Layer A Cake
Layering a cake is much easier than you would think. You need to start by leveling your cake.
Place your cake on a rotating stand and a drum board. Drum boards are excellent for four tiers or less, any more than that and you will need a heavier wooden board to handle the weight of the cake. A thin board can be used between each tier. Once placed and covered in butter cream, you will have no idea it’s there.
Put your cake in the fridge or freezer, once cold it is stronger and easier to handle. Cover the cake in plastic and then foil, this will help keep your cake moist and protect it from odors in your fridge such as garlic or onions.
Your board must always be bigger than you cake, leaving space for decorations and butter cream. Two inches is a good size difference you are decorating with basic decorations, but the bigger the decorations the bigger the size difference. Be sure to bear this in mind when choosing your board and cake size.
Unwrap your cold cake and place the flattest side on your board, it is now time to level your cake and prepare it for layering.
There are products on the market to assist you with the leveling process. The Agbay stands upright with a sharp blade running across the centre of it, which you can place at your desired height. Slide it over your cake and it will do all the slicing for you. The Leveler is another product along the same lines at the Agbay, but it is lighter and folds away for easy storage, this is great for home bakers, whereas the Agbay is for professional kitchens.
You can level without any of these tools and use a serrated knife. Serrated knives are generally quite long, which makes them great for this task because cake sizes vary.
Start by cutting from the edge of your cake, keep your spare hand on the top of the cake to keep it steady and assist with rotating it on the stand. Start working your way around the cake about half an inch at a time, slowly rotating and cutting deeper as you go until the top of the cake slides off revealing a level surface. It will now be ready for the next layer.
You can’t layer a cake on an uneven cake; it will topple over, so leveling is very important if you want to make a few layers with different fillings.
To make four layers of cake you will need two cakes both cut in half. Start by cutting the tops of the cakes and then about half way down start cutting half an inch into the cake as you rotate, following the same instructions as when you removed the top. Cut the second cake the same way.
Use toothpicks in the side of each layer to make it easier for you to see where each layer is, this is especially helpful when working with chocolate cake as it can be hard to distinguish the seams.
Once you have all your layers on top of each other you can even the sides so all the layers are exactly the same by using your knife and gently sliding it down each side cutting away any excess cake. You are now ready for your fillings, smothering it in butter cream and adding your decorations.
