Many people complained of the dryness of this cake, to solve this problem, I added an extra 1/4 cup sugar and used 1 cup of shortening instead of a 1/2 cup. I also used butter-flavored shortening instead of plain shortening. Instead of buying buttermilk, I made my own by taking a cup of half and half and adding 1 tbs lemon juice. The extra fat from the half and half also gave it extra moisture and the lemon gives it a slight tang, though not very noticeable after adding vinegar mixture. Now, I deviated from the recipe a bit also in the order I stirred in the ingredients. If someone has baked for many yeas (as I have) you know that in order to achieve the right result for any baked good, the ingredients must be incorporated in the right way at the right time. Now, if you haven't baked much before it is important to know that you should cream the butter and sugar (or in this case shortening) together for about 3-5 minutes or long enough until the mixture has enough air in it so that it is fluffy. Creaming is one of the most important steps in baking, do not under cream your butter and sugar! When incorporating the eggs, also beat until mixture until light and fluffy, this is equally important. The very reason I did not use oil as the top review suggest, is because the creaming of butter and sugar is so important and it makes the cake very tender and moist. Not that you cannot have a moist cake with oil, but it just isn't the same. After creaming the butter and sugar

Reviewed On: Apr. 25, 2009