This recipe is from an extremely old handwritten cookbook. It calls for a "piece of butter like a hickory nut" which I am calling 1 Tablespoon. And 'sweet milk' my research shows was fresh whole milk before it was turned into buttermilk. Therefore 'sweet cream stirred thick' should be fresh cream or the opposite of sour cream. Most of this lady's cake recipes just say "flavor" or "flavor to taste" which is not acceptable here. So I put in 1 teaspoon vanilla as a placeholder. Feel free to use any flavoring you like.