How do you get your cakes 2" tall. No matter what I do my cakes always seem to be 1" around the edges and doomed in the middle. Or the whole cake is about 1 1/2". I use box mixes and for a 11 x 15 pan I use 2 cake mixes and its still not tall enough. I have tried not mixng it to much and reducing the cooking tempature, but they still come out flat.

I have been baking for almost 24 years. One of the reasons I switched to baking from scratch only is the reduction in quality of the boxed mixes. It used to be that one box of BC or DH cake mix would make a nice tall 9x13 or 2 layers of 8 or 9 inch round cake. IMHO that is no longer the case. This is one of the reasons that so many bakers who still use box mixes use extenders or add things, so that the box mix is the base of the recipe, but not the entire thing. I have had much better luck baking from scratch with having the recipe actually bake the amount of cake it says it will and the cake bake tall and even.

If you want to stick with boxed mixes, you may want to check out the many extender recipes on this site, the should help you out!

What brand of cake mix are you using? Different brands have different yields. I use 2 Betty Crockers in the 11x15 with good results.

I also grease-only-no-flour my pans ( learned almost 30 years ago that my cakes rose higher with no flour); I use baking strips (to cool the pans so that the sides of the cake don't bake faster than the center of the cake, which can result in 1" sides and big giant doming); I reduce the (home) oven temp to 325 (shop oven is set lower).

This may have nothing to do with it but sift your cake mixes (removes any lumping which can create air holes in your cake) and add the oil dead last (oil and water don't mix well but oil and batter mix great!).

I know this isn't the right answer, but I baked cakes today, aiming for 3" but I am going to end up with 2" layers after leveling. Frustrating! Now I have to bake more cakes... I was using the WASC and chocolate WASC recipes. The chocolate was higher - it might be the cake mixes I picked?

I always go by measuring my batter and on the chart that I go by says to use 11 C batter for a 2" deep 11x15 sheet pan. And as indydebi said I too use baking strips and reduce the heat to 325* and make sure thermometer in the oven reads correctly.

Thanks ladies. I do not have baking strips so would using rose nails have the same affect? I have used BC and DH but have found that save alot cake mixes are better and moister but bake the same way as DH an BC smaller sides and dommed middle. I will try the extenders and see how they work thanks.

I found that my pillsbury box white cake mix yields a little over 4 cups of batter, so to get the 11 cups needed for the 11 x 15, I need 3 mixes. I usually make a few cupcakes with the leftover batter. I haven't tried the extenders, but one of these days I'll be brave!!

I don't have bake even strips, so I put 2 rose nails in the pan, evenly spaced across the length, and bake at 325. They do help to prevent doming. Good Luck!