By summerki

About This Recipe:

This is a very nice neutral flavored cake with sugar, flour, shortening, leavening and salt in quantity similar to that of a cake mix. It is good as is, but also takes to doctoring quite well. When doctoring this cake remember that the eggs, oil and liquids would not be included in the mix and adjust the recipe accordingly. My favorite doctored variation is the WASC version (also in the recipe section). Feel free to vary the liquid ingredients and extract as you wish for flavor variations. This is the recipe referred to in the Cake Central magazine article

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups (10 ½ ounces) sugar

  4 tablespoons (2 ounces) vegetable shortening or unsalted butter

  6 tablespoons vegetable oil

  2 large eggs plus 4 yolks (or 3 eggs plus 2 yolks)

  9 ounces (about 1 ¾ cups) bleached all-purpose flour

  1 teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons baking powder

  1 tablespoon cornstarch

  1 cup buttermilk

  1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. Beat sugar, shortening or butter and vegetable oil on medium-high speed of mixer for 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolks one at a time and then beat for 1 minute until well emulsified. Sprinkle dry ingredients over the sugar mixture in mixing bowl and mix for about 20 seconds until the ingredients are distributed. Gradually add the buttermilk and vanilla and blend for about 30 seconds until it forms a uniform batter. Pour into pans and bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick just comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting or wrap in plastic wrap until needed.