How do I prepare my pans for baking?

After you know the amount of batter you will need for the size pans you have, you will then have to prepare them before you put the batter into the pans. I do this (and some do it differently) by lightly greasing the pans with shortening and by lining the pan with parchment paper. This is easily done by placing your pan on your parchment paper and going around it with a knife (not to cut it,but to indent it). Once you have scored the paper with a knife, you can cut it out with a pair of scissors. When cutting your parchment paper for the sides, you will want to cut it about 1 to 1-1/2 inches higher then the depth of the pan. So say you have a 2" pan, you would want to cut your parchment paper strip about 3-1/2" wide and long enough to go completely around the inside of the pan. When filling the pans, you would never want to fill them too full. This is why it helps to have the parchment paper extension. If you would get too much batter in the pan, the parchment keeps it from overflowing. My general rule of thumb is not to fill the pans more then 2/3 full until I have used the recipe at least once to determine how much rise you get out of a particular recipe. If you find the recipe doesn't raise a lot, you can increase the batter the next time you bake it. If it raises well, you may not want to add more. Make a note on the recipe for your next baking. You want your cake to bake as evenly as possible. There are a couple of techniques you can do to make your cakes not "dome". The first is to insert a greased flower nail (you know the nail you use to make those fancy buttercream roses with) upside-down in center of your cake pan before pouring in your batter and then baking. The second is to use BAKE EVEN STRIPS. These go around the outside of the pan to help distribute the heat more evenly. Remember the more level your cake the less you will have to level later on.