Let’s start out by saying that Italian Cream Cake is not Italian, y’all. It’s Texan. It was first published in a Texas newspaper. Other southern states claim it, but it’s not theirs. Now that we’ve established that, Italian Cream Cake is a recipe that every single person needs in their wheelhouse.
This dense, moist and flavorful cake is a crowd favorite and very easy to make.
I make mine with special pecans. So, yes, there is a story, however, to save the innocent we won’t include names. There I was, taking care of my uncle (he’s fine now) and his really awesome, very sweet friend came over to check on the uncle too. He offered me some pecans. There was other conversation there, but we are cliff-notesing this story for the pecans.
The next day, he brought me a two-gallon bag of already shelled pecans. TWO. GALLON. BAG. Y’ALL. I was slightly worried about my uncle hyperventilating when he realized his friend was for real giving me all those pecans. He’s fine now though.
So, there I was, woman in the pecan store of happiness, holding my bag of pecans and grinning with thoughts of “I could make this and this and ohhhhh, this!” when I decided to first use my Barton Springs pecans for an Italian Cream Cake. Even better, the cake was for a BBQ cookoff and yes, this Italian Cream Cake brought home a trophy.
Thank you to Uncle K’s awesome wonderful fantastic friend for these delicious Barton Springs pecans!
Cake notes: If you have the time, freeze these cake layers! Italian Cream Cake is very dense, so you want to lock in all the moisture you can. Take your cake out of oven and let them cool, in their pans, for about ten minutes. Then remove from the pans and double wrap in plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil. Place them in the freezer for at least two hours (or up to two months).
When you are ready to make your cake, pull out of the freezer and let thaw until there is a slight layer of moisture on the foil. Have your icing prepared and put a layer between the cold layers of cake. Do a rough icing on the outside and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to cool the icing. Pull your cake out and add a thick layer of icing and pecans or toasted coconut.
Pecans are not cheap, my hons. In fact, in the south, the street value of shelled pecans is roughly that of crack cocaine. Do not confuse the two. It is almost impossible to make a decent crack cocaine tassie, I am told.
Celia Rivenbark
GOOD FOOD. GOOD FRIENDS. GOOD TIMES.
© FoodLovePlay. All images & content are the sole property of FoodLovePlay. Please obtain permission prior to using my images. If you would like to republish a recipe, please link back to this post and re-write the instructions in your own words
Italian Cream Cake
Print This
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened yet still cool
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Instructions
CAKE:
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare three 9” round cake pans.
- Cream together sugar and butter until smooth. Add egg yolks, beating each until incorporated. The mixture should gradually get more golden in color and fluffy. Add vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with buttermilk; beginning and ending with flour mixture. (flour-buttermilk-flour-buttermilk-flour)
- Add pecans and coconut, mixing well.
- In another mixing bowl, beat eggs whites until they come to stiff peaks. Fold in egg whites to batter, mixing well.
- Pour batter evenly between the three cake pans and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove, wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap and single layer of foil, then freeze for at least 2 hours.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- Cut butter and cream cheese into pieces and cream together until smooth and softened.
- Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating mixture on low speed. Add vanilla and turn mixer up to medium. Beat about 1 minute, until very fluffy.
- Keep icing cool, but not cold. For a smooth icing, do a rough icing and refrigerate for 10 minutes, then apply a thicker layer of icing.
Notes: For decoration, press chopped pecans around the bottom layer of the cake. If piping a decoration, keep piping bag in refrigerator until ready to use.
Don’t forget to follow us on Etsy, Instagram, Pinterest, tumblr and Yummly