Hi, this is my first time to post on CC and not sure if this is the correct forum. I've been making cakes for my family for the last 12 months and have picked up lots of tips from this site. Im self taught and not taken any classes. My problem is I'm trying to make a two tier square cake with each tier being 5-6 inches high. Each time I bake the cakes (yellow cake) they dont cook in the middle or burn on the outside. Am I better off baking 2 or 3 thinner layers per tier??? I want to fill with BC and cover with Fondant. I hope I'm making myself clear as its really frying my brain.
Thanks in advance, Joanne x

Hello, you should be able to have a 6 inch tier easily with 3 standard 2 inch cakes. It might actually be taller than 6 inches because of filling and frosting. High quality cake pans and a frosting nail or heating core will help ensure even cooking of your cake. If you don't have the pans you can use baking strips, wet paper towels wrapped in aluminum foil or soaked strips of towel to wrap around your pan for even heating.

Thank you for the advice. Im gonna give the kitchen towel and foil strips a go...never heard that one. Quite excited now. Thanks again

People usually keep it held together by a heavy duty paper clip. I tried a safety pin, but it was kind of a pain. Also - I'm too poor for an agbay so I fill my pans 2/3rds full so that they rise nicely over the pan. Then, I invert them onto a cooling rack after 10 or so minutes and let them cool the rest of the way, bottom side up. I put a cake board on the bottom, stick the cake pan over that and re-flip it over so that my cake with a cake board is back in the pan. Then I use a long serrated knife and slice the top off, using the pan as a guide. This ensures nice 1 7/8 inch cakes. The only other thing I can think of is don't bake at too high a temp. Alot of people like to bake at 325. I stick my oven temp at the halfway point between 325 and 350 and have good results with that. 350 is too hot, though. If you're doing anything bigger than a 9 inch, I'd use a flower nail or a heating core. Just stick it in the middle of the pan and pour your batter in. Alright, I'll stop yammering away. lol. Good luck to you. Hope it works well.