Recipe courtesy of Deberah Williams

Cake
1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup whole buttermilk
Raspberry jam
Frosting (recipe follows)
Topping and decorative garnish --
1 package raspberries, washed and drained
1 large bar of white chocolate, shaved

Grease three 9-inch pans with cooking spray and line bottoms with waxed or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy. Add vanilla flavoring. Add half of the flour, half of the buttermilk and mix well. Add the remaining flour and buttermilk and mix until the batter is smooth and creamy. Divide between pans and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm. Cool thoroughly. Insert a knife all around the sides of each layer to make sure the cake can be easily removed from the pans.

Filling
Red raspberry jam
(Raspberry preserves may be used, but they do have large seeds which may not be suitable for all tastes.)

Frosting
This recipe yields a generous portion of frosting with enough to use to pipe frosting around the top and bottom to create a decorative effect and enough to pipe around edges of layers to hold in the filling. If you prefer less frosting, halve or use 2/3 of the recipe.

3 sticks of butter, softened
2 boxes confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
1/2 cup whipping cream

In mixer, cream butter. Add flavoring and confectioner's sugar slowly. Add whipping cream a little at a time until powdered sugar is saturated. Mix on high until frosting is the consistency of whipped cream.

Assembly: Turn out the first cake layer onto cake plate and pipe frosting around the edge. Spread jam filling into the center to the edge of the piping.

Second layer: In pan, frost with thin layer of frosting. Invert onto first layer. Repeat process of piping icing around edge of cake, then filling center with raspberry jam.

Third layer: In pan, frost with thin layer of frosting and invert onto cake. Finish by frosting entire cake. Pipe frosting along the top and bottom edges, if desired. Decorate with raspberries and shaved white chocolate. Keep cake refrigerated. Remove cake from refrigerator 15 to 20 minutes before serving.