Four-Egg Cake from Joy of Cooking (1-2-3-4 Cake)

http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe.lasso?recipe=1139&menu=one

I realize that hardly anyone bakes anymore, but I have to post this cake recipe. It's Mom's recipe for the old 1-2-3-4 cake. This was always her go-to recipe. It's the recipe she used to make Daddy's favorite pineapple cake. She shared it with our cook, Oliva, in Mexico, and she made it all the time.  Eventually, she quit working for us and opened her own cake business in Hunucma. It's an easy and reliable yellow cake that you can use with any icing--it's great with coconut icing.

Preheat oven to 350.

Take everything out of the fridge, so that it can come to room temperature.

Prepare 3-9" cake pans:  *Cut 3-9" rounds of parchment paper to fit the bottoms of your pans. If you don't have parchment paper, use Release Aluminum Foil or wax paper. Don't skip this step! Spray your pans with Baker's Joy or butter & flour them.  Then place the parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.  Then spray it with Baker's Joy. *To cut the rounds--tear off a piece of paper large enough to cover your pan. Fold in 1/2, then 1/4, then 1/8, then 1/16.  Set the point in the middle of the pan and eyeball where you need to cut. Crease to mark it and then cut. Unfold, and --this always seems like a miracle to me--you have a perfect circle.  If it's too big, refold and cut it a little smaller.

Sift before measuring:

2 2/3 cups cake flour

Resift with:
2 1/4 tsp double-acting baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Sift:

2 cups sugar

Beat until soft:

1 cup butter (preferably unsalted)

Add the sugar gradually.  Beat until very light and creamy. Beat in, one at a time:

4 egg yolks

Add:
1 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract

With mixer on slowest speed, add the flour to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with thirds of:

1 cup milk

Stir the batter until smooth after each addition.  Whip until stiff, but not dry:

4 egg whites

Fold them lightly into the cake batter.

Pour into prepared cake pans and bake about 30-35 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove the cake pans to a rack and let cool before turning the cakes out on to racks to finish cooling.  Don't try to ice them until they are thoroughly cool, otherwise your icing will melt and slide off.