I spent Thanksgiving with some sweet friends, and much to my own amusement, was placed in charge of desserts. I'll post about Thanksgiving as a whole separately, but I wanted to include the recipe for Italian Cream Cake on its own. I keep promising to share the recipe, so here we go:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ cup Crisco
2 cups sugar
5 eggs, separated
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small can of coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Sift the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Cream the shortening, sugar, and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Add the flour/soda mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk until both are incorporated. Add the vanilla extract. Using a spatula, fold in the coconut and the pecans. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. Fold them into the batter mixture.
Generously butter and flour three 8-inch cake pans OR one 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes for the 8-inch pans, or 45-60 minutes for the 13x9 pan.
Allow to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese icing.
NOTE: If you make three 8-inch layers, you will need two recipes of the frosting. You only need one recipe if you make the 13x9 sheet cake.
CREAM CHEESE ICING
8 ounces cream cheese
½ stick butter
1 box confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Mix butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar. Add vanilla extract. Fold in pecans.
