My nephew Kyle requests this cake every year on his birthday. You know that if this is a twelve-year-old boy’s favorite cake, it’s gotta be good!

　　

Ingredients

Serves 12

　　3 cups all-purpose flour

　　1/2 teaspoon baking soda

　　1/2 teaspoon baking powder

　　3/4 teaspoon salt

　　1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

　　1/2 cup vegetable shortening

　　2 cups sugar

　　4 large eggs

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

　　1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

　　1 cup buttermilk, well shaken

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

　　

Step 2

Sift the flour together with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and shortening together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat an additional 5 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Add the eggs one at a time, beating only until the yolks disappear into the batter. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and zest.

　　

Step 4

Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and beat only until well blended. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then turn the cake out of the pan while it is still warm. Cool completely on a wire rack.

　　

From Beth

Step 5

This cake is also good drizzled with Fresh Strawberry Sauce (page 180).

　　Reprinted with permission from Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Trisha Yearwood with Gwen Yearwood and Beth Yearwood Bernard. Copyright © 2008 by Trisha Yearwood. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Trisha Yearwood is a three-time Grammy-award winning country music star and the author of the bestselling cookbook Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. She is married to megastar Garth Brooks.