FLAT cake layers??

[tiredflamingos]

I'm a useless baker but want to attempt a cake for my daughter's birthday.. Whenever I've practised, the layers come out a little too thin and dense!

This is the recipe I've been using: https://www.thecookingfoodie.com/recipe/Classic-Vanilla-Cake-Recipe--How-to-Make-Birthday-Cake#google_vignette

It tastes okay but I want the cakes to be taller and lighter... Any ideas where I might've gone wrong??

The Mary Berry "all in one Victoria sandwich" works pretty well, I made one today! She uses two tsps baking powder but I thought that sounded too much so I used one large tsp

Edit- sorry you said you have a thermometer! It does look like the oven was too hot though? Maybe try lowering the temperature a bit

Thanks everyone - I wasn't expecting this much help! I feel like a bit of a failure of a mum at the moment😅
My ingredients are all in date. I'm gonna stick to the simpler recipe (the first one is too much faff) and turn my oven down a bit next time.
I'm currently icing the f* out of cake attempt #3 - hopefully it'll still taste nice even if it's a little flat.

Well I'd put money on it the answer is your tin size is too big for amount of mix you are using

PS For example a recipe for a 6" tin baked in a 9" tin, many people think it's a case of using 1.5 times the mix as in adding 3 inches to 6 inches but it's not, it actually takes at least double the 6" mix to get same depth of cake in 9" tin, slightly more than double actually but double would do.

Tin size is a possible issue. So is over mixing. You need the flour incorporated but only just if that makes sense.

Weight your eggs (in the shells) then use equal amounts of butter, sugar and SR flour.

I would use at least 4 eggs for an 8" cake spread over 2 sandwich tins.

If you want flatter cakes, use a banking belt and reduce your oven temperature to about 160 degrees c and bake for longer.

There's not enough batter in those cakes you've photographed to make them thick enough.

Almost identical straightforward recipe here:
Beat 250g caster sugar with 250g soft butter til pale. Add 4 eggs. Fold in 250g SR flour. Divide into 2 tins and bake for 25 mins at 165 fan.

Also never use American baking recipes! Their ingredients are a little different, their cup usage is daft and they actually have different taste norms to us (often too sweet).