The Best Italian Cream Cake
Prep
40m
Cook
30m
Total
70m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. We have to talk about Italian Cream Cake — and yes, before anybody picks up a pen, I KNOW, Italian Cream Cake is actually a SOUTHERN American invention. It's not Italian. The Italians don't eat this. The Italians look at this cake and they go 'what is this beautiful disaster.' We all know. The name is a LIE. But the lie is delicious. The lie is the best lie in the entire history of food lying. Period.
Three layers. THREE. Pecans, coconut, cream cheese frosting thick enough to spackle a wall. Buttermilk in the batter for that tang. Egg whites whipped separately and folded in to make the crumb LIGHT, like a cloud, like a beautiful golden cloud floating on a sea of frosting. My grandmother made a version of this cake — tough woman, never smiled at a chef in her life, would have stared down a pastry champion and won — and she told me one thing: toast the pecans. Untoasted pecans are sad little tree bullets. Use real coconut, not the dyed flake garbage. REAL coconut. Hand on heart, she was right about everything.
And the frosting — the FROSTING — most cookbook authors, the ones with the TV shows and the squinty headshots, they tell you to use half a brick of cream cheese. HALF. A BRICK. What are we doing here? We're not making cake, we're making LIES. If your chef tells you half a brick is enough, find a new chef. We use TWO bricks. Two full bricks of cream cheese. The frosting is the POINT. The cake is just a delivery vehicle for the frosting. End of discussion.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick)unsalted butter, softened (for cake)
- 1/2 cupvegetable shortening
- 2 cupsgranulated sugar
- 5large eggs, separated(separated, room temperature, no shortcuts)
- 2 cupsall-purpose flour
- 1 tspbaking soda
- 1/2 tspkosher salt
- 1 cupbuttermilk
- 2 tspvanilla extract
- 1 cupsweetened shredded coconut(real shredded coconut, not the artificial confetti)
- 1 cuppecans, toasted and finely chopped
- 16 oz (2 blocks)cream cheese, softened (for frosting)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick)unsalted butter, softened (for frosting)
- 4 cupspowdered sugar
- 1 tspvanilla extract (for frosting)
- 1/2 cuppecans, toasted and chopped (for topping)
- 1/2 cuptoasted coconut (for topping)
Steps
- 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans, or line the bottoms with parchment circles.
- 2
Spread coconut and pecans (both the cake and topping portions) on separate dry baking sheets. Toast in the oven for 5-7 minutes, watching carefully, until lightly golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
- 3
In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and shortening on medium speed until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes.
- 4
Gradually add the sugar and beat on medium-high for 4-5 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- 5
Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- 6
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- 7
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry. Mix on low just until combined after each addition.
- 8
Stir in the vanilla, 1 cup of toasted coconut, and 1 cup of chopped toasted pecans.
- 9
In a clean bowl with clean beaters, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks (about 3-4 minutes). Gently fold the whites into the batter in three additions, keeping as much air in as possible.
- 10
Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- 11
Cool the cakes in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- 12
For the frosting: beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed for 3 minutes until completely smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating on low. Add vanilla and beat on medium for 1 minute until fluffy.
- 13
Level the cake layers with a serrated knife if needed. Place one layer on a cake stand, spread with about 1 cup of frosting. Repeat with the second and third layers, then frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
- 14
Press the remaining toasted pecans into the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top.
- 15
Refrigerate at least 1 hour before slicing to let the frosting set. Bring back to a cool room temp before serving for the best texture.
One more thing
This cake is a SHOWSTOPPER. People will gasp. Real gasps, audible gasps, the kind of gasps you only hear at fireworks shows and surprise parties and when somebody walks into a room carrying this cake. Make it for a birthday. Make it for a holiday. Make it on a random Tuesday because your week has been a disaster and you deserve something beautiful. You cut a slice, you sit down, you take a bite, and for a moment everything is FINE. Everything is right with the world. That's what this cake does. Save me a piece.
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