Italian Wedding Cake

Today, July 4th, 2009, is my twenty-fourth birthday. Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to America! God bless us both.

Yup. I'm pretty excited. I heard on Oprah that twenty-four is the new twenty-three. What was I doing a year ago? This. Twenty-three was fun, but I'm ready for twenty-four. This is the year I'm getting married and having kids.

Bahahaha! That's funny. I'm just kidding.

Hopefully this is the year I will get to go to culinary school. I swear I will never give up on that dream. A culinary career is all I want; there aren't any more options. I used to want to cook and bake, but I think I've realized that I enjoy baking more. So pastry school it is. I'm pretty close to my money goal for school. I just need like, $30,000 more and I'll be set.



Soooo, actually, this Italian Wedding Cake was my sister's birthday cake. You'll see my birthday cake in a few days. Hannah requested an Italian wedding cake, so I searched and searched for recipes. There are not a lot of Italian wedding cake recipes out there. I wasn't even sure what it was exactly, but it's white cake with pineapple, pecans and coconut in it, topped with cream cheese ? frosting. When my sister has had it at restaurants, they usually pour some sort of custard-based sauce on top.



In a 13x9-inch baking dish, I baked a white cake with pineapple, toasted pecans and toasted coconut. I topped it with whipped cream flavored with a little bit of almond extract. I think almond extract can be really good in small doses. Then I made a custard sauce with heavy cream and almond extract to pour on top.

Oh man -this cake was delicious. Give it a try sometime.

Hope everyone has a great fourth of July! I'm going to have some fried chicken with biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and baked beans.

Italian Wedding Cake (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe


2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, plus an additional 7 tablespoons for topping
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13x9-inch baking dish/pan.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar untii creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Beat in 2 eggs and 2 egg whites (reserving 2 yolks for custard topping) and vanilla, until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, until combined - about 2-3 minutes. Beat in pineapple, coconut and nuts until just combined.

Spread cake batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until set, golden brown around edges, and a toothpick inserted into middle of cake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the whipped topping, place 1 cup cream in a medium sized mixing bowl, along with 4 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Beat together using a mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes; spread on cake, cover, and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

To make the custard topping, whisk 2 additional egg yolks in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, whisk together additional 3 tablespoons sugar and additional 1 cup cream; bring to a simmer. Whisk half of cream into eggs, then whisk eggs back into saucepan. Cook mixture, stirring frequently, until custard thickens up, starts to bubble, and coats the back of a spoon. Strain into a medium bowl, whisk in additional 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and chill, covered, in the refrigerator completely.

For serving, slice cake and ladle a little bit of the custard on top.

Makes 15 servings