Hi,
I'm a newbie to this forum and I'm very new to the fondant world.
I'll be (ambitiously) making my DS's 1st birthday cake for this weekend.
So here's a (stupid) question(s).....
How do you all get your cakes so high?
Do you bake 2 identical pans or 1 single high pan?
I experimented tonight - baking a cakemix in 2 brownie pans, and they came up very high in the center. By the time I trim the cake, I wont get the 3 " I was hoping to get.
HELP.....please bear with a newbie 
if you fill your pans 2/3 full, they should rise above the top (especially if you bake from scratch), so even if you trim them, you'll still have 2" high cakes. i use bake even strips by wilton, they insulate the pan (specifically if you are using thinner cheap pans) and help it to rise evenly. with these, you dont have to trim off as much as usual. also, if you fill to have it rise just above, another nice trick is as soon as you remove them from the oven, place another flat heavy object on top of the cake. i cover the cake with a parchment paper or paper towel and use another cake pan or cutting board. leave it for a minute or two. it will completely level your cake so you dont even have to trim. BUT you have to do it right away from the oven or you loose your opportunity.
if i bake two 2" high cakes, i like to torte (cut each in 2 layers) so that i can add 3 layers of filling and have 4 layers of cake. if the cake layer is one inch, i like to make the filling layers 1/2 inch. after icing and fondant, the cakes typically end up being 5-6 inches tall. if you venture into fillings...make sure that you use a stiff icing to make a rim around the base of each cake before you add the filling. that will help hold the filling in, and support the cake a little.
invest if you can in straight edges pans . alot of the ones you can get at a regular store have angled edges. not so good for stacking cakes. a great brand is magic line. its thick professional alluminum and they work great. there are also generic brands in the same professional grade alluminum that work just as well to save a little money.
www.cakepans4less.com
Hi and Welcome, MammaViv.
Additional posts for getting cakes to rise higher in their pans:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-382083-.html
Here are all four Wilton cake preparation and serving charts:
http://www.wilton.com/cake/cakeprep/baking/times/index.cfm
These charts tell you how much batter to use per pan by size (also 2 or 3" deep), at what temperature to bake and for how long. (As well as other important info.)
How to Make a Stacked/Tiered Cake:
(Disregard whimsical parts.)
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-592731-.html
Above also has info on making and using MMF, mmf recipes, using bake-even strips, pan grease and so much more.)
How to Stack/Tier Cake:
http://www.cakecentral.com/article23-Teired-Stacked-Cake-Construction.html
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/wedding/assmeblingtypes.aspx
MMF Tip:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-101181-.html
Very popular WASC cake recipe - a doctored cake mix recipe which yields a tad over 14 cups of batter, or halved 7 cups of batter:
http://tinyurl.com/2cu8s4
(This includes other flavor variations, as well.)
Great when needing more batter for overfilling pans, or filling larger pans.
HTH
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