An Easy Cake with Butter & Orange Frosting

Baking a cake should not be so hard, especially if the recipe is 100 years old and is called, 1, 2, 3, 4 Cake, which is so named because of its ingredients: 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, and 4 eggs. After reading many other recipes for how to bake a cake, I now feel more and more confident. Oil and butter are interchangeable. Of course, butter gives the best flavor; however, vegetable oil or coconut oil contain fewer calories and also makes the cake moist.  I also like to use oil because it is quick and there is no need to wait for butter to reach room temperature. Cake is economical to give people for their birthday parties or any kind of party. For the frosting, and easy frosting is the one I am introducing today, and it only needs a few ingredients and the cake is dressed up as if done by professionals. This recipe should remain as a basic cake, which allows for more interesting ingredients for someone who likes to advance her skill of baking. This cake is a keeper.

Ingredients:
3 cups self-rising flour, sifted
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Frosting ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/3 cup orange juice
Zest of orange

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Use a small amount of butter or cooking spray and flour to grease two 9 inch cake pans and set aside.

In a stand mixer bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat the egg mixture for 5 minutes.

Add the flour alternately with milk, starting with flour and ending with flour using the low-stir function of the mixer.

 Divide the batter equally into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cake cool completely on the rack before frosting.

To make the orange frosting;
Use a handheld mixer to beat the butter with the powdered sugar until well combined. Add orange juice 1 tbsp at a time until the frosting becomes the consistency for spreading.  Add the zest.

Spread the frosting over the cake and enjoy.