Hi everyone,
I use Wilton pans (rounds, sheet, ball shapes...) and I find that my cakes never rise high enough. 
In fact, when I take them out of the pan, they have only raised to about half of it. What am I doing wrong? I do follow the recipes and never filled more than 1/2 of the pan with batter.
In fact, I did a cake this weekend and when I took it out of the oven it seemed to be raised allright and then, 20 minutes later I really thought it had shrunk!
I grease the pan with butter and then add flour to it.
I read on a previous post that perhaps the flour stops it from raising high enough and causes crumbles? 
Should I add a baking sheet to the pan before putting the barter in?
My next cake will be the house of the Teletubbies (the theme chosen for my daughters' 2nd birthday) and I am planning to use the "football" shaped pan from Wilton. Any comments and suggestions will be higly appreciated! 
I have an electric oven.
You might not be filling the pans with enough batter.
Wilton recommends 2" pans be filled 1/2 to 2/3 full, 3" pans 1/2 full.
Here are the Wilton guides for 2" and 3" pans:
http://www.wilton.com/cake/cakeprep/baking/times/index.cfm
Here's a quick reference to see how many DH box mixes are needed per pan (by size):
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22705-.html
If you need more batter than a cake mix makes - you can use an extender recipe or a doctored cake mix recipe to increase batter yield.
The doctored WASC recipe is great:
(can also be cut in half)
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2322-White-Almond-Sour-Cream-Cake.html
Also, it is better to use homemade pan grease than butter and a dusting of flour to prepare your cake pans.
Make pan grease by combining equal amounts of Crisco, vegetable oil and flour. Doesn't require refrigeration and works like Wilton pan release.
Also, if you bake from scratch, a new tin of baking powder might be in order.
Here's a list of common problems and their causes in butter cakes:
http://joyofbaking.com/ButterCakeTroubleshooting.html
HTH
One thing that helps my cakes get higher is collaring my pans especially if I fill my batter 2/3 high. Here's a link on how to do it:
http://cakecentral.com/article43-Collaring-Your-Cake-Pans-Make-A-Deeper-Cake.html
HTH.
Try immediately dumping the cake onto tin foil straight from the oven. I have used the CC recipe for cake release and it NEVER STICKS! I also freeze my cakes. Here is my "secret"recipe that I have used for 14 years and the secret is dumping it out of the pan IMMEDIATELY after I take it from the oven and then popping it into the freezer. Works EVERY time!!! Oh, and I also agree, at LEAST fill the pans half to 2/3 of the way full.
1 Box Cake Mix (any flavor, I use Duncan Hines)
1 small Box INSTANT Pudding-do not use the cook and serve-flavor to match cake Van., Choc.
1 ¼ cups water
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
Oven at 350 degrees.
Mix all ingred. Together at medium speed for 3 minutes (2 minutes with the stand-up mixer).
Bake for about 30-60minutes. Done when knife inserted comes out "JUST" clean. Remove from pan onto tin foil and IMMEDIATELY wrap and put into freezer. Can be frozen for a few months.
Pull from the freezer. Remove tin foil and IMMEDIATELY ice the cake. This will lock in the moisture. Some condensation on the top of the iced cake is normal, just leave it, the water will absorb. DO NOT try and wipe it off!!! Eat and enjoy!!
Thank you Gingersoave. I will keep the freezing method in mind for cakes that I do in advance. But sometimes it happens that I need it for the same day or the day after...
Question: if the cake is frozen and I immediately ice it, won't it melt the icing (royal icing, MMF or rolled fondant...)???
It won't melt any icing or make it run. I ice my cakes directly out of the freezer and the only issue I have had is that the cake may get condensation on the top. I never let it thaw b4 I ice it either. You also can't use the roller method or wax paper method to smooth the cake until the icing crusts. That takes a bit longer when the cake is frozen. But none of my students have ever had an issue.....
