Italian Cream Cake

My daughter had her annual Christmas party on Saturday. I am the dessert caterer for her, and I like to try out new things. The Italian Cream Cake was a big hit, so I will share it with you. Her decorations were beautiful and her house looked so pretty. I will post the photos at the end of this post, so as not to bore those of you who really don't care to see them. Coincidentally, the theme was Buon Natale. (Italian)

This cake makes three layers. You could make it in 2 but would better if you cut the 2 layers in half and made a 4 layer cake. But why not just buy an extra pan? $6.99 at HomeGoods.

Cut wax or parchment paper rounds for the bottoms of three 9 inch round cake pans. Then spray with Pam if you are neurotic and are afraid it will stick. Otherwise just the paper will do.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Batter:
1/2 cup Land O Lakes butter
1/2 cup Crisco
2 cups sugar

Cream together above ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle until smooth.

5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Separate the whites from the yolks. Reserve the whites and add the yolks one at a time mixing after each addition until incorporated. Add the vanilla with the last yolk and beat until smooth.

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda

Sift together the flour and soda.

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (either from the baking aisle or in the frozen food)

Alternate adding the flour and soda with the buttermilk, ending with buttermilk. Then add pecans and coconut.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. GENTLY FOLD the egg whites into the cake batter by hand.

Divide the bater evenly between the 3 pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or until you put your ear near the center and it is not making a noise. (thats how I do it).

Remove cakes from oven. Let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto wax paper or parchment. Allow to cool COMPLETELY.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 - 8oz. cream cheese at room temp
1/2 cup butter at room temp
2 lbs. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Garnish:
1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans
(Trader Joes has really good Toasted, salted, chopped pecans. Really good in this recipe)

In a mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar about 2 cups at a time. Add the vanilla and beat beat beat until fluffy.

When cake has COMPLETELY cooled, place icing in between each layer and then around the sides and on top of cake. Tip: if you put a very thin skim of icing around the side and top of cake it will seal the crumbs and then they won't mess up your finished product.

Garnish with pecans on top of the cake.

Note:
I bake the layers, let them cool, then wrap with plastic wrap and freeze ahead of time. I make the frosting and put it in the frig. Then the day I am going to serve it, I icing the frozen layers and then let it thaw at room temp. Then you don't have to make room for it in the frig. If you have room, you can also make the cake the day before and icing it and keep it in the frig. Take it out of the frig at least 4 hours before serving. I hate cold cake!