after spending hours making a beautiful layer cake you want the final presentation to be impressive and of course you ve been waiting for that thrilling moment to pull out that first slice of a towering layer cake with a tiny heartfelt prayer the slice is perfectly removed to reveal the beautiful layers inside but all too often when you cut the cake the slices end up smudged with frosting and splashed with crumbs if you cringe at the sight of a disorganized sliced cake the best tool for the job is a tomato knife as you may know it for thinly slicing fresh tomatoes it also has a lesser known purpose in cutting cake perfectly now that you ve chosen the best knife for the job here are some of the techniques you can use to cut the cake perfectly quick chill most people enjoy eating cake at room temperature however don t be afraid to refrigerate your cake shortly before slicing a quick chill in the fridge for about 10 to 15 minutes will help set your cake s frosting the slightly cold frosting is less likely to smear as you slice a knife through the cake don t worry you won t be serving cold cake this is a brief enough rest that the cake won t become chilled all the way through plus the cake slices will warm up quickly once they re plated wait about 5 minutes after the slices are plated if you really want to make sure the slices have lost their chill before serving use hot water make time to chill your cake before cutting this technique will make slicing even easier by running your knife under hot water before using it be sure to dry the knife thoroughly then cut your slices while the knife is still slightly warm to the touch the warm knife will cut through the frosting as easy as a b c the slices will be neat and clean leaving all the frosting exactly where it s supposed to be always clean your knife after cutting each slice always make sure you wipe the knife clean between slices regardless of whether you ve chilled your cake or warmed up your knife use a kitchen towel or sponge to wipe the knife clean after each slice it s normal for the knife to collect frosting and crumbs as you cut the cake and your knife is more likely to snag and smear if you let the frosting build up once the knife has been washed it will cut through the next slice of cake like butter pro tip quickly run your knife down both sides of the slice to make sure it s cut completely through then insert a spatula under the slice pressing against the plate lift smoothly an offset spatula which has an angled handle makes it easier to get totally under the cake slice if you don t get it the first time around don t sweat it the good news is even if your cake is sliced unevenly or the frosting is smudged it s still cake and cake is a good thing keep a can of whipped cream on hand for a quick cover up of any flaw