HOMEMADE ITALIAN CREAM CAKE

Name: HOMEMADE ITALIAN CREAM CAKE
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 85 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 1 stick (8 tbsp) salted butter, (softened to room temp.); 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, (Crisco); 2 cups sugar; 5 egg yolks; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut; 1 cup chopped pecans; 5 beaten egg whites; 1 stick (8 tbsp) salted butter, (softened to room temp.); 1 block (8 oz.) cream cheese, (softened to room temp.); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 box (16 oz.) powdered sugar; shredded sweetened coconut and chopped pecans, (for topping)

September 5, 2018 by Brandie @ The Country Cook 31 Comments

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5 from 9 votes

The Best Homemade Italian Cream Cake with Butter Cream Cheese Frosting recipe is a moist cake with sweetened coconut and chopped pecans!

HOMEMADE ITALIAN CREAM CAKE

I’m convinced that the key to a homemade cake coming out tender and moist (sorry, I know a lot of people hate that word but it’s really the only one that applies here) is buttermilk! I use it in my ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE CAKE and decided to use it in this Homemade Italian Cream Cake recipe as well.

WHY USE BUTTERMILK IN HOMEMADE CAKES?

Switching out the milk for buttermilk makes all the difference! Also, I have always found homemade white or vanilla cakes to be drier than their boxed mix cake mix counterparts. I feel like I can almost say that I have tried all the vanilla cake recipes over the years.

CAKE FROM SCRATCH VERSUS CAKE MIX

What I end up having to do with a lot of homemade cakes is poke tiny holes and then pour a simple syrup (sugar dissolved in water) on top to make the cake moist. That is actually a trick that some bakeries and diners use. Especially if they sell cakes by the slice. It means the slices won’t get hard after cutting. I’m not sure I can ever get a ‘from-scratch’ cake to come out quite as tender as a boxed mix but I think this comes pretty dang close. The vegetable shortening helps too. Tip: Try switching out the vanilla extract with almond extract to give it an unexpected slight pop of flavor in the background.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
For the cake:  
salted butter
vegetable shortening (Crisco)
sugar
egg yolks
buttermilk
vanilla extract
baking soda
all-purpose flour
shredded sweetened coconut
chopped pecans
egg whites

For the frosting:  
salted butter
cream cheese
vanilla extract
powdered sugar
shredded sweetened coconut

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE ITALIAN CAKE:

Preheat oven to 325f degrees.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (like Baker’s Joy.)

In a large mixing bowl (or in the stand of an electric mixer) mix together butter, shortening and sugar until smooth.

Add in egg yolks one at a time, mixing with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer after each egg, until blended.

In a small bowl mix together buttermilk, vanilla extract and baking soda.

Add 1/2 a cup of flour at a time, and 1/4 of the buttermilk mixture,
Repeat this until flour is added and buttermilk mixture is added. Blend well with hand mixer or stand mixer each time you add an ingredient.

Gently stir in the pecans, sweetened coconut, and beaten egg whites, until well blended. Pour batter into prepared baking dish.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Reduce heat to 225f degrees, and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.

For the frosting: 
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, stir together butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and 1/4 of the box of powdered sugar.

Mix on high until smooth and add more powdered sugar. Continue this process until the box is empty and frosting is completely smooth.

Frost the cooled cake and top with coconut and pecans. And serve. Any leftovers need to be refrigerated

Enjoy!