Italian Cream Cake AKA: Hot Mess Express

Mom’s favorite cake was Italian Cream Cake. This is her recipe. I make this recipe in honor of my Mom either on her birthday or on New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve because that is the anniversary of her transition from Earth to Heaven.

This morning as I was putting this cake together for a special order, I had a few minutes to reflect on the absolute beautiful Hot Mess Express of an Italian Cream Cake. The thing about an Italian Cream is that it proudly displays it’s “flaws” ( the coconut and pecans) on the outside. These “flaws” become what makes this cake so beautiful and unique. If this cake were to proclaim the other ingredients: sugar, eggs, flour, that would indeed be a disaster to look at. Then I began to think about why humans hide their “flaws” from the rest of the world. We hide our depression. We hide the anxiety. We hide the abuse we might have gone through as children. We hide the issues we had with our parents, our extended families, even our church families.

But in the hands of the Baker, those “flaws” become what makes us the most flavorful, beautiful object. Delicious and beautiful. Inside and out.

Italian Cream Cake

Section 1: Cake Ingredients

1 c Crisco. Yes, Crisco. Not butter

2 c. sugar.

5 eggs: seperated

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 c coconut

1 c. nuts

Section 2: Frosting ingredients. NOTE: this is not the recipe I use, but I cannot give away my secret to the best frosting ever at this time.

8 oz. cream cheese

½ c butter

2 tsp vanilla

4 c powdered sugar

Beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla until soft and fluffy. Then begin to beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time.

Section 3: Directions

1. Beat the 5 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside for folding in later.

2. Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl

3. Beat Crisco, 5 egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until creamy and it looks almost like a frosting itself (2-3 minutes)

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

5. Add dry ingredients in to sugar, egg and Crisco and as mixