Recipe

Decadent Italian Cream Cake

by Diane Jennings on August 11, 2009 in Cakes, Desserts

5.00 Mitt(s) 7 Rating(s)

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Recipe Description

This is my Mama’s recipe and this luscious cake was always part of our Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert lineup. Many holiday memories are tied to this rich, creamy, decadent cake.

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream butter, shortening and sugar in a large mixing bowl with electric mixer. Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add buttermilk and mix well; add vanilla.

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl; add coconut and pecans and toss together well, then stir into wet ingredients. Mix well by hand.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold gently into cake batter, then divide batter into 3 greased and floured round cake pans.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees, or until lightly browned and cake tests done when a toothpick is inserted near the center. Cool thoroughly on wire racks in pans.

While layers are cooling, prepare frosting. Cream butter and cream cheese together in a medium bowl; add vanilla, and gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Carefully remove cakes from pans and brush off crumbs. Place bottom layer on serving plate, top with frosting. Place second layer over first, top with frosting, then place the last layer. Frost the cake, then sprinkle with chopped pecans as desired. You can cheat and make this with a white cake mix, but it’s just not the same.

Keep cake refrigerated.

Ingredients

CAKE BATTER:
½ cups Butter, Room Temperature, No Substitutes
½ cups Good Shortening
2 cups Sugar
5 Large Eggs, Separated
1 cup Buttermilk
1 teaspoon Good Vanilla
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Shredded Or Flaked Sweetened Coconut
1 cup Chopped Pecans
_____
FOR FROSTING:
1 stick Butter, Softened
1 package Cream Cheese (8 0z.), Softened
1 teaspoon Good Vanilla
1 pound Powdered Sugar
Chopped Pecans For Garnish

Comments

Little Lulu on 8.12.2009

This cake looks soooo good. I can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks for the recipe!

thesweetlife on 8.16.2009

I made this today for a brunch and it was fabulous! I doubled the frosting recipe from a perpetual fear of not having enough to frost a cake and make it look pretty. And, leftover frosting is never a bad thing. I probably had at least half a recipe left. It was delicious, and perfect for a meal with the girls!

Diane Jennings on 8.16.2009

You’re welcome, Lynda. Hope you enjoy the cake.

So glad you enjoyed the cake, TheSweetLife. My Mama would be proud to know that her recipe is still getting rave reviews and giving people pleasure.

Diane

chollandvt on 8.19.2009

This cake tortures me, I cannot wait to make it. I need a reason to do it though otherwise I WILL eat the whole thing… I plan on making it this week and I will double the icing as well as I like to do a 4 layer, increase the icing to cake ratio. And it looks beautiful! Thanks for the recipe:)

crecia27 on 8.19.2009

I made this for a birthday gathering this weekend, it was by far one of the most moist cakes I’ve ever eaten! I’ve already been asked to make it again!

Diane Jennings on 8.19.2009

So glad everyone is enjoying this recipe.

deme7 on 9.13.2009

I made this cake tonight and it was wonderful. So moist, so much flavor. I’ll be making this again. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

kkunoff on 1.23.2010

This cake was very good! I tweaked it here and there for my own liking, but still very good. This cake is a keeper!

bridgetirene82 on 2.7.2010

I made this last night and it is really good. A big hit with our guests. It was a little dry, but, I put it in the fridge over night. I would suggest making it the same day you plan on serving it. Overall, a definite keeper! Thanks for the recipe.

Vicki C on 2.3.2011

I have made this three times now, and I absolutely love it. After the first cake, everyone asks me to make it again. Thank you so much for sharing this!!!

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7 Reviews | Be the first to review!

Reviews

melrr on 6.28.2010

I made this as part of a “kitty litter” gag cake and everyone loved it. They kept commenting that the cake was so moist and tasty – I barely had leftovers. Thanks for sharing!

txbikergirl on 10.23.2010

this is absolutely the EXACT recipe as my husband’s great aunt Freddies recipe, and it is one of the best cakes i have ever had.

this recipe did two things for me: first, it gave me the satisfaction that i could do a GREAT cake from scratch because up til this point every from scratch cake i did was tough or just not as good as a box cake (sad)… second, it taught me that chocolate is NOT the ruler of the cake kingdom and that you can have a very satisfying and amazing cake experience without chocolate included.

you can even slice all 3 layers in half to make a 6 layer cake – decadence multiplied! – but if so double the icing recipe lest you know have enough.

this freezes well, in fact great aunt freddie almost always makes it a week ahead of time and freezes it, then thaws it out on the counter the day before.. we never knew this until recently and never would have guessed. and this cake does get better with age, so 2-3 days in the refrig and it is simply divine.

ellen on 12.17.2011

I do not recall ever making a traditional cake/frosting from scratch that I actually looked forward to a second slice. If you have switched to being a “cake hater” after taking the time to make a cake (NO NOT FROM A MIX) and have found the result to be a dry tasteless cake and a sickly sweet frosting – the cake will change your point of view and you may be rehabilitated from your dependence on boxed cake mixes. This cake sounds complicated, but it is not. The egg white part (a real turn off for me) took only a couple of minutes to execute. I let the finished cake sit in the fridge for a day and it was nice and moist and flavorful. The peacan flavor was very nice and the cream cheese frosting had just the right amount of sweetness (at least for me) without oveerwhelming the cake. I will tell you that the other “cake haters” who devoured this cake also loved every bite and took copies of it home. They did not get to take any of the leftover cake (OK I am selfish) and so I will tell you what my party guests cannot – this cake just kept getting better over the next 3 days it lived in my fridge. The moisture content went up over time and the flavor also improved. I do not think it would do this cake justice to serve it within a few hours of making it. So if you need a cake to eat in a couple of hours, this recipie is not for you. However, if you can overcome your fear of 3 layer instead of the usual 2 layers and you can delay your gradification for at least 24 hours (you can continue to scrape the frosting bowl if need be), you will be rewarded with a decadent cake that tastes fantastic and you may just stop thinking that cakes from scratch are dry, crumbling and tasteless creations.

shirlsaw on 2.26.2012

Made this for my Mother’s 81st birtday – the family loved it. Even the coconut haters didn’t mind it at all. I agree with Ellen – it is not complicated to make. I noticed the other comparable recipes on this site had identical cake recipes but double the frosting ingredients so I 1.5x the frosting ingredients EXCEPT on the powdered sugar (used only 18 ounces) since my family does not like sweet frostings – it was perfect. I did not mix the coconut and nuts into the frosting – just pressed some nuts on the side of the cake for decoration.

misspriss on 4.9.2012

I made this Saturday to take to my boyfriends family’s Easter gathering and it was a huge hit! His aunt (whose favorite cake is Italian Cream Cake) said it was better than any IC cake she’d ever made or had! After lunch there was only 1/4 of the cake left and everyone was arguing about who was going to be the one to take the leftovers home! Needless to say I’ll be making this cake again (probably by request), thanks for sharing such a great recipe!

jhooks4 on 6.9.2012

I made this for Mother’s Day and everyone loved it! It was gone in no time…this will be my new recipe for Italian Cream Cake!

rhoda on 11.18.2012

I LOVE THIS CAKE!!!
I had an Italian themed supper club party and this was the dessert I served. It was a huge hit. There were at least 20 people at the party and everyone loved this cake. Moist and tasty. It was truly delicious. Thanks for sharing.

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