Watch Emily Tatek from the Wilton Test Kitchen, level and tort a cake using a cake leveler or a knife in this video. If you're making a layered cake with a cake that isn't flat, you'll find that the cake layer can crack or break. Many cake bakers level their cakes before stacking the layers. Leveling, also known as "crowning", means cutting the dome or mound off the cake layer with a knife or cake leveler. To cut one cake into two or more layers, often called "torting", use a cake leveler or knife to cut multiple even layers. Once you know how to level and tort your cake, you can stack the cake layers with icing, fruit, pudding or other fillings between to add flavor and height to your cake.