This Italian cream cake is the best ever. Every Christmas or big occasion at our house requires one, so. People frequently ask for this recipe. a little time-consuming, but well worth the work.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 2-tiered 9-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¾ cups white sugar
- 1 ½ cups butter, softened
- ¼ cup shortening
- 5 eggs
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped
- 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez®)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 ¼ cups pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- Spread coconut flakes thinly over a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high until lightly browned, stirring every 30 seconds, 2 to 3 minutes total.
- Place coconut in a blender and grind into a fine powder.
- Combine coconut powder, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
- Beat sugar, butter, and shortening until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour mixture alternately with coconut-buttermilk mixture, mixing between additions. Mix in pecans. Divide batter between the pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 28 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool on wire racks, at least 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Mix in cream of coconut, vanilla extract, and salt. Add cream cheese; beat until well combined. Place 1 cooled cake on a serving platter and spread frosting all over. Place the other cake on top; coat with remaining frosting.
- Press remaining pecans around and on top of the cake to garnish.
- Coconut can be toasted in a skillet or in the oven.
- Make sure to use cream of coconut, not coconut cream–they are 2 different products. Cream of coconut can usually be found in the aisle where drink mixers are.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1012 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 93 g |
| Cholesterol | 201 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 35 g |
| Sodium | 668 mg |
| Sugars | 65 g |
| Fat | 69 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I attempted to make this cake as is. I recently made the “Italian Wedding Cake” recipe and it turned out fantastic. Making this cake was fine. It was lighter than the other recipe probably because of the cake flour. If you like a lighter cake, make this one. However, the frosting has some flaws. It was much to runny. I ended up having to make the other recipes icing from this, which wasn’t easy. 4/5 on the cake, 2/5 on the frosting. In my opinion, make the other recipe as is.
Boy, this was a lot of work! But Boy, was it worth it? YES, YES, YES! This is the BEST Italian Cream Cake I have ever had! It makes quite a big cake so I was able to slice and freeze 1/2 of it. That way whenever I have a taste for this I can just reach into the freezer and be eating this in a couple of hours. I will be making this for an upcoming family get together and I know they will absolutely love it!