Italian Wedding Cake for a Beautiful Couple
- 1/2 cup of buttermilk (If you don't have any and really don't see the need to buy it, use sour cream!)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup shortening (Honestly, I just used classic butter, so much tastier, but heavier.)
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 2 cups white sugar
- 5 egg yolks (The trick for separating eggs is to separate them straight out of the fridge. The yolk will hold together much better when its cold, but you need to allow them to sit out on the counter as you work so that they warm up because they will fluff better later.)
- 1/4 tsp almond extract (YUM! I am all about anything with almond)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 5 egg whites
- 1/2 cup DRAINED crushed pineapple
- 1/2 cup flaked coconut
- 1 cup crushed pecans
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Trace the bottom of your three 8in round pans onto parchment paper. Cut these out, spray Pam in the pans, put the paper in, and spray again. I learned this trick working at the bakery and it works every time. Did you know that the carbon in pencils is food safe, its the exact same chemical makeup as the burnt crust on a marshmallow, so don't hesitate.
In a small bowl combine buttermilk/sour cream, baking soda, and salt. Set this off to the side, and when you come back to it you will see proof of a chemical reaction. ("What's that? A chemical reaction in the kitchen? I thought I left chemistry behind!" You don't say so? OH I think NOT! Chemistry is the only reason cooking works, embrace it, and use it to help teach your kiddos!)
Now in a large bowl mix the shortening, butter, and sugar together until whipped and lighter in color. You want to try to get the sugar as dissolved as possible. Now beat the egg yolks in ONE AT A TIME. Once all the yolks are incorporated you need to stir in the almond and vanilla. In the bowl with the buttermilk reaction stir in the flour. Then blend the two together for the batter.
Take the bowl from the buttermilk and rinse it out. You need to use this bowl to fluff the egg whites. Egg whites respond best to beating when they are at room temp so don't hesitate to leave them sitting on the counter. Use the whip attachment on your beater and work with eggs until they are stuff and form stiff peaks. When you pull the beater out of the eggs, if the peaks don't stand up without falling over, they aren't ready yet.
Slowly fold in the egg whites to the batter. It will end up like this
Now you can add in what really makes this cake so truly Italian. The pineapple, coconut and pecans are now added to give this cake a great depth! I'm drooling thinking about it!
Now the batter gets placed in pans and baked for 20 mins. I checked them at 20 and then every 4 mins or so. You don't want to open the oven too often so as to lose heat, but checking the cakes is a must. You want the toothpick to come out of the cake clean when inserted, or with only a few crumples.
Every Italian Wedding Cake is topped off with cream cheese icing, so here's my go to recipe.
- 1 stick butter
- 2 8oz packages cream cheese
- 1 package powdered sugar
- 1tsp vanilla
Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Slowly add in a cup of powdered sugar at a time. Watch the consistency of the icing as you, when I am doing a cake I will make a stiffer icing, so I will add more. Add in the vanilla at the very end. Ice the cake and enjoy!
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