Italian Cream Cake

September 27th, 2009
by: Sue

This cake is most requested when family members celebrate birthdays. I generally cook the cakes ahead of time and freeze them; freezing the cakes makes little ice crystals throughout the cake and prevents the cake from being dry. You can make beautiful layer cakes as the directions show or you can do a larger sheet cake. I have travelled many miles with the cake in my lugguage, and I pull it out of my luggage, whip up the frosting and ice it when I reach the destination. I like to pipe decorative icing edges at the top and bottom of the cake and sprinkle chopped pecans on top. Some fresh pansies or other edible flowers may be used to garnish. Don’t try to skip beating the egg whites, or the cake will be too dense. Don’t let the cake get too warm or the cream cheese frosting will run.

Cake batter:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoon soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small can Angel Flake coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
5 egg whites, stiffly beaten with 1/4 cup sugar

Cream butter and shortening; add sugar and beat until mixture is smooth. Add egg yolks and beat well. Combine flour and soda; add to creamed mixture alternatelyd with buttermilk. Stir in vanilla extract. Add coconut and nuts. Fold in egg whites. Pour batter into 3 parchment paper lined greased and floured 8 inch cake pans (or 2 9 inch pans). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until done; cool. Watch it closely because there is a relatively high sugar to flour proportion and the cake will overbrown easily. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream cheese frosting:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chopped pecans
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth; add sugar and mix well. Add vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Spread on cake. Sprinkle top with finely chopped pecans.

Hint: I make 1.5 times the frosting recipe because I have found the frosting inadequate to frost all three 8″ layers or two 9″ layers and to pipe decorative edges.

12 oz cream cheese
3/4 stick butter
1 1/2 box powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla


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