Grandma Barb’s Italian Cream Cake
Watch me make this Italian Cream Cake from start to finish!!
You can ALWAYS find an Italian cream cake at my family holiday shindigs. I think everyone in my family has my grandma Barb’s highly requested Italian Cream cake recipe (and now so do you, welcome to the family!) so it really doesn’t matter who brings it. This recipe is fail-proof and always comes out tasting fabulous!
The cake itself is soft and moist with a super yummy vanilla-coconut-butter flavor. The frosting is a regular cream cheese frosting with coconut and pecans added to compliment the Italian cream cake. It’s delish and even if you don’t like coconut, I bet you’ll still love this cake!
My husband is such a coconut hater. He likes the taste of coconut but not the texture so I make sure to use finely shredded coconut and then process it to break up the flak, even more, when I’m making it for him.
Italian cream cake is such a lovely, elegant, and delicious cake. It’s so easy to make that there is really no reason to wait until a special occasion too. Make it today, just because.
Get the Recipe: Italian Cream Cake
Ingredients
- CAKE
- 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups white sugar
- 5 eggs, separated (room temperature)
- 3 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup real buttermilk, (room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cup finely shredded sweetened coconut flakes
- FROSTING
- 16 oz cream cheese, room tempt.
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups finely shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 1/2 cups pecans pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together shortening, butter and sugar.
- Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl combine flour and baking soda.
- Alternate adding the buttermilk and flour into the sugar mixture. Starting and ending with the buttermilk. Be sure to mix well after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Fold egg whites into batter.
- Stir in coconuts and pecans.
- Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 25-27 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cakes sit in pans for 5 minutes before removing from pans and placing on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Make the frosting by creaming together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and confectioners sugar.
- Stir in coconut and pecans.
- Frost & decorate cooled cake layers as desired (see video to see how I frost and decorated)
Video
Notes
Store in the fridge. Remove and let come to room temperature before serving.
Ok, right now I’m in a panic because it’s the day before Easter, and I’m making this cake for tomorrow. I followed the recipe to the letter, everything came out just like the video, except after 27 mins the center was still a bit wet and the edges perfect. I have no choice but to leave it in a little while longer until the center is cooked but so afraid the rest will be dry. Do you have any ideas why this happened? Also, I followed your recipe instructions which said to add the egg whites before the nuts and vanilla, which I did, but in your video you did the reverse I’m hoping that with the additional mixing I had to do it won’t result in a dry cake.
Chopped hazelnuts are a good substitute for those with pecan allergies like my daughter. I didn’t want to give up making this cake because of her allergy, so used the hazelnuts instead.
Love, love, love this recipe and you are so delightful to listen to and funny!! Keep up the good work! Will be making this for Easter!
Hello what is shorting in Australia and you say add the coconut and pecans in cake mixture but don’t list how much under the ingredients for the cake?
Thanks
Mira
Not sure what they call shortening in Australia. Try looking under the name vegetable shortening, vegetable fat spread, or Trex. Hope that helps…or just look online for the Australian equivalent.
shortening is called copha here in Australia (the stuff you use for chocolate crackles!)
I made this cake and it was very good my family really love this cake it was gone was gone it two days will try this cake again Thank You
I was surfing the internet for a moist basic yellow cake recipe and found your site! I am in love! Your recipes are easy and you are so down to earth! Keep up the good work! I will be purchasing those cookbooks!