It seems nothing I do can get my cakes level. I have tried different methods. I use the wilton leveler and it comes out crooked, I have watched the crafty course on buttercream and used the method of holding the serrated knife in close and spinning the cake and they always seem to be level when holding them up but when I get them stacked they are never even at the top. This is so frustrating as this seems to happen everytime. I am trying to get the agbay cake leveler and hopefully that will help as I have heard so many good things about it but until then I need a new method. Thanks.

Keep saving for that Agbay - it is great!  Such a time saver, and time is money. :)  There was a thread a couple of weeks ago with two little attachments for a long bread knife, that made it into a leveler - I think it was only $6, and might work in a pinch.

Liz

Here's another great alternative: http://www.creativecelebrationcakes.co.uk/page40.htm

What a simpley brilliant idea

A

Just to add to this idea, I use an edible marker (instead of the cocktail sticks) to draw a vertical line on the cake before separating the layers to fill. That way I'm guaranteed to line it up exactly when putting back together :)

Thanks FlourPots. That seems like a great idea and I will be making a cake tomorrow and I will be giving that a try.

Before we had these nice leveling saws, we used to use a length of fishing line, held taut and moved back and forth across the top of the cake pan to remove the domed top before turning it out of the pan.

Jeff_Arnett:   boy did your post take me back several decades.......

the first cutters I  used were Dental Floss, not fishing line. Same method of cutting.