• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans, adding a circle of parchment or wax paper to the bottom of each pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
• In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
• Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet)
• Mix the batter just until well combined- be careful not to over-mix. Divide the batter between the three pans.
• Bake at 325 degrees F for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
• This recipe makes 7 ½ cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

For the Vanilla Buttercream

• Cream the (slightly softened) butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
• Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
• Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
• This recipe can be doubled or halved.
• Yields approximately 4 ½-5 cups of frosting. Enough to frost a 3 layer 8 or two layer 9 inch cake.
• If your buttercream is too thin, add more sugar. If the consistency is too thick, add a bit more milk.

Assembly of Cake

• Place first cake layer on cake plate or pedestal. Spread the top with buttercream and repeat for the next two cake layers.
• Fill in any gaps between the stacked cake layers with buttercream and apply the crumb coat (thin coat) of frosting. At this point, I like to chill my crumb coated cake in the freezer for 10- 15 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) until the frosting has firmed up. This is optional, but I find it helpful to decorate a chilled cake.
• Apply the second coat of frosting. I like to rotate the cake on a turntable as I smooth the frosted cake with a bench scraper or spatula. Add borders if you'd like- I used a small round piping tip 3 for a bead border, and also made little ribbon roses using a piping tip 104. I pipe the roses on a rose nail with a square of waxed paper attached and rotated as I piped