Anniversary Italian Cream Cake

Italian Cream Cake

Written by Becky

Beware this cake is so good that you might eat all of it and not be able to share it with anyone. I made this for my parents and they wouldn’t allow me to take some to work because of their unwillingness to share. It is a recipe from my friend’s grandmother.

Italian Cream Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
5 eggs (divided)
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup Crisco
2 cups sifted flour
1 Tbs vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 small bag of coconut (optional)

FROSTING INGREDIENTS
1 8-oz package regular cream cheese
2 sticks butter
1 tsp vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar
toasted coconut


DIRECTIONS
Combine soda and buttermilk and let stand a few minutes. Beat egg whites until stiff, set aside. (use electric mixer unless you really want an arm workout) Cream sugar, butter and shortening; add egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add buttermilk mixture alternately with flour to sugar mixture. Stir in vanilla, fold in egg whites gently(be careful not to deflate the mixture). Gently stir in pecans and coconut. (I skipped on the pecans and coconut this time) Bake in three 9-inch greased and floured cake rounds for 25 minutes, or 2 9-in rounds for 35-40 minutes.

ICING DIRECTIONS
Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar in stages. This makes plenty to cover and decorate one cake. Note: The more powdered sugar the thicker the icing and easier to decorate with piping etc but if you’re only wanting to cover the cake it doesn’t need to be as thick. Toast coconut at 350 until golden.

Cake baking tips that I should have read before making this:
1) Apply thin layer of icing (the crumb layer) to seal in all of the crumbs, then refrigerate for 15-30 minutes before applying the top icing layer. This will leave the icing looking smooth!
2) If you are using traditional cake pans (not non-stick) try lining the pans with parchment paper plus butter and flour to insure that the cake doesn’t stick.

Blogs about cake baking tips:
Gateaufille’s Cake Tips
Smitten Kitchen’s Layered-Cake Tips

For a full list of VintageMixer recipes click here.

Comments (9)

  1. Yeah, I don’t think I will share:) The cake looks fabulous! Love the coconut too, so pretty!

  2. Hey Becky, its Natalee Armstrong (Warren now)- I found your blog through Marianne’s. I also love good food. We lived in Portland for 3 years- talk about amazing food! You should go if you haven’t,there are tons of local restaurants, bistros, grills, etc that are amazing- I miss them so much! ANyhow, good to see you and you are married! I had a friend who dated your hubby a long time ago- ha! I hope that isn’t too awkward! lol

  3. This cake looks great. I love to ski Deer Valley heading up later this week with all the new snow today should be great. Enjoy yourself

  4. NN- I actually work in Deer Valley! Its is a great place to ski and work! Enjoy your ski day! It is snowing here now so it should be great!

  5. I just served this cake with peach ice cream for my husband's birthday. They all loved it. I followed directions exactly with one minor change–I added 1/4 tsp of almond extract to the batter and the frosting. Thanks for this great recipe! It's definitely a keeper and great alternative for those crazy anti-chocolate people!!

  6. Candace, I'm so glad you tried this cake! My dad is also a anti-chocolate person. And thanks for the tips. Peach ice cream sounds like a perfect match.

  7. Becky, it really was a wonderful cake- the one Candace made for the birthday bash. Great recipe!