Nancy Drew and the Secret of Shadow Ranch Hints

Does this recipe really work?

• Yes indeedy. In the interests of science, I made one myself following this recipe, and it results in what used to be called a yellow cake, and a pretty darn good one at that, even without the marzipan flower on top. Making a cake from scratch like this is a lot harder and messier than using a cake mix. But the resulting cake is denser, less sweet, and more subtly flavored than something out of a box -- well worth the effort, in my opinion. Here's the full recipe with instructions.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: If you're not old enough to be in the kitchen alone, ask a grownup for help and/or permission before you start. In fact, even if you *are* old enough, you'd better ask; not everyone is happy to suddenly have a large dessert full of calories in the house, especially with the mess this one leaves behind.
  
  Shadow Ranch Cake
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together 4 cups flour and 1 tablespoon baking powder; set aside. Cream (that is, beat together till thoroughly mixed) 1 cup butter and 2 1/3 cups sugar; beat in 2 eggs. Add dry ingredients alternately with 1 2/3 cups milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla. (You can also try it with another extract, such as almond or lemon, if that's your preference.) Batter is much thicker than packaged cake mix; don't overbeat. Pour into nonstick (or greased and floured) cake pans, either one 9x13 rectangular pan or two 9-inch round pans. (Don't lick the beaters or the bowl! It looks delicious, but the raw eggs make it unsafe.) Bake till top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. If you're using round pans, let them sit ten minutes, then turn out onto a cookie rack to cool. When thoroughly cool, frost; my favorite is a chocolate buttercream frosting. Yum!
  
  And I'd be willing to bet that all the recipes in the box are as good as this one, though I didn't try them. If you do, let me know how they turn out!
  

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