I just wanted to share a great tip!!!I recently saw a post about how to prevent the bulging hill when baking cakes. One of methods mentioned was to cut up and sew dish towels and to use metal binder clips to attach them to the cake pans. Well, I tried it and IT WORKED!!! I absolutely loved it!!! I made 22 small cakes today for Easter and used it every single time. Now I won't have to go out and buy the strips that Wilton has.

same here. i just started with the towel trick and i will never go back. theres no cake wasteage at all. best tip i ever had.

You attach them to the top of the cake? During baking or after?

I usually just damped a towel and then lightly press when it comes out.

sorry karenor this is a bit late but here goes. you put the damp towel around the cake tin and attach with either the clip or like i do a cooking string, then pour in your cake batter and put in the oven to bake as normal. the damp towels work just like the wilton baking strips, the outside of the tin stays cooler longer so that the batter can rise more evenly giving you a much flatter cake without the bulge in the top.
hth