Italian Cream Cake – A Southern Classic

Italian Cream Cake is a classic Southern dessert perfect for any special occasion. Indulge in this moist and delicious cake layered with creamy, fluffy frosting and enveloped with toasted pecans. Surprise your friends and family with a homemade bakery-quality dessert.

Jump to:

• Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need
• Steps to Make the Cakes
• To Make the Frosting
• To Assemble the Italian Cream Cake
• Recipe Tips and Tricks
• Other Great Pecan Desserts
• Recipe

Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need

Steps to Make the Cakes

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans, then line with parchment paper. Set the pans aside until ready to use.

Put on a pair of vinyl glove and using your hands, separate the eggs. Allow them to come to room temperature.

2. Measure one cup of buttermilk in a two-cup measuring cup. Add the baking soda and stir to combine. (The chemical reaction between the two will cause the buttermilk to double in volume.) Set aside until ready to use.

3. Whisk together the cake flour and table salt. Set aside until ready to use.

4. Place the unsalted butter, shortening, and white sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit it with the paddle attachment and mix at medium to high speed for 3-5 minutes.

5. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the inside of the bowl. Then, with the machine running on medium, add the egg yolks one at a time. Then, add the vanilla extract.

6. Add the cake flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately, beginning with the cake flour, about ½ cup at a time.

7. Add the buttermilk mixture about ½ cup at a time, alternating with the cake flour mixture and ending with the buttermilk.

8. Transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl, add the toasted pecan pieces and sweetened coconut flakes, and gently fold them into the batter.

9. Wash and dry the bowl from the stand mixer really well. (If the bowl is not clean and dry, the egg whites won’t whip properly.) Add the egg white to the bowl, then fit the mixer with the whisk attachment. Turn the machine on low.

10. Gradually increase the mixer speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks are formed.

11. Add about ⅓ of the whipped egg whites to the batter. Then, gently fold them in.

12. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold them into the batter.

13. Using a large ice cream scoop, evenly divide the batter among the prepared pans.

14. Using a silicone spatula, carefully smooth the batter out evenly in the pans. Bake all three pans at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.

15. Remove the pans from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.

16. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove them from the pans and allow them to cool completely, right side up, on cooling racks. If the cakes are upside down, the tops will stick to the cooling racks and damage the cakes.

To Make the Frosting

1. Place unsalted butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and a few pinches of table salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit it with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-high until well combined and smooth, for about two minutes.

2. Scrape down the inside of the bowl, add about a cup of powdered sugar, and beat on medium-low speed to begin with. Then, increase the speed of the mixer to medium until all of the sugar has been incorporated. Continue adding powdered sugar, about a cup at a time, until all eight cups have been added, making sure to scrape the bowl between each addition.

3. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for about five minutes until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

To Assemble the Italian Cream Cake

1. Fit a disposable piping bag with a large 1M star tip. Then, using a large ice cream scoop, add about one cup of frosting to the bag. Set aside until ready to use.

Place a small amount of frosting on the center of a cardboard cake round to hold the cake in place. Then, place one of the layers right side up on the center of the round. Using a large ice cream scoop, add about a cup of frosting to the top of the cake.

2. Use an icing spatula to smooth the frosting into a smooth layer.

3. Sprinkle about ¼ cup of toasted pecan pieces over the top of the frosting.

4. Place the second cake layer upside down on top of the pecans. Then, add about a cup of frosting and use an icing spatula to smooth it into an even layer.

5. Sprinkle a ¼ cup of toasted pecan pieces over the smoothed frosting. Then, place the third layer upside down on top of the pecans.

6. Cover the entire outside of the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Then, place the cake, along with the bowl of frosting in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

7. Remove the cake and the frosting from the refrigerator. Coat the entire outside of the cake in a second layer of frosting. Make sure the top is as smooth as possible.

8. Once the cake is frosted, use your hands to press toasted pecan pieces into the sides.

9. Pipe a circle of 12 swirls around the edge of the top of the cake using the reserved frosting.

10. Then, place a toasted pecan half on top of each swirl. Store the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to a week. Remove the Italian Cream Cake from the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

With moist cake layers, fluffy cream cheese frosting, and loaded with toasted pecan, Italian Cream Cake is a Southern classic that never fails to impress. This timeless dessert is perfect for any special occasion or holiday dessert spread.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• To toast the pecans, place on a half-sheet pan in a 300°F oven for ten minutes.

Other Great Pecan Desserts

Recipe