I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but my cakes never have the height that most cakes do... I fill my pans with the right amount of batter (I use box mix) and still my cakes always sit...

If you look at this cake:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/507743/wvu-graduation-cake
(This is NOT my cake)

You will notice that there is a big height on the cake.. If that were my cake I would only have maybe half of that, with 2 cakes stacked on top of each other.. Please help me figure this out and give me some tips because I have no clue what I am doing wrong!

And if you look at this cake, which is mine....
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2280436/anniversary

That is 2 nine inch cakes stacked on top of each other but you would never know it.. I just don't know what I am doing wrong or how to get my sides to look like that with cakes stacked on top of each other....

**** Would like to add that when my cakes come out of the pan they are tall and fluffy... It's just when I stack them to decorate I don't get any sort of height to the cake, hardly no room to decorate.

There are several things that come to mind that may help:

Since you said that they are nice and fluffy when you take them out of the oven, this may sound dumb, but check to make sure that they are done.
Check the height of your cake pan. Not all cake pans are 2 in. in height so that can definitely contribute to the shortness of the cake.
Do you use straight box mix or a dr. box mix. I noticed that when I use to use straight box mix 1 box wasn't enough for a 9 in cake. If you use one of the doctored mixes then it will definitely be enough.

You could also try torting your cakes; slice each layer in half horizontally. That way you'll have 4 thinner layers and 3 layers of filling instead of one. That will add height.

i agree with party girl....you pans may be old school pans and not be 2inch high. I know i have purchased Wilton and other cake pans that are definitely that height and I always have to fill about 3/4 of the way full....and that definitely needs at least 1 box mix per pan. So, no splitting like the boxes say on the back.

I do believe it is about 4 cups of batter per box. here is the wilton guide for batter cups in the pans http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-party-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
you don't have to be exact but half full cake pan to 3/4ths full is definitely going to give you a high layer.

THEN when you put frosting in between the layers that should be at least 1/2 inch thick! so, after leveling your cakes and the frosting it should be about 4 inches high. I suggest looking at videos on youtube on how to build a cake. Good luck

I always overfill my pans so I know they'll rise to the full 2". Yes I have to cut across the top of the pan to even it but I use the cake scraps for other things.

Also, after looking at your picture I agree with the others...your cake pans look like they're not a full 2". Buy some pans that are straight sided (they won't be able to stack inside each other) and 2" in height. Overfill your pan (not all the way to the top...about 2/3 full) and if you're worried about cake spilling over when it cooks, make a 3" tall strip of parchment paper and wrap it around the inside of your pan so it stands an inch above the top and then pour your batter in. When the cake rises it will stay in the pan.

Then when you're ready to fill your cake pipe a thick sturdy dam of butter cream about a half an inch thick around the top of the first layer and then fill with your filling. That will add height.
HTH!

If all else fails, just use three of those cakes.

Yeah the pans are definitely not 2". Check them with a ruler. And like Kory said, use three if you need to!

Not sure what brand you're using but Betty Crocker recently reduced the size of their cake mix from 18 ounces to 15 or 15.5 ounces. This is about a 15% reduction in the amount of batter you will get.

I don't know if you do this, but I advocate NOT flouring your pans. I use the Pan Grease or if I'm out of that just Crisco alone. the cakes rise higher. I've done cake decorating demos at high schools and I've taken in cakes to show the difference: one baked in a greased/floured pan and one baked in a greased-only pan. It was easily visible which one was baked in the floured pan because it was shorter in height.

I add one envelope of dream whip to each cake mix, which adds 'some' height to the cake.

More batter in your pans for sure...or smaller pans. You will need at least 1 and 1/2 mixes to get a nice full 9" pan. The old boxes were enough for an 8" tier. My mom makes me a 9" round box mix cake for my b-day every year and that's the height of her too. She only has 9" cake pans so that's what she uses.

You definitely need more batter if you want a 9" cake.