Italian Cream Cake

Prep the brown butter cream cheese frosting. Start by browning 1 cup (2 sticks ~ 227g) of butter in a saucepan. Add butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, stir in 1/4 cup of milk powder, stirring frequently to break up the powdery bits. Cook until the butter becomes foamy and develops browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 7-10 minutes. It’s done when the foam on top also has speckled bits that float and it smells caramel/nutty. Pour into a heat safe container and place into the refrigerator to solidify for about 1 hour (it should be at the ideal temperature by the time that the cakes are finished baking) 1 cup Salted Butter 1/4 cup Milk Powder
Now we're going to toast the coconut and pecans. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread the sweetened shredded coconut and pecans onto a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 5 minutes, give everything a toss, then return to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. The coconut should be lightly golden, and the pecans should smell toasty and look slightly darker. If the coconut isn’t quite golden after 10 minutes, bake for another 2-3 minutes, but keep a close eye on it, because it can burn quickly. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then chop into small bits so that they distribute evenly throughout the cake without creating big chunks. (about ¼ inch pieces) 1 cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut 3/4 cup Pecan Halves
Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 8-inch pans with butter and dust with flour (you can also use nonstick baking spray) but be sure to liberally coat the pans as this batter will want to stick to the pans. (Pro tip: It's helpful to use parchment rounds if you have them.)
Separate eggs into two bowls - egg yolks in one bowl and egg whites in another. Set aside. 5 large Eggs
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add cake flour, milk powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Mix together for about 30 seconds, to combine, then add room temperature butter and mix until the butter is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients - the mixture should appear sandy/crumbly. This will take about 2-3 minutes. 2 3/4 cups Cake Flour 2 tbsp Milk Powder 2 cups Sugar 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 3/4 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 cup Salted Butter
In the bowl with the egg yolks, add vegetable oil, buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract, almond extract, coconut emulsion, and rum emulsion. Whisk together until smooth. 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil 1 cup Whole Fat buttermilk 1/2 cup Sour Cream 1 tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste 1/2 tsp Almond Extract 1/2 tsp Coconut Emulsion 1/2 tsp Rum Emulsion
To the bowl with the egg whites, use a hand mixer and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Ensure that the bowl is VERY clean. (Pro tip: squeeze lemon juice into the bowl and wipe clean with a paper towel to ensure that there is no residue on the bowl, this can inhibit the meringue from fully reaching stiff peaks if there’s any fat/grease on the bowl)
Add half of egg yolk/buttermilk mixture to the stand mixer and mix until just combined, then add the remainder of the mixture and continue to mix until combined, about 20 seconds. Turn the mixer speed up to medium high and mix for 1 full minute to ensure that the batter is fully mixed together - stop at the 1 minute mark to prevent overmixing.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently fold in ½ of the egg whites. Once combined, add the remainder of the egg whites and mix until just incorporated. Batter may look lumpy but it’s fine as long as everything is mixed together
Divide batter equally between the prepared pan and bake for 28-32 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.
While the cakes are baking, make the vanilla bean simple syrup. Add water and sugar to a saucepan over medium. Cook until the sugar is just dissolved, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat and add the vanilla bean paste and mix together. Set aside to cool. 1/4 cup Water 1/4 cup Sugar 2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn over onto a wire rack. Brush the tops of the cake with the vanilla bean simple syrup and cover with plastic wrap. Let the cakes cool completely. (you may have some leftover syrup, this is ok!)
Now finish up the frosting. Remove the solid browned butter from the fridge and add the the bowl of stand mixer along with ½ cup (113g) of room temperature butter. Fit with the paddle attachment and mix together for 4 minutes on medium speed, until combined and fluffy. Add in 2 cups of powdered sugar, whole milk, and mix on low for about 1 minute, then increase speed to medium and mix for 1 minute. It’ll look thick and clumpy at first but it’ll smooth out as the powdered sugar becomes incorporated into the butter. Add the remaining powdered sugar and repeat. 1/2 cup Salted Butter 4 cups Powdered Sugar 2 tbsp Whole Milk 2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cream cheese and mix on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes, until the cream cheese is fully incorporated and the frosting looks fluffy and smooth. 16 oz Cream Cheese
Once the cakes have cooled completely, place one cake layer onto a cake stand. Add a generous amount of frosting on top and spread into an even layer. Place the second layer on top and repeat. Then add the third layer and coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting (crumb coat). Place into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then add the remaining frosting to the cake. Decorate however you’d like!

Equipment

Ingredients

Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

Video

Nutrition

Italian Cream Cake

Equipment

Ingredients 1x2x3x

Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

Video

Nutrition

Ingredients