How can I bake a cake that comes out flat?!
Answers: Like when you buy a multiple layer cake at a bakery or whatever. when I bake it at home, the top is always rounded like a dome, and when you stack it, they are not even layers.
first off i just have to say that I have not yet come across ANY cake that uses yeast as a leavener. cakes are generally leavened mechanically, that is to say with a mixer.
second try lowering the temperature of your oven by 25 degrees. when you bake you should have an in oven thermometer. what the panel says and what the oven is can be two very different things. a hot oven will make a cake dome.
third after you remove the cakes from the oven let them sit in the pan for 10 minutes so the structure will be pretty well set. then put a cake round (the round cardboard) on the top and turn the pan over. the weight of the cake will flatten the dome and give you a perfectly square edge for frosting.
last for even layers use a serrated knife, and a ruler. then make a shallow cut (about 1/4 of an inch) all around the side of the cake then keep turning and sawing until you reach the middle and the layers separate.
EDIT
Felicity, baking soda/powder leanvened cakes are quick breads. they also use a different mixing method.
Don't put any yeast in it because the yeast is what makes it rise. But basically a cake without any yeast is not a cake. So sorry for bustin ur bubble buddy
Most bakers normally take and slice the top layer off... They take a knife and slowly cut through the top half to make it even. I'm sure you can you use a really good bread knife and get it done relatively quickly.
Don't use any dry rising ingredients such as yeast or baking powder. If it still somehow comes out not flat, most bakers take a really good bread knife and cut the top off to make it even and flat.
Turn the bottom 1 upside down then it's flat>
to help try to ensure a straight cut to make it flat, you can put toothpicks in the cake to act as a guide
hey man, if you go ahead and make that cake from scratch you have a better chance of getting an even one. i go to culinary school, and we HAD to make even cakes. anyway, if you dont over fill the pan, it helps. 'oven spring' (initial rise of baked goodd when 1st put into oven.) is why cakes sometime get that hump in the middle. so fill your cake pan with about 1/2 inch before it get full. and (FYI: there isnt yeast in cakes, its baking soda/ powder that makes them rise.) if you keep dont open the ove too much, and mae sure its at the proper temperature, somewhere around 350 depending, you should be fine. then if you still get an uneven top, its okay it happens, do what the other gal said, and cut the top off with a serreated knife. and to do those layers you cut the first cake you made into two or three even layers. then frost it in between. you probably already knew that. i love guys that bake. take it easy. and dont peek in the oven until its done. (knife comes out clean)