Leveling cakes is one of the trickiest tasks in baking. Leveling a cake, also known as torting a cake, is the process of cutting a thicker cake into several even layers that can be filled and restacked to form a finished dessert. To level a cake, you usually need a large serrated knife, a very steady hand and a lot of practice to ensure that you get an even cut every time. Alternatively, you could simply invest in Wilton’s Small Cake Leveler to help you get the job done much more quickly and accurately. The cake leveler is a tool that looks a bit like a high tech coat hanger. It has an easy-grip plastic frame with clearly defined height markers on either side. The sides are connected with a unique, slightly wavy wire that will cleanly glide through your cake and leave you with a smooth, level surface for decorating. The tool is designed to glide across the countertop smoothly, so you don’t need to worry about balancing it in mid-air while you make your cuts. Using it, you are guaranteed neat slices at any thickness you could want! I typically use it for dividing cakes into just two or three layers, but you could do a torte with twice as many layers, if you’re up for it! The level is wide enough to cut through cakes up to 10-inches in diameter. It gives you about 6-inches of clearance underneath, so you have plenty of room to trim even the most domed cakes you could bake.
Wilton also makes a Large Cake Leveler that can be used on cakes up to 18-inches in diameter, which is probably a lot larger cake than you are ever going to need to level at home! The large leveler does fold in half for easy storage, but the smaller leveler is going to be fine for the vast majority of cakes you might bake and is a great tool for the cake baker to have around.
What do you think?