Place A Rack In The Center Of The Oven, And Preheat The Oven To 350°F.
Lightly Grease The Bottom Of Two 9″ Round Or Square Pans With Vegetable Shortening And Dust With Flour.
Shake Out The Excess Flour, And Set The Pans Aside.
Place The Butter And Sugar In A Large Bowl, And Beat With An Electric Mixer On Medium Speed Until The Mixture Comes Together And Lightens, About 2 Minutes.
Add The Eggs, One At A Time, Beating Well After Each Addition.
Blend In The Vanilla.
Set Aside.
In A Smaller Bowl, Sift Together The Flour, Baking Powder, And Salt.
Alternately Add The Dry Ingredients And The Milk To The Batter, Beginning And Ending With The Dry Ingredients.
Blend On Low Speed Until Just Incorporated, 1 Minute More.
Divide The Batter Between The 2 Prepared Pans, And Place The Pans In The Oven.
Bake The Cake Until It Is Golden Brown And The Top Springs Back When Lightly Pressed With A Finger, 25 To 30 Minutes.
Remove The Pans From The Oven, And Place On A Wire Rack To Cool For 10 Minutes.
Run A Knife Around The Edges Of The Pans, Give Them A Shake To Loosen, Then Turn The Layers Out Once And Then Again Onto The Rack So They Cool Right Side Up.
While The Cakes Are Cooling, Prepare The Icing.
To Assemble While The Icing Is Still Warm, Place 1 Cake Layer On A Serving Plate.
Spoon Over A Generous Ladle Of The Warm Icing, And Spread It To The Edges Of The Cake With A Metal Spatula.
Place The Second Layer On Top, And Spoon Several Generous Ladles Of Frosting Over The Top Of The Cake, Smoothing It Out With A Metal Spatula, And Letting The Icing Run Down The Sides.
When The Top Of The Cake Is Frosted And Pretty, Use The Remainder Of The Icing To Frost The Sides.
If The Icing Has Gotten Hard And Is Not Spreadable, Place The Pan Over Very Low Heat, Stirring Just A Minute To Warm It.
Or Place The Saucepan Into A Large Bowl Filled With 2″ Of Hot Water.
Dip The Spatula Into The Saucepan And Run This Icing Around The Cake In Clean Strokes, Being Careful Not To Tear The Cake.
Let The Cake Rest For 30 Minutes So The Icing Will Harden, Then Slice And Serve.
