Italian Cream Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal, and the first reveal for group B of 2014. This month I was assigned the blog it bakes me happy and as soon as I saw the name of the blog I knew I would love it, as I love baking and I usually end up making a dessert or baking something for the secret recipe club each month.

I immediately went to the cakes and cupcakes recipes that Emily has on her blog and at first I thought about making her vanilla birthday cake, as it's Randal's birthday next month and I still haven't perfected a great vanilla cake recipe.

As soon as I saw the Italian Cream Cake though, I knew this was the recipe I wanted to make this month.  I have never made an Italian cream cake before, I don't think I've ever tried an Italian cream cake before but we both loved this cake, so much so that Randal has actually requested I make it again for his birthday next month, so it looks like I did find his birthday cake on Emily's blog after all!

Cake:
1 stick butter
1 cup crisco
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk
1 small bag coconut
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped
5 egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks
pinch of salt

Frosting:
1 lb icing sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

To make the cake, in a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer add the sugar and crisco and cream together. Add the egg yolks and mix together. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk.  Add in the vanilla and fold in the egg whites, along with the coconut and pecans.

Divide the batter between 3 8 inch greased cake pans and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy. Stir in the chopped pecans.

To assemble the cake, spread a thin layer of the frosting between each cake layer, then use the rest of the frosting to cover the cake, and top with chopped pecans.