I wanted to get my baking game on for the county fair this year, so I chose the Italian Cream Cheese cake for the challenge.
The Italian Cream Cheese cake is a moist, sweet, flavorful and super delicious cake with layers of coconut, pecans and delicious cream cheese and butter frosting.
My entry into the county fair was not originally the Italian Cream Cheese cake, it was a lemonade cake. During the baking of the lemonade cake the bottom fell when I flipped it over in the Bundt pan, complete collapse at 7.30pm at night after work
I was baking after work to get the cake ready to enter in the county fair the next morning between 7am-10am. I had a plan, that I was going to stick to, make the cake, get it in the oven and than make the cookie dough for the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies I was taking as well.
You what they say about best laid plans….
After I collected myself and decided that crying would not bring the bottom of the lemonade cake back, I realized I had all the ingredients for the Italian Cream Cheese cake in my pantry.
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1-1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Luckily had already printed the recipe so I grabbed it off the counter and began prepping the ingredients. The butter was already softened from my previous cake, and we shall never talk about that experience again.
I ran thru the Italian Cream Cheese recipe instructions, and so it began. After I creamed the sugar, shortening and butter, I separated the eggs, which on a side note, I luv to separate eggs, it calms me down with all the intense focus. Adding the eggs and vanilla filled the kitchen with a sugar vanilla aroma that you just cant get anywhere else.
The dry ingredients in conjunction with the buttermilk were slowly added and blended, I could feel the cake starting to really come together, I knew in my heart at 8.30pm that I should have baked this cake first!
Once I folded in the coconut and pecans, I set this aside and focused on whipping the egg whites.
I think whipping egg whites is pure magic, you can go from a runny egg white to this beautiful transformed mixture that is pristine in color and full of air as it forms those wonderful little peaks and mountains.
Once I slowly folded the egg whites into the batter, I scraped the batter into three separate pans, and tiptoed over to the oven where I very carefully placed them on the oven racks.
When I closed the door to the oven my entire body just relaxed and I suddenly became very sleepy.
Shaking off the urge to go to bed, I knew I could use the baking time I had to make the frosting, so in the morning all I would have to do was frost my cakes , box it up and off to the county fair I could go.
The cakes baked perfectly, and when they were set aside to cool for the night around 11 pm, I knew I could get a good nights sleep, (finally).
I woke up feeling refreshed in the morning and ran into the kitchen to start the frosting and assembly process of this three tier cake.
The process was smooth and easy, everything just feel into place. I was able to get all the finishing touches onto the cake with the pecans and coconut added to the outside of the cake.
It was time to put the finishing touches on me and off I went, the dogs wished me good luck as I carried the cake out to the car and very carefully tucked it in, with the seatbelt to prevent any moving around.
When I arrived at county fair, as I entered the room and was walking back to the food items department, I heard “hey is that cake for me lol”
I am anxiously waiting a few day to see what placing I got, when I can go back to the fairgrounds to pickup my cake plate.
Any guesses?
