While making a cake can be simple, if you want it to be beautiful, there are a few more steps involved. If you're making a tiered cake, you'll want each layer to be consistently colored, shaped, and most importantly, leveled, so the whole thing doesn't topple; to do this the easy way, try this cost-efficient trick that needs no special tools.

To get cakes without a rounded top, eliminating the need for much fussy leveling, use a small towel or dishcloth. The second you remove your cake from the oven, cover the top with a damp cloth, then a flat object that isn't too heavy, like a lighter cutting board; then, gently apply pressure down on the cake to flatten the dome.

If the cloth method doesn't work for you, consider taking steps before and during baking to prevent cakes from rising a lot in the first place. You can bake cakes for a longer time than the recipe calls for at a much lower temperature, or you can make "cake strips" that cool off the outer edge of your pan using an insulated ring of cloth.