This recipe makes a good, basic butter layer cake. Its a slightly larger recipe than most layer cakes, so you get plump layers instead of skinny ones.
3 cups cake flour (you can substitute all-purpose flour)
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup butter
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cup milk
Oven 350 2 9 round pans
Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Blend in the vanilla. Add the milk alternately with the dry ingredients, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Pour into 2 9 round pans which have been greased and floured. (For easier removal, first grease the cake pans, then place a piece of wax paper on the bottom of the pans. Grease the bottoms again, and then flour the whole pan.) Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cook in the pan about 10 minutes and then turn out on a rack. Frost when completely cool.