Until a few years ago, I had never heard of Italian Cream Cake. Clearly I had been living under a rock. But not a rock in Texas. Because people in Texas know their Italian Cream Cakes.
I first heard about this ultra-rich cake when we were going to have a friend (native Texan) over for her birthday dinner in our Austin home. Being the baker that I am, I asked her what her favorite cake was. Italian Cream Cake was the answer, and it baffled me. I finally told her husband that I was afraid to make one for her, because I had never eaten one, and therefore couldn’t discern which recipe might produce a “good” cake. Or even what a “good” Italian Cream Cake meant. He immediately said that he would take care of bringing the cake, from a local bakery. Neither of us wanted to disappoint the birthday girl.
It turns out that Italian Cream Cake requires a lot of butter and shortening. And a whole lot of sweetened coconut and pecans. There’s a very sweet cream cheese frosting, less cream-cheesy and more sugary than, say, carrot cake frosting. Which gets covered in more coconut and pecans. No one would ever, ever mistake it for an angel food cake, or for anything from Cooking Light. I’m pretty sure that Weight Watchers prints posters, “just say no to Italian Cream Cake.” There aren’t enough points in a week to earn one slice. Yeah. That kind of 3-layer cake.
Fast forward of couple of years, and the Austin house is long gone (we live in California again), but the friend isn’t. We stay close, as many people do, through technology and occasional visits. Which might be why my spouse asked for Italian Cream Cake on a recent birthday. It’s good to think of friends on special occasions, and all the things they taught you. Even when it means wearing your fat pants until you can run off the crazy-delicious calories.
Italian Cream Cake
Adapted from Gourmet, April 1996
Ingredients
Cake layers
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ cups vegetable shortening, softened (I use Spectrum Organic)
½ cup butter, softened
5 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (low-fat, full-fat, doesn’t matter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Frosting
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
1½ teaspoons vanilla
5½ cups powdered sugar
Topping and decoration
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
½ cup finely chopped pecans
Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 375°F. and lightly butter and flour three 9- by 2-inch round cake pans, knocking out any excess flour.
In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together sugar, shortening, and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat flour mixture into egg mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until combined. Beat in vanilla, coconut, and chopped pecans.
Beat egg whites in another bowl (with clean beater blades, or the whites won’t hold a peak) until they just hold stiff peaks. Fold into batter gently but thoroughly.
Divide batter among the three pans, smoothing the tops, and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cake layers in pans on racks 10 minutes and then invert onto racks to cool completely. (Don’t be alarmed at how fast the cake browns. That’s just the nature of this cake.)
Make frosting:
In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, beating until creamy.
Stack the completely cooled cake layers on a cake plate, spreading about 1/2 cup frosting between each layer. Spread remaining frosting on top and side of cake. Press coconut into sides of cake and sprinkle the finely chopped pecans on the top. (This cake keeps extremely well because of the high fat content. Just be sure to store it in the refrigerator and then bring to room temperature before eating.)
Tweet This Post
