Recipes

[prior1]

I feel silly even asking this question here...where so many accomplished cooks and bakers reside...but I have been checking on-line and can't seem to locate an answer, so thought I would ask.

After thinking we had no hope in locating a long-lost family (Grandmother's "Black Cake") recipe for a cake everyone loved, we found some notes. The notes are difficult to read and not in great shape...think I have most correct. The frosting, I believe, is this:

1/2 teaspoon vanilla*

2 tbs. butter*

*Add butter/vanilla just before taking pan off of the burner

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

1 & 1/3 cups of white sugar (not confectionery)

Boil the above...until beads off of spoon...then beat until becomes hard. This could take some time.

Once it looks like it is thickening, immediately frost cake as it hardens quickly and is difficult to spread on cake.

Assuming I have the rest correct...would "beads off of spoon" sound like the correct term? I just cannot read much at all in this section. If so, could someone let me know what this means? Is it just self-explanatory? Again, I could not find this googling it in many diff. ways.

This cake was a favorite of the entire family...made by our Grandmother. Such a treat. She never really wrote anything down. An amazing country cook! Another relative appears to have made notes about the recipe years ago - we just discovered the card. We are so happy and hopeful. I would LOVE to make this as a surprise for my dad. Any help so appreciated. Thank you VERY much.