I’ll be cutting up one of my good towels!
I’m not sure how I missed this post, but great tips!!! You are the cake QUEEN!
So, I just learned something that I never realized I needed to know, until now! Thanks – I will give this a try on my next cake. Yay!
Not sure if another commenter has already mentioned this trick, but if you bake your cakes at a lower temperature for longer, you will get a perfectly level cake. I bake all of my cakes at 325 degrees (instead of 350) for about half again as long as the suggested baking time (so 90 minutes when it suggests 60). My cakes come out perfect every time!
Thanks for sharing!
I did this method yesterday, out of the blue thought in lowering the oven to 325. But
Until I read this was still wondering why this was the ONLY time ever I have baked a completely leveled cake! LOL Of course I will be doing this always from now on. Thank you.
My oven is funky (read: going up and I’m too cheap to replace it) so all of my cakes come out domed. But not this week! I made a baby shower cake and cut up a towel and tried your technique…and they came out PERFECT!!! Thanks for this great idea!
Thanks so much for sharing this useful tip. As having to level off cakes after they are done is so annoying.
My mother baked wedding cakes for years, and here’s her best tip for leveling off cakes: string! You just take a long piece of string and wind it around your index fingers like dental floss. Then use the cake pan as the level surface. Simply slide the string right through the cake (right out of the oven, or you can let it cool slightly first), using the top of the pan to pull down on. Then invery the cake onto a cooling rack, and viola! Perfectly leveled cake.
I have the smaller version of the cake cutting tool from Wilton and have NEVER been able to get it to cut through the cake. Maybe I should buy the larger one.
I have seen bakers use unflavored dental floss like a garrote. Tie a long piece of dental floss to a handle or toggle at each end. Wrap around the top of the cake where you want it level. Cross over the toggles when they finish the circle and pull the toggles in opposite directions.
Great tip! Thank you!
Excellent. I look forward to level cakes!