Ahhh, Italian Cream Cake—rich, fluffy, coconut-pecan glory 🤍🍰
Here’s a classic, bakery-style recipe that comes out tender and not too sweet, with that iconic cream cheese frosting.
Italian Cream Cake (Traditional)
🧁 Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4–5 cups powdered sugar (to taste)
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
🍰 Instructions
- Prep
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Grease and flour three 9-inch round pans (or two if you want taller layers)
- Dry ingredients
- Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream fats + sugar
- Beat butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy (2–3 minutes).
- Egg yolks
- Beat in yolks one at a time.
- Mix in vanilla.
- Alternate
- Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with dry.
- Fold in
- Stir in coconut and pecans.
- Egg whites (the magic step)
- Beat egg whites until stiff peaks.
- Gently fold into batter—this is what makes the cake ultra-light.
- Bake
- Divide batter evenly.
- Bake 22–25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely before frosting.
🧁 Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar gradually.
- Mix in vanilla and salt.
- Beat until fluffy and spreadable.
🎂 Assemble
- Frost between layers, outside, and top.
- Optional: press extra toasted pecans onto the sides or sprinkle coconut on top.
Pro Tips ✨
- Toast the pecans lightly for deeper flavor
- Chill the cake 30 minutes before slicing for clean cuts
- Tastes even better the next day
If you want, I can:
- Make it extra moist
- Convert it to cupcakes
- Do a lighter/not-too-sweet frosting
- Or explain why it’s called Italian (spoiler: not actually Italian 😄)
Just tell me!
