“This is an old recipe from my aunt. It is both famous and infamous in our family. It is absolutely irresistible.”
Using a cake mix simplifies this holiday cake. The bonus: all the taste of the traditional method but less time in the kitchen. That’s icing on the cake!

This Italian Cream Cake with pecans and cream cheese frosting is not to be missed, especially for those southerners out there! It’s moist, creamy, and nutty—what more could you want?

What Southern girl does not love cream cheese and pecans?
This recipe was shared with me by my Mother-In-Law several years ago and I fell in love!

Several of my friends have asked me for the recipe, so I thought I would share!

I hope you give it a try and enjoy it.

Ingredients

• This is a delicious cream cake whose ingredients, when combined, allow us to obtain a delightful combination of exquisite flavors to any palate.

Ingredients for the Bread:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 14 ounces shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups toasted pecans

Ingredients for Frosting:

• 2 cream kinds of cheese, 8 oz. each, softened
• 1 cup ( 2 sticks ) butter, softened
• 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare 3 round cake pans of 9 inches each by putting vegetable shortening, butter or cooking spray, and flour in them, making sure they are well coated to prevent the cake from sticking and set aside. Mix the baking powder, flour, and baking soda altogether. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract until the mixture is light beige and creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one by one, whisking well after each addition. Then add the dry ingredients: the flour, the baking soda, and the baking powder, with the buttermilk alternately. We beat until the ingredients are perfectly combined.
Then in a small bowl, mix half of the shredded coconut with one cup of walnuts, using a spatula or a spoon.
Divide the dough mixture into three equal parts and put it in the previously greased and floured molds. Bake for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Then we put them to cool completely on a cooling rack.

To make the frosting:

Beat together the cream cheese and butter until the mixture is light, fluffy, and golden yellow. Then add the vanilla and gradually, little by little, add the powdered sugar, beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
We put the loaves on a plate, and between each loaf, we put frosting as filling, we arrange them so that the layers are well aligned, and we put frosting on the top and the sides and sprinkle the top after placing frosting, with walnuts. We put the golden coconut and some walnuts, and thus we finish decorating our Italian cream cake.

To make the buttermilk:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 4 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice.

Preparation:

It is effortless to prepare. We only add the lemon juice to the milk and stir with a spoon until it is well integrated and rest for approximately 10 to 15 minutes until it takes a consistency where the milk looks like cut, with tiny granules. This mixture is the buttermilk that can last up to a week, refrigerated adequately covered.

Note:

To brown the coconut, we do it in a frying pan with little butter; when the butter melts, we put the coconut, and we move it constantly so that it does not stick and it browns uniformly.