OK, y'all - I watched 'the' program on Food Network today and had pen and paper handy to get the recipe I hoped would come at the end of the program. It didn't (of course) but the lady who owned the bakery that made the TTC's, in reponse to a question from the interviewer, said that the cakes contained the following: eggs, butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon, dates (DATES? yes, dates - that's what she said) and vanilla. I think that she said they used 40 dozen eggs in their commercial recipe but she did not give any other quantities that I remember.
No mention of milk or buttermilk but previous posts have alluded to both white and brown sugar as ingredients. She also said that the cakes were baked at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. I'm gonna try Marilyn's recipe tomorrow with a little added flour to see if that helps the sticking problem.