Italian Cream Cake

So the day has come, I finally baked my first from scratch birthday cake!!

Tomorrow is my friend Xuan's birthday, however I am unable to see her, so I went ahead and made the cake last week for her! She told me this was her favorite cake and to be honest I was a little nervous. One, because I have not made a cake from scratch and two, I have never tasted this cake so I was not sure if I knew it turned out ok or not when I tested it! Well, to my surprise, it turned out so yummy, she absolutley loved it! I guess I did good!



She liked it so much, she pretty much devoured the whole thing all before her actual birthday!!! Yum de Lum! I have to be honest, when I took the first bite I was kind of on the fence about it. It was right out of the fridge and just seemed so sweet to me. But I saved a piece for Josh and had to take a bite of it at room tempurature and I must say, I was really shocked at how good it was. I would make this cake again and totally reccommend the recipe, which by the way, I found on Allrecipes.com courtesey of Rory!

Italian Cream Cake Recipe:- The only thing I did differently was use two 9 inch rounds vs. three.

For the cake:

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups white sugar

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flaked coconut

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

For the frosting: 

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons light cream

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease three 9 inch round cake pans. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, shortening and white sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk mixture, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup coconut, baking powder and flour. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Mix in a small amount of cream to attain the desired consistency. Stir in chopped nuts and remaining flaked coconut. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cooled cake.