1/2 cup butter
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup lard
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) round pans.
In a saucepan, warm butter over medium heat. Slowly pour milk into pan, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; add sugar and vanilla extract. Beat making sure sugar and vanilla are completely dissolved. Stir flour into milk mixture; keep stirring. Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and nutmeg; beat well. Add almonds and mix to blend; pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack and cool completely. Take leaving cake with knife and cut three 12 inch circles out of each cake. Serve immediately.