Bake me a Cake: Advice Welcomed

One of my goals for this year is to be able to bake a cake, and I mean really bake a cake. I want this cake to be awesome and something I am proud to share. It needs to not only be delicious, it also has to be pretty. Oh, and somewhat easy to "whip up" would be nice too.

As background, I love cake. Wait, that wasn't a strong enough statement. I LOVE cake! And since I'm not good at baking cakes, I will just buy them or make cupcakes. Cupcakes are a great alternative to making cake, as they require so much less work, there is no stacking involved, and they come out of their little wrappers pretty easily.  Cakes require different skills, like the basic one of being able to get all the layers out of the pan without them falling apart so you can construct a cake. This is where I begin to fail.

STEP 1. Figure out how to consistently get layers out of their pans. To do this, I'm going the easy route and using boxed mix, since I'm guessing I will need a few more attempts to master this part.

My first attempt, was edible and looked fine with frosting on top (see picture), however, it was a mess underneath! It totally stuck to my greased and floured pan.

I was still able to salvage the layers and with a little finesse, I got them stacked with a filling of my homemade Chocolate Strawberry Jelly. I totally considered that part to be what made the cake special and not just cake from a box!

The sprinkles around the edge were also a new one for me, but so very easy!!! You just tilt the cake a little but and sprinkle over the sink.

My mom suggested using parchment paper and lining the bottom of the pan. I'm going to try that next.

Anyone else have suggestions?