Italian Cream Cake
By Lizzie on February 9, 2022
Happy February, my friends! Are you in the middle of a snowstorm, or do you have warm weather in your part of the country? My husband and I just got back from Deer Valley, Utah for our first vacation in way too many months, and we had THE best time. The last few years have been rough for most of us, but I have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever needed a vacation quite as much as this one, and we had a lovely time getting away to one of my favorite places in the country!! Wouldn’t you know it was colder here in Florida than it was in Utah on the morning we left, and we didn’t even see more than a few snowflakes fall from the sky? It was a quick trip, and the day we left…it was a balmy 1 degree in Utah and 83 degrees back in Florida when we returned. I know the grass is always greener, but I am so ready to leave Florida for a state in which there are 4 seasons once again. 🙂 I think we are here to stay for at least the next few years, so for now…I’ll enjoy 9 months of hot and humid weather 🙂
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and it happens to be one of my favorite holidays because it’s all about my favorite thing besides dessert…and that is LOVE 🙂 I could celebrate this holiday every day of the year because there is nothing more important to me than the ones I love and those who love me in return!!
Baking cakes is always so much fun and decorating them is an exciting challenge for me!! Wilton sent me the most adorable Valentines decorations, heart shaped pans, and piping tips, so I had a great time creating this cake!!
My Italian Cream Cake is so scrumptious…filled with pecans and coconut, and surrounded by a tender and moist buttermilk cake, this is the cake of my dreams!! I hope you love baking this as much as I did!! Make it for someone you love!! Happy Valentines day, my friends. I love all of my followers !!!
An easy to make and delicious batter!
I love these heart shaped pans by Wilton!
They baked up on the thinner side, so it was the perfect way to use 3 layers in this cake!!
So moist and delicious…be careful not to over bake them because they are thin layers!
Make the cream cheese buttercream while the cakes are cooling!
I used a few drops of red gel food coloring to tint the buttercream pink. You can use more to make it red, or any color you’d like!
Use lots of buttercream between the layers!!
Use an ice cream scoop to make sure there is the same amount of frosting between the cooled layers!
I used several different Wilton piping tips to create this fun look after the cake was crumb coated and frosted!
Next, I added these edible conversation hearts 🙂
The cutest sprinkles complete the cake!!
How cute is this?
I cut a slice this way, then figured out I should slice the cake all the way across, then slice those pieces into 3s.
Is it bad that I ate two pieces while I was shooting these photos? 🙂
How pretty is this slice? I added strawberries to the plate for color 🙂
Hearts are my favorite shape. I had a lot of fun with this shoot 🙂
Right before that bite went straight into my mouth 🙂
The perfect Valentines dessert if you ask me 🙂
Italian Cream Cake
Makes: 1, 8 inch 3 layer cake Prep time: 30 minutes Bake time: 15 to 17 minutes
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup, softened unsalted Organic Valley butter
2 cups Dixie Crystals granulated sugar
5 large Organic Valley eggs
2 cups all purpose flour, scooped and leveled
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole buttermilk
1 and 1/2 teaspoons Nielsen Massey vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
Cream Cheese Buttercream
1 cup, softened unsalted Organic Valley butter
16 ounces softened, Organic Valley cream cheese
2 teaspoons Nielsen Massey vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
32 ounces Dixie Crystals powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease, flour and line 3 heart shaped, or 8 inch pans with parchment and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy..about 3 minutes.
Add in your eggs, one at a time until well incorporated.
Add in the vanilla, salt and baking soda.
Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk until just blended.
Fold in the pecans and coconut.
Divide the batter equally in the pans. I used an ice cream scoop to do this.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until very lightly golden brown. Keep an eye out to make sure they don’t over bake.
Cool for 10 minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Make the frosting
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until fully combined and creamy.
Add in the vanilla and salt and mix until incorporated.
Slowly add in the powdered sugar and beat until the frosting is very smooth and creamy.
I added about 6 drops of red gel food coloring to make this pink color. You can use any color you like!
Fill and crumb coat the cake, then place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
Place the frosting in the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up before you frost and decorate the cake.
Serve the same day!
I chilled the cake before I cut it into slices and wrapped each one in wax paper and foil and froze them. I wanted to serve it to company coming this weekend and wanted the cake to be fresh. If you don’t eat the cake the same day, or the next, I would freeze it for up to a month.
Enjoy!!
xo
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