Italian Creme Cake

Ciao belli (Hello, beautiful)! Before I head out of town for a few days, I want to leave you with this glorious dessert!

I love to travel. I am an "on-the-go" girl! I can be gone for weeks and be completely content. We live right smack dab in the middle of this beautifully landscaped Country and we get to travel it often. I've never stepped foot on foreign soil though. One day I'd love to travel to this little villa in Italy that I recently read about. That is the inspiration for this cake! Is Italian Creme Cake really from Italy? If so, I hope to have a slice one day when I visit there. And maybe come home with a recipe!

I don't have any culinary training. Never even worked in the kitchen at a restaurant before. But that doesn't stop me from tasting food, loving it and being inspired to create a recipe to make it. This is sooo gooood! Holy Cow you have to try this amazing cake.

And for those of you who know me and are concerned. Yes, I do make this fabulous food and I try it. The key word here is try. I do not eat the whole thing. In fact we give the food away to very appreciative neighbors and friends! I promise you...I am still very careful of the foods we eat and I'll be sharing with you more of those recipes as time goes on! 
 

Italian Creme Cake

Ingredients
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
1 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
5 eggs
1 c buttermilk
1 c coconut
1 c pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. In a small mixing bowl (I use a 4 cup measuring cup) mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, keeping both. Add vanilla and the egg yolks to the creamed butter and sugar mixture and mix well. Next add the dry ingredients, buttermilk, coconut and chopped nuts. Do not over mix, just until mostly incorporated. Ok, now beat the egg whites until stiff, you don't have to be overly concerned with how stiff, just until it looks nice and white and fluffy. Now gently fold them into the rest of the cake batter.

Grease cake pans, I used 2 - 9" square pans. I also lined the pans with parchment paper because I am otherwise not successful in removing the cake from the pan. Evenly distribute the batter into the 2 pans.  Bake for 35 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool completely. I  am so impatient I always place the cakes on the cooling rack and set them in the freezer while I make the frosting. Is that bad? Probably is, just don't tell anyone who really knows about baking.

Cream Cheese Pecan Frosting
12 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 c butter, room temp
2 tsp vanilla
4 c powdered sugar
1 c coconut
1 c pecans, chopped

Cream the butter, cream cheese and vanilla together. Add the powdered sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Stir in the coconut. Now frost the top of the bottom cake (this will be the middle filling with no pecans). Stir in the pecans to the remaining frosting. Set the top cake on the bottom cake. Frost the top and sides of the layered cake. I would recommend refrigerating it before serving. The frosting will firm up and it will slice better.

Now cut a small slice of cake, take a bite, close your eyes and imagine that you are at a quaint cafe in Italy! Godere!

Warmly,
Mary