Italian Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Yield 12 to 16 servings
"This cake recipe was given to me 30 years ago, and I bake it for Christmas and birthdays. I am 89 years old and have to walk with a walker now, but I still can cook."
Ingredients
- Cake:
- 1 cup whole buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 eggs, separated
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (3-ounce) can sweetened coconut
- Frosting:
- 1 ( 8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
- 1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease three 9-inch cake pans and line with wax paper.
- To prepare the cake, combine the buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl; mix well. Place the egg whites in a small mixing bowl and using a mixer at high speed, beat until stiff.
- Combine the granulated sugar, butter, and shortening in a large mixing bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light. Add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well. Add the buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the flour. Stir in the vanilla, fold in the beaten egg whites, and gently stir in the coconut.
- Pour the batter (about 2 cups each) into the prepared pans. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans to cool completely.
- To prepare the frosting, combine the cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the pecans and spread the frosting between the layers and over the sides and top of the cake. Store in the refrigerator.
—Azalea Stephens, Dayton, Texas
