Leveling a cake is a crucial step whether you are making a multi-tiered or a single-tiered cake. A cake that is not leveled looks unappealing, wobbly, and especially is not something that can be presented at an event.

Whether you are baking for professional purposes or for your friends and family, leveling the cake is important to make your decoration more attractive. And when it comes to confection items such as a cake, appearance is often more important than the actual taste.

Take a look at our guideline that explains the ways and tricks of how to level a cake properly. Hopefully, after you are done reading, you will have learned enough about this method. With some practice, you will become a pro in no time!

Things to Consider

Some matters should be considered and kept in mind when you are looking to level a cake. Let us take a look at them below.

Level a Cake

Level Them Straight out of the Oven

A lot of professionals as well as amateurs swear by this trick. Leveling a cake after taking it out of the oven while it is still hot makes the work neater and quicker. The cut that you will make will be more precise, and after it has cooled down, it will maintain the level well.

Be cautious about making sure that you do not burn yourself or get hurt when dealing with a hot cake straight out of the oven.

Leveling Cold Works Too

Nevertheless, if you find it dangerous to work with hotcakes, leveling through cold ones also work well. Always make sure that you are putting pressure on the cake to ensure even leveling.

Level Them Straight out of the Oven

What Should I Level the Cake with? 

You can use a leveler to level the cake or use a bread knife with serrated edges. Both of them work equally fine, but it all comes down to which one you are comfortable with the most.

If you are a pro at leveling and can make straight cuts without flinching or getting deviated, a serrated knife is absolutely fine. However, if you are not a pro and unsure about making straight cuts, use a leveler. Levelers ensure more accuracy and precision, especially when you are not someone experienced.

Should I Use a Turntable?

You can totally level a cake without using any turntable at all. But if you are not very experienced, we recommend you to use one. Using a turntable will ensure more precision, and the final leveled pieces are more likely to be uniform. Several types of turntables are available both in online and offline stores.

As we recommend leveling the cake while it is still hot, make sure to place some newspaper or paper towel on the turntable first. Moreover, very hot cakes should not be leveled on plastic turntables as the heat may cause them to warp or get damaged.

Use a Turntable

Again, if you are not a professional with a very acute sense of accuracy and uniformity, it is recommended that you use a turntable.

No Wastages, Please

A lot of cake will be wasted and cut off no matter which material or process you use. Do not throw that way! You can make tons of creative and delicious dessert items using those crumbly cakes. Look on the internet to be flooded by ideas.

Flatten the Top

To save yourself from some extra cutting, try to flatten the raised top of the cake. After it has just come out of the oven and is still hot, cover your cake with a wet piece of cloth and then press on it with a flat object; a tray or a plate works fine. If this seems like an extra hassle to you, by all means, just use a knife or a leveler.

How to Level a Cake

Now let us jump to the task at hand. Take a look at the various ways and steps of leveling a cake precisely and accurately.

A Serrated Bread Knife

Use a serrated bread knife to level your cake. Remember that it is tough to get even cuts with a knife unless you are an expert. You can use or not use turntables for this part; it is up to you. Make sure to put pressure on top of the cake as you are cutting through it to ensure accuracy.

Some people prefer using toothpicks when they are leveling with a serrated knife; this helps in marking the exact points and levels you will have to cut through.

A Serrated Bread Knife

To level with the help of a toothpick, insert the toothpick halfway into the cake. Insert toothpicks all around the cake at regular intervals and make sure they are all straight and at the same level. After that, start cutting over the point the toothpicks have been inserted and use their positions as a guide.

In place of toothpicks, a lot of users prefer using skewers. Instead of 8/10 toothpicks, you will have to insert 2 or 3 skewers inside the cake at the desired point and then cut away with the knife.

Cake Leveler

A cake leveler will be your best friend in your baking endeavors if you are not a pro at the whole process. Cake leveler is essentially a u-shaped tool that has a long blade with sharp edges on it. In order to use it, you have to grab the handles and run the whole blade through the cake.

Cake Leveler

Make sure to keep some pressure on the cake as you are cutting. To ensure further precision, many people use toothpicks or skewers while leveling with a cake leveler. This is the tool that ensures the most precision.

Flosses and Wires

You may find using wire or floss to level cakes a tad bit funny. We can assure you that this does work if you are using the wire or floss correctly. Social media is flooded with baking hack videos that cleverly use sharp wires and flosses to smoothly and very quickly slice through a cake.

Flosses and Wires

This method is tricky and needs some practice to be perfected. Always make sure that the length of your wire or floss is longer than the cake itself. Further, make sure that the wire or floss is absolutely clean. Be advised that using this technique may result in a cake that is slightly crumblier than usual.

Flatter Cakes

Skip the fuss of leveling and guessing by making a cake with a flat top in the first place. But if you are leveling your cake for decorative and stacking purposes rather than just getting rid of the dome top, this tip is not for you.

Cake strips are a great way to ensure flat cakes every time you bake. You simply need to dampen the strips in water before baking. The result will be a cake with a flat top, every time!

Flatter Cakes

Another great way to get flat cake is to make rectangle-shaped cakes on a baking sheet and then cut it round. Cutting it in a round way also requires precision and expertise.

Final words

After going through this article, we hope you have learned about the various ways and hacks of how to level a cake. Practice makes everyone perfect, and with a little practice, your leveling works will be accurate in the future!