I was just going to post about this same subject this morning when I saw this thread. I know there has been a lot written about the Duncan Hines CM not rising in the middle or sinking after being taken out of the oven. I thought maybe it was just me. Maybe my eggs weren't fresh enough or they were too fresh. Maybe it was my oven, etc. But I just don't know what to do now. I fill my pans at least 2/3 full. I have even had an episode of cakes cooking over (what a mess) because I fill them so full. I have been using DH Butter Recipe for about 7 years now. "Old habits die hard". I have always had compliments on the taste of my cakes (I do the freezer method as soon as the cakes come out of the oven). Even my MIL who only bakes from scratch and doesn't use cake mixes Loves my cakes and brags on me all the time. I am about to decorate a cake I baked last night and after I trim it to level it is only 1 1/2 inches high (before icing).
I am just at my wits end. I hate to switch to a different CM. I've never used Betty C. My customers are pretty much "meat and potato" kind of folks. I don't do different flavors. Just Butter Recipe and Devils Food. I don't have trouble with the choc but I do add choc syrup and pudding. I would really appreciate any input. Especially from other DH cake mix users.
TIA
Duncan Hines is what I ALWAYS use, however if Betty is on sale I occassionally use her too! Never a problem with either!
Yes, Oilili. I have always used the freezing method. I go straight from the oven to the freezer. And I have never encountered problems like I have lately. I have 4 cakes this past weekend and had to trim them down so far because they were sunken in the middle.
Maybe a cake extender for the butter recipe would help?
Most everything else I bake I do from scratch. I just started with mixes when I started doing cakes. It was what my Wilton instructor suggested.
Yes, Oilili. I have always used the freezing method. I go straight from the oven to the freezer. And I have never encountered problems like I have lately. I have 4 cakes this past weekend and had to trim them down so far because they were sunken in the middle.
Maybe a cake extender for the butter recipe would help?
Most everything else I bake I do from scratch. I just started with mixes when I started doing cakes. It was what my Wilton instructor suggested.
Sounds to me like your problem is your oven...not the ingredients! This happened to me a few years back and when I checked the temp in my oven...it was baking nearly 15 degrees below what I had it set on! Once that is checked you might try using a flower nail in the center to help it bake more evenly. I know it's frustrating, but process of elimination will tell you what's going on! Good luck! 
The cakes will thaw after frozen and iced within 1 hour or so. The cake will remain cold for a while though, I believe that is what makes them SOO moist!
I dump it directly out of the pan from the oven, otherwise it tends to shrink. If you use the cake release, cc's cake release recipe or the crisco and flour it should never stick. Good luck!
PS. I used to be a freezer phobe!!! I discovered the freezer by mistake, I had so many cake orders I couldnt keep up so I had to start freezing and LOVED the cakes moist texture so much that I keep freezing if only for a few hours!!!!
As far as oil and flour. You don't have to spray or oil and flour the sides at all. I never do. It still releases itself from the sides.
IMHO you don't need to make your cake rise alot. If it rises too much it is not as moist. In fact I don't cut the top off of my cake at all. As soon as it gets out of the oven I level it out by pressing it down.
Actually I'm not sure how gingersoave does it, but I find that it's a little easier for me to torte my cakes after they've been in the freezer for a couple of hours. When I try to torte right out of the oven I end up with a crumby mess. Gingersoave, what do you wrap your cakes in? I've used foil and I've used plastic wrap, and I've found pros and cons to each.
I use foil to freeze my cakes (wrapped very loose). I also do not cut my cakes in half, I cheat, I have two 8x3 wilton pans and I split the batter between them and freeze each one. The cake once iced is almost 4 inches high!!!! I also do not cut the top off the cakes because when the cakes come out of the oven the top becomes the bottom and remains the bottom even when I ice them because the bottom is ALWAYS flat. Hope all this makes sense, it's worked for me for 14 years!!! And all my students do the same thing and they all love it! I have actually "converted" some of my scratch cakers into duncan hines"ers"!
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