My Italian cream cake recipe has been in my recipe book for 20+ years. I make it over and over. And it's the recipe I've posted below.
But I have a little story first. This summer we were vacationing in Galveston Texas. (Well, let's call it a chaotic trip with 8 kids.) One steamy afternoon my daughter and I escaped the mayhem of the "younger" kids to check out Moody Gardens.
We shot photos in the Rainforest Pyramid first. Then went to the Butterfly Gardens. After a full dose of Texas humidity we wanted to rest in silence and eat sugar!
We chose the only non-food-court eatery, "The Garden Restaurant". And of all things they hadItalian Cream Cake on the dessert menu!
I thought - hmmm interesting. Texas is thousands of culinary miles from Italy. But this is one of those traditional Italian cakes. And this recipe just doesn't vary much.
I figured it would be from a bakery. And it would probably have resided in a freezer for a bit of it's life span. Still no problem. I just wanted a kid free sugar moment.
This bakery rendition was OK. Not bad.
When you make this - skip the Texas yeehaw syrup rendition shown in my photo. Stay true to the authentic Italian Cream Cake Recipe I have used for years and years. You can take a couple of liberties with this - check out the section below.
Yes, Moody Gardens is beautiful. And yes, I would order their cake again. It's the standard recipe. I'd just order it without the freaky syrups drizzles and swirls.
If this wasn't the type of Italian cake you were hunting for - scroll down and you will see the list and photos of all Italian cakes on my site.
Thanks for stopping by!
* 1 cup butter
* 5 egg yolks
* 5 egg whites - beaten to form soft peaks
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 2 cups white flour
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup walnuts ( see substitution ideas below)
* 3/4 cup coconut
* 1 1/8 cup sour milk (or buttermilk)
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 4 cups powdered sugar (Sift it IF it's lumpy!)
* 1 cup butter
* 4 ozs cream cheese
* 1 Tbsp of rum (optional!)
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 cup orange marmalade (optional!)
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees Faherenheit.
* Lightly grease and flour 9 in round cake pans.
* Separate the eggs.
* Beat the whites until soft peaks form - and set those aside for a bit.
* Cream the egg yolks, butter and sugar.
* Set them aside.
* Take out two bowls - one for the dry ingredients, and another for the milk and vanilla.
* In the bigger bowl combine the dry stuff - flour, baking soda, salt, nuts and coconut.
* In the smaller bowl or tiny pitcher - add the vanilla to the sour milk or buttermilk (whatever you chose).
* Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk ingredients to the egg/butter/sugar you creamed together.
*Whew* you're almost down to one bowl.
* Now, fold in those egg whites.
* Pour the batter into your prepared pans.
* Bake for about 20 - . Do the basic tooth pick test to be sure.
* Beat together all the ingredients.
* Set the orange marmalade in a cup or pitcher so you can pour it out slowly.
* MAKE SURE your cake has cooled.
* For the middle layer drizzle orange marmalade OVER the frosting. (Check out my Orange Marmalade Recipe if you want more marmalade for other things!)
* If you want to drizzle it on top - try warming it a bit first, and then it will be "drizzly" looking instead of clumps.
When I don't feel like going to the store - I add a tsp of white vinegar per each 1 cup of milk. *Poof* No gas wasted.
Yeah. I've seen American renditions that use pecans. And really, I think it tastes just fine.
One thing if you stick with walnuts - DON'T EVER use BLACK walnuts. They are very strong and would over power this cake.
You CAN, but man, that's what makes it authentic. You can buy it. Or you can make it too. Check out my Orange Marmalade Recipe
NOPE! Yeah, I notice a lot of recipes listed in all recipes and other spots have so many cakes using shortening. But they are crap for the most part. We just don't use shortening much (sometimes we do), but for the most part it's butter baby!
Notice this is an "Italian CREAM cake recipe"?
"Cream" denotes DAIRY! Margarine is fake (non-dairy). Shortening will kill you. Oil belongs in other recipes. And very few non-dairy fake products are ever used in true Italian dessert recipes.Back to the top of the Italian cream cake recipe.
