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ITALIAN DREAM CAKE RECIPE:
3 cups sugar
3⁄4 cup unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
3 cups flour
1 1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 cup finely chopped pecans (more for garnish)
1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk
1 1⁄2 tsp. butter extract
1 1⁄2 tsp. coconut extract
1 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract
7 egg whites, beaten stiff at room temperature
Prepare (2) 9” round cake pans greased and dusted with flour. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Beat together sugar and butter in large mixer. Add egg yolks, one at a time, continually beating mixture. In separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt).
Add dry ingredients, alternately, a little at a time, with the buttermilk into the sugar and butter mixture, ending with the flour. Then add the pecans and flavorings and mix. Beat egg whites until stiff and then fold gently into the mixture described above.
(Note: I do the egg whites first and put them in a separate bowl so that they are ready to add immediately to the cake mixture). There will be slightly more batter than you need to fill two 9” round cake pans, so you may want to fill a few cupcake liners.
Bake in center of oven for 35-40 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cake cook for 10 minutes; then turn on rack to cool completely.
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Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8 oz.) pkgs. Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1⁄4 cup unsalted butter
8 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Cream softened cream cheese and butter together at medium speed until mixed; then beat on high. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla (on low speed or it will make a mess), then beat until very creamy.
This makes a lot of frosting, but that is what makes this cake so good. On your cake plate put some of the frosting to make the cake stick. Then add first layer, upside down and put generous amount of frosting. Add top layer, and first sides next with generous amount, then frost the top.
I hope you made more chopped nuts than you needed because they make a great topping for the cake, along with chocolate bar shavings.
Note: This is my husband’s favorite cake.
#Italian #Dream #Cake