🍰 Southern Italian Cream Cake
A luxurious, ultra-moist vintage cake packed with sweet flaked coconut and crunchy walnuts, topped off with a velvety, pecan-studded cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
The Cake Batter:
- 1 stick margarine or butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 5 egg whites (stiffly beaten)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 small can coconut
- 1 cup walnuts (chopped)
The Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened)
- ½ stick margarine or butter
- 1 lb confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup pecans (chopped)
Baking Instructions
🌡️ Oven Temp: 350°F
- Prep the Base: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the 1 stick of butter and ½ cup of shortening. Add the sugar and beat dynamically until the mixture is completely smooth. Beat in the 5 egg yolks.
- Alternate Mix: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Add this dry mixture to the creamed base alternately with the buttermilk, blending gently between additions.
- Fold & Fold: Stir in the vanilla extract, canned shredded coconut, and chopped walnuts. Gently fold the 5 stiffly beaten egg whites into the dense batter to incorporate air.
- Bake & Cool: Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for approximately 35 minutes. Let the cake cool completely in the pan.
- Frost with Flair: For the icing, beat the cream cheese and ½ stick of margarine together until smooth. Progressively beat in the confectioners sugar, blend in the vanilla, stir in the chopped pecans, and whip until fluffy. Spread over the cooled cake.