Presenting my best baking masterpiece to date! This was the best cream cheese icing cake I’ve had and touches from the pecans, coconut, and gingersnaps made it taste out of this world. Recipe below to try it for yourself!
Need a fun, tasty cake for any occasion? Try this versatile Italian Cream Cake!🎂
I’ve only had Italian Cream Cake maybe once in my entire life from an Italian restaurant. I remember it was so good and thought this would be a nice touch to all the food we already enjoy in the winter/holiday season. I also found this cute message on another Instagram post and thought I would take a spin on it! With Evan’s and my birthday so close to Christmas and New Year’s, our birthdays are always grouped into the holidays and everyone just overlooks it (#forgotten). Everyone got a good laugh from it!
I think it turned out amazing, taste and decoration-wise, so read below on my take on Italian Cream Cake!
| Cake | Cream Cheese Icing | Decorations |
| 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 2 cups sugar 5 large eggs, egg yolk & whites separated 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda ¼ tsp salt 1 cup buttermilk (sub for 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup coconut flakes | 10 oz. cream cheese 3/4 cup butter, softened 5 cups powdered sugar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract | 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup coconut flakes 2 sheets of sugar letter decorations 10 gingersnap cookies (or cookie of your choice!) |
Cream Cheese Icing
I first started with making the cream cheese icing so it had some time to chill in the fridge before adding to the cake!
Use a large bowl and add cream cheese + butter. Beat together on low until smooth. Add in powdered sugar + vanilla extract and beat on low until soft and fluffy. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to spread on cake.
Cake
Preheat the over at 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch pans (yes, this will be a 3 layer cake!). I used an olive oil spray and a bit of all-purpose flour (don’t use too much flour or else cake will come out with a flakey layer!).
Use a large bowl and add softened butter, mix on low until smooth. Slowly add in sugar and continue to beat on medium. Continue this for ~5 min or until combined and smooth.
Separate egg yolks and whites into two separate small bowls. Slowly add in egg yolks and fold into mixture, beating on smooth. Lastly, add in vanilla extract and blend.
Grab another large bowl and add in flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk together until combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture and buttermilk into the original bowl and beat together on low. I added in 1/4 of the flour mixture and buttermilk into the main bowl each time. Continue to mix together until fully combined.
Beat in egg whites into the mixture on low until it appears moist and fluffy (approx. 2 min). Add in coconut flakes and chopped pecans and beat on low until fully combined.
Transfer mixture evenly into the three greased pans. Pop into the over and bake for 25 min. Remove from oven and check middle of each cake with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, let the cakes cool for 20-30 min. Otherwise, pop back in for a few min!
Decorating the Cake
This was the most fun and challenging part! I would recommend removing the cream cheese icing out of the refrigerator for 15 min or so beforehand or else the icing will start off really thick!
First, place one of the cakes onto desired serving tray, plate, or cake stand. Ice top of the cake only. Place second cake on top of the iced cake and repeat. Place the third cake on top of the other two and then ice around the sides of the cake. If the cake stand gets really messy from the icing, that’s okay! We’ll clean it up later!
Once cake is fully iced (except for the top!), grab your pecan pieces. I individually started placing the pecans on the sides by sticking them into the icing. I tried sprinkling them on, but it honestly looked better to just take your time and place them on one by one.
Once finished, grab a wet paper towel and run your finger along the bottom of the cake stand to clean off any excess icing or pecan pieces. Then, grab your coconut flakes and sprinkle them along the bottom of the cake. Place as much or as little as desired!
Then, ice the top of the cake and try avoiding it to run on the sides or cover any pecans. Place your gingersnaps or cookies of choice along the top perimeter of the cake. Lastly, add your message as desired! The message I put required 2 of the decorative sugar letter sheets, but I honestly could have used 3 if I wanted to spell out “December” (I ran out of E’s and M’s!).
That’s It! Enjoy your Italian Cream Cake <3
xx, Rachelle
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