Great recipe. I made this the first time for a New Year's Eve get-together and got a lot of compliments. Two things I need to work on - Second layer was a little thin - I did not read the suggestion above to "eye" the consistency before adding the last egg. Secondly, my icing was more of a taupe than white because of the addition of the vanilla (I tried it twice with two different brands). I added water instead of milk. Any other suggestions on the color to get the white color (besides adding milk -- my "in-house" consultant suggested fat free half and half)? Fat-free half and half is indeed very white, Mark; I haven't tried it, but it should be nice. You can also just leave out the vanilla and use a touch of almond extract in its place. Or use less vanilla. Or use "white vanilla," which is fake vanilla that cake decorators use, if you're willing to trade taste for color. PJH

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