07 Apr Italian Cream Cake
This post is in honor of my fabulously youthful, eternally restless mother who recently upped her crazy on me. Moms do that sometimes, right? Mine can’t be the only one.
Anyway. My mother, like most other women, is constantly searching for the fountain of youth. She has affectionately nicknamed herself a “drugstore wh*re” because of her penchant for drugstore cosmetics. Recently she decided that the answer to all of her aging ailments is the classically preppy hairstyle – the pony tail. Who knew that the secret to foiling dark spots and fine lines was to have a perky little pony tail?
Minor issue. Mom has short hair. In an effort to find a quick solve to her dilemma (and here is where she really kicks the crazy up a notch), she tossed out the idea of buying a FAKE ponytail, because her friend at work has one and “it looks really cute“.
For obvious reasons I shot that idea down immediately. She put up a fight, even crediting the fact that she could buy something made out of real human hair.
The mature, semi-adult side of me tells me to understand that wigs made from human hair are a great option for those who are dealing with hair loss for a variety of different, possibly fairly traumatic reasons. And I do, I get that.
But then there is my other side. The side that envisions clumps of hair lodged in shower drains and gets the heebie-jeebies. That side is thoroughly freaked out at the thought of putting somebody else’s discarded tresses anywhere near my (or my mother’s) head.
But Mom has her heart set on “the look”, so we reached a compromise – she is going to attempt to grow her hair out. (Even though she did a few years ago and thus, loathes every picture of herself from 2006-2008.)
The fact that I can tease her like this (perhaps taking it a little too far at times) is evidence that she isn’t only my mom, but also my very best friend. Her signature spunk is just one of the many things that that make her so lovable.
Happy Birthday to the best looking 60-something year old woman I know! I love you bunches!
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
- 1 cup of finely chopped pecans (note: Italian wedding cake is traditionally made with walnuts but I prefer TX Pecans)
- 5 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup olive oil (you can substitute vegetable oil but I feel like the olive oil make it extra authentic!)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 8oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
- 1 tsp of buttermilk
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 8" round cake pans.
- In a stand mixer, cream butter until light a fluffy. Add sugar and beat until well combined.
- Add vanilla and combine. Add egg yolks and 1/2 cup of olive oil, mix well.
- In a separate bowl sift together flour and baking soda.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixture a little at a time alternating with the buttermilk, about 1/4 cup at a time.
- Fold in pecans and coconut.
- In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks.
- With a spatula gently fold in your egg whites into the batter. Be gentle! This is what will make your cake light and fluffy!
- Pour batter into cake pans and bake until light brown, approximately 25-30 minutes. Note: The original recipe said 30-60 min, but I baked mine for 30 minutes and they were almost over done - check frequently!
- Set aside to cool and make your icing while you wait.
- For the icing, beat together cream cheese, butter, buttermilk, vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Begin adding powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments, until icing reaches desired sweetness and consistency.
- To assemble the cake, stack the cakes adding a generous layer of buttercream in between each.
- Using a spatula frost the sides and top. Garnish with pecans and refrigerate until time to serve.
adapted from: the tasteful life
Tracy
Posted at 09:31h, 27 JuneI’m confused. 1 stick of butter is only 1/2 cup…so… which is correct?
KWahlman
Posted at 09:34h, 27 JuneOops! Thanks for catching that typo. It’s 1/2 cup butter, or 1 stick.
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Posted at 11:44h, 25 March[…] cake has always been my mothers’s favorite (perhaps only trumped on occasion by Italian Cream Cake), and most years when I was growing up she used Easter Sunday as an excuse to bring one home from […]
Jaimie E.
Posted at 20:57h, 11 Julyemmm, that must be delicious!!