We are having an Italian theme for book club this week, so I thought about bringing an Italian cream cake. The hostess is not crazy about coconut, so I decided to bring something else. But when Susie heard that I wasn't going to make it she said "You have to make it"! So, I told her I would make it for Easter. So I poured over my cookbooks and searched online for a recipe. I couldn't find one I was sold on, so I took three different recipes and came up with my own.
I was really happy with the way the cake looked and tasted. The cake was very moist and had a wonderful coconut and pecan flavor. Plus the cream cheese frosting mmmm.
So if you have an event coming up, please make this cake! It is so good, and your guests will be oohing and aahing.
Italian Cream Cake
Cake:
1 stick Butter (room temperature)
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 cup Sugar
5 whole Eggs (separated)
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1 cup Coconut toasted
3/4 cup Pecans toasted
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup Buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks, vanilla, and coconut and pecans. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
Alternate adding buttermilk and dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, then fold in egg whites.
Pour evenly into the two prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and allow to cool completely.
Frosting:
8 ounces light cream cheese (room temperature)
4 ounces regular cream cheese (room temperature)
6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 -5 cups powdered sugar sifted
1 cup toasted coconut
1/2 cup toasted pecans chopped
Beat the cream cheese until smooth and free of lumps. Add butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add enough powdered sugar until it reaches a spreadable consistency, beat until smooth.
Place the first cake layer top side up and frost with a generous amount of frosting. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of coconut and 1/4 cup of pecans. Top with the second layer and place it so the smooth side or bottom is facing up. Frost top and side of cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top and sides with the remaining coconut. Then sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining nuts.
Enjoy!
Source: Pioneer Woman,Southern Living,Better Homes and Gardens 75 years of all time favorites
Happy Monday friends! Have a great week!
xoxo
Rach
13 comments:
Thanks for making it - it was sooo yummy! Too bad Taffy missed out! hehehe
Hi Rachel,
I hope you and your family had a blessed Easter.Your cake looks great and the recipe sounds delicious, but what exactly makes it Italian? My family made two types of Easter cake. One was made with faro(wheat berries) and ricotta studded with citron, and another had eggs,cheese, salami and prosciutto in the filling.I'm curious about your recipe. Is it the buttermilk that is Italian?
I was hoping you could tell me Joe. :) All the recipes I looked at were called "Italian cream cake". I didn't do any research on what makes it "Italian". My assumption based on my Italian cookbooks is that it is not Italian, but somewhere along the way the name got attached to the cake. One of our guests yesterday asked if it was similar to "Italian wedding cake"? I told her I had never heard of that. So I'm really not sure. If you have any ideas I would love to here it.
Looks so good. Wish I was at your book club. Thanks for following me. I am now following you as well.
What an impressive looking cake--sounds so dreamy and creamy :) Happy Easter to you and your family--He is risen indeed!
Oh, I love the flavor of coconut- but can't do the texture! You make it look good anyway! wonder how it would be just flavored instead of real coconut?
hope you had a great Easter!
Rach- how did you add the printer friendly icon? is it a particular program from Adobe? sorry to bother- but i need it for homeschool worksheets! it's perfect! thanks, kelli
Beautiful!
Oh my gosh…. this cake looks and sounds fabulous. I might have to try this. Glad you had a wonderful Easter.
This looks soooo good!!! I'm keeping this recipe and can't wait to try it out!
Thanks for following, I'm following you back.
Jess
quinsmomma.blogspot.com
YUM!! I wish I could see what it looked like on the inside! The outside looks phenomenal!
Hi again Rachel,
I did some research and found some recipes for "Italian Cream cake". The common thread seems to be the use of several eggs separated and the coconut which surprised me.I'm guessing the cake is from northern Italy (if from Italy at all)Cake in the south tends to be somewhat poorer ingredient wise, but maybe a "real" Italian would correct me!
Coconut, pecans, cream cheese frosting - divine!
How gorgeous is this? This is an outstanding dessert. I've bookmarked the recipe to share with my family when they are with us next summer. I hope you had a wonderful holiday.Blessings...Mary
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