I hope I can make sense with this question 
I feel like all my cakes barely make it to the rim of the pan I use then once assembled they arent' very tall. I see these beautiful round cakes etc. in the gallery all the time that tower above the ones I seem to make.
For example, if I am making a 10 inch round cake do I bake TWO of them then torte both, fill and stack. Or do I bake one then just torte that one and fill. Does this make sense? I know a lot has to do with the amount of people you need to feed but my cakes never have good height.
Doesn't anyone understand what I am trying to say? Are all the beauties I see in the gallery 3 layers high?
Generally I make 2 layers and then torte them and fill them. I find that helps a lot with height. I generally have used 9" pans though. You might want to try putting a little more batter in your 10" pans.
I also like 9" pans. You will never get good height if you're using box cake mixes....only scratch recipes (which I have yet to perfect, but I'm working on it) will give you the height you're looking for. Make sure your baking soda or powder is VERY fresh (every 6 months it becomes less lofty), and to beat up your egg whites to incorporate a lot of air. That said, for a nice tall decorating cake, I'll make two 9 inch layers, tort each one and fill for a total of 4 cake layers and 3 filling layers. A good coat of buttercream and some decorations and you should have a great-looking cake!
Well with box mixes add 1 extra egg, that seems to help and I always fill my pans at least 3/4 of the way full to get height too. You can always level it more but you can't add height! I also torte and fill both layers, so this helps also. Hope I was some what of a help. 
You will never get good height if you're using box cake mixes....only scratch recipes
Not true. I only use mixes and my cakes usually rise higher than the pan. Rarely do I have a cake not make it to the top of the pan.
Ditto what indydebi said! 
Back to the original question:
If you use 3in pans seems like most torte and fill that one layer.
I am of the 2in pan camp so I make 2 layers and torte and fill both layers to make a cake 4-5in tall (depends on the filling and icing that I use)
You might also try collaring your pans to help get added height. I started doing this a while back and love the results. There is an article on here about it in the articles section.
I also measure my batter out and genearlly add a bit more than wilton recommends when I collar the pans.
Not true. I only use mixes and my cakes usually rise higher than the pan. Rarely do I have a cake not make it to the top of the pan.
Really? Do you doctor them up at all, or do you use a different temp? Mine always just seem to sit there....if I do one box and divide it into two 9 inch pans, I end up with a very short cake, doesn't rise near the top edge of my pans. I do use bake strips. What's your secret?
I use Betty Crocker and I don't doctor it at all. One cake mix will do two 8" pans, but I've used one cake mix for two 9" pans also. I use the baking strips and bake the smaller ones at 350 and the larger ones at 325. I grease the pan only...... NO FLOUR!!!!! I use the CK brand Pan Grease (1st choice). If I'm out of that I'll use the Wilton brand and if I'm out of that I'll just use plain 'ole Crisco.
I've done a number of demos for high school home ec classes and night school classes and I always take a cake from a greased pan and a cake from a greased-n-floured pan to show them that the greased-only cake rose higher.
(when you do a quote, just be sure your curser is outside of the 2nd quote bracket)
Take a look at this:
http://www.wilton.com/cake/cakeprep/baking/times/party_2inch.cfm
This gives you batter amounts for pan size. I measure out my batter. One box of mix is not enough for 9 in pans. Depending on what mix you use you will get different batter amounts. Pillsbury about 4-4 1/2, DH about 5-5 1/2.
I'm going to have to try just greasing and see how it works with my mix recipe. I always grease and flour. hhhhmmmm....now I need to make a cake! 
For one 10" round pan I use one full cake mix. I use bake strip soaked in water, squeezed a bit and pinned around the pan so the cake bakes pretty level to start with. When my cakes are baked and cooled I cut the tops off with a serrated edge knife, so each layer is only 1 1/2" after they are leveled. That makes 3" of cake, by the time I add the dam and filling, put the layers together and ice the cake I get a height of 4" which is a nice height for decorating or presenting.
Wow 
Thank you so much guys for all your great tips I will have to bake a cake tomorrow just to try them all out. I use the Pam spray to grease my pans that has flour in it 
Maybe that is part of the problem. I have the bake even strips I just never use them 
Another question, how many will a 10 inch round feed? If I torte both cakes and fill? Thanks!
Sue W
PS- you guys always come to the rescue 
I have never had any luck using spray on my cake pans. I tried the one without flour-the regular type and it didn't work as well as traditional crisco and flour. I'm going to have to try the CK pan grease though!
For party size pieces you'll feed about 25 safely maybe up to 28 with a 10in.
Here is the article on collaring the pans:
http://www.cakecentral.com/article43-Collaring-Your-Cake-Pans-Make-A-Deeper-Cake.html
I also use a bit of cake batter to get the parchment to stick to the sides of the pan. Works like a charm! I think boonenati taught me that-thanks!!
Well, I'm lazy about baking, and I don't like to prepare/wash out two pans if I can get away with one. So, what I do now is use 3-inch high pans, collared, add one tablespoon of meringue powder at times (which adds height!), and I do not grease/flour the sides; the cake seems to climb better (with or without collars). I use parchment paper (always!) for the bottom of the pan. Then I use my Agbay leveler (I curse Wilton's alleged levelers) to slice 1-inch high layers. Then I dam and fill, and add frosting. This gives me 4 inches of height. (3 inches of cake + filling + frosting.)
I baked a 10-inch cake tonight, using 2 boxes of Duncan Hines (Dream Whip recipe, which adds height); I collared the pan and now have a perfect 3+ inch high cake. Also, I used 2 flower nails in the center (instead of a heating core), baked at 325 for 90 minutes. If you have an instand read thermometer, the center of the cake should register around 195 degrees F.
Some people use 4 layers of cake, some 3, and some just 2. I find that 3 is a good average and appears to have more stability when slicing.
Hang in there!
I hope this helps!
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