Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi what is the best way to trim the sides of a square cake, cake cooked perfectly! Well not quite or I wouldn’t be asking the question, the sides of my lemon cake are a little bit too dark how do I evenly trim the sides.

Hi allysonbi

Have a look at the knife technique Paul uses in this tutorial:

Christmas Tree

I use this action to trim the sides of both round or square cakes. Paul is using a cake card to achieve a round cake from his square, but to cut off crust you’d need a card slightly smaller than the cake. Freeze or chill the cake first. Lay the card on the cake, using the same action go round the cake to take off the crust. If you don’t have a card smaller than the cake, cut one out from a cake box and pin it to the cake so it doesn’t move and distort the shape. The card is the guide so keep the knife completely level with it as you cut.
If the bottom of the cake is very dark, use a cake leveller or serrated knife to remove a thin layer enough to reveal a lighter part of the cake. The size of the cake will be slightly reduced. It can be built back up with ganache.