decorating tip #1

To create the flat top you see on professionally decorated cakes, take the cake out of the pan and, using a long bread knife, slice off the rounded part of the cake. Then flip the cake over onto your serving tray so that the bottom now becomes the top. You will have a perfectly flat top to your cake to which you can decorate to your hearts content. You can layer this cake by slicing your flat cake in half. But always use the bottom of your baked cake as the top. This will also help control the crumbs when you go to frost your cake.