Southern Burned Caramel Cake

Ingredients:

• For the Cake:
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• For the Frosting:
• ½ cup sugar (for burning)
• ½ cup boiling water
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 sticks margarine
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour your cake pans.
2. Cream the shortening and 2 cups of sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together three times.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Stir in the vanilla extract.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

For the Frosting:

1. Burn ½ cup of sugar in an iron skillet over medium heat until it turns a deep amber color.
2. Carefully add ½ cup of boiling water to the burned sugar to create a syrup.
3. In a large saucepan, combine the burned sugar syrup, 4 cups of sugar, margarine, and 1 cup of milk.
4. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it reaches the soft ball stage (about 235°F/113°C on a candy thermometer).
5. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
6. Set the pan in cold water and beat the frosting until it is thick enough to spread.
7. Frost the cooled cake layers with the caramel frosting.

Enjoy!