Ok, this is why I do my practise cakes days in advance...

I had planned to make a cinderella carriage using a wilton soccerball tin, using the instructions that came with the tin for the making and construction of the cake.

First the cake wouldn't rise in the tin, and I discovered that my oven's seal was broken. So I have spent the evening at mum's using her oven, a tried and tested cake recipe, and whilst the cakes turned out better, they still did not rise ALL the way to the top of the tin, so won't make a true ball shape when constructed.

Tomorrow I am going to go out and take the easy way out, getting a 2D carriage tin. (the party is on sunday) It Will do the job, but I'm a little disappointed as I believe that the ball carriage once decorated would have been more authentic.

SO... can anyone tell me any tips they have for making ball cakes a true ball shape? Does anyone have a reliable recipe for a cake mix that WILL rise all the way to the top of a wilton ball tin? I would really appreciate any hints, as my grandma taught me cake decorating, so I have always done everything the old-fashioned way - if you want a 3D shape, you layer multiple cakes and sculpt it from there. So this is my first venture into using an actual "novelty" tin. Unfortunately, I'm not as good as grandma and can't sculpt a sphere shape!

I really appreciate any hints / tips you might have

Some recipes don't rise as high as others, and without knowing what recipe you used we can't really offer advice there. It may be something as simple as, you just need to double the recipe and add more batter to the pans. Good luck.

I have used the ball pan several times. I ususally just use a box cake mix and I have never had a hard time.

I have had this problem before and I actually ended up using a heating core to help. I thought that the cake wasn't getting cooked through enough and that seemed to help a bit. I don't know if that was a good idea or not but it seemed to help me when I had an issue.

If you were using the large 1/2 pan soccer ball, I have read that putting 2 together will never give you a truly round ball, as the pan is not as deep as it is wide, therefore not dimensionally correct for a ball. If you are using this, what you might do, is bake a round cake the same diameter as the pan, and place that between the two halves to create the needed height.
If you are using the smaller sports ball pan that comes with 2 pans, this should give you a true round ball. If this is what you were using, then you would just need to add more mix to each pan, and the batter from one box mix should be enough.

ah! I didn't know that any other type of ball pan existed! I am using the large half ball, and you are right, it is not as tall as wide - wilton fail to mention that in their instruction booklet!!!

Has anyone in Sydney, Australia found the smaller ball tin that comes in two pieces in any cake decorating supply shops? I have not seen it at my local, though I might give them a call when they open this morning...

Thankyou for the tip on putting another cake in the middle for height.

And thankyou for all the other replies as well, I really appreciate your feedback