Classic Caramel Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour, self-rising
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. warm up. Prepare three 9-inch springform pans by greasing and lining them with parchment paper. Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the sugar and add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 5 minutes, mixing well after each egg. Add the flour and buttermilk alternately, starting with the flour and ending with the flour, mixing well after each. Add vanilla and mix well. Divide among the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through.
Place pans on cooling rack and let cool completely. While the cake is cooling, prepare the Southern Caramel Frosting and then decorate the cake.
Southern Caramel Frosting:
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup Crisco
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix it all in a 3-4 liter blender.
Rotate the pan to keep the ingredients in the pan. Cook to a softball temperature of 235° – 245° when tested on a candy cane or in a bowl of cold water. Remove from heat and whisk with a wooden spoon until the oil is ready to spread.
No thermometer? Do the cold water test:
Take some of the caramel and drop it into a bowl or glass of cold water. Give it a few seconds to cool. Fish in a bowl or bowl of cold water and try to return the caramel and roll it into a ball.
If you stick your fingers in the bowl, pull out the sticky mess, and can’t do anything but wait for the caramel to set, then you need to cook the caramel. Your caramel still has too much water and is too low in sugar. Caramel can also form small threads in liquid, but if you can’t form the threads into balls you will need to cook something else.