Why Are My Cakes Baking Lopsided?
Decorating By hockeygirl658 Updated 14 May 2006 , 6:00pm by candyladyhelen
I just did a three layer chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse and chocolate ganache for our Childrens Pastor's birthday. 
I managed to work out the deformities in the cake, but I don't know WHY the darn thing was so lopsided.
I did 3 8" rounds. ALL of them came out of the oven higher in the side of the pan that was facing the front of the oven. Additionally, the crown was VERY pronounced and cracked. And off center. 
I was planning on leveling them before I stacked them, but because the backside was SO much lower than the front side I lost A LOT of cake before it was actually level.
DH says he thinks the oven might not be cooking evenly. I think maybe I overmixed the batter. I have never had this happen before and don't want it to happen again. Any suggestions?
Is your oven level? You may think about turning them halfway through bake time.
The oven is level with the countertops. But I don't think the house is exactly level anymore! LOL. Maybe I will have to go find DH's tools and dig out the level so I can adjust the feet on the bottom of the oven accordingly.
Thanks! I hadn't even thought of that.
Range/stove, I knew what ya meant! 
Thanks, I am off to the garage to find the level. I actually have adjustable 'feet' on the oven. They just screw up or down in all four corners to get the correct level. If I get them extended out all the way and still need more I will find some plywood.
Thanks!
The metal racks in home ovens, especially electric ones, tend to bend with expansion, causing the cake pans to tilt. I have found that they tilt less if I bake them on my clay baking stone that I use for breads.
Theresa 
Assuming you put more than 1 cake in at the same time, was there enough room between the cakes for the heat to circulate around them and were they on the middle rack? Did you rotate them and did you preheat your oven long enough? I preheat my oven at 30-45 mins. and use an oven thermoniter. Did you use baking strips or something else to keep them level? If they are a little uneven when they are done, as soon as they come out of the oven you can take a non-fuzzy dish towel, put that over the cake and gently press the cake to get it even. If the cake is overbaked this doesn't work well. As far as baking level cakes, if you have a convection setting that helps too.
All my cakes ran down hill too until my husband got out the level and checked out the oven, I tilted the stove while he moved the feet. Worked great. Sandy
I only bake one cake at a time in my oven. I also only bake at 320 degrees.
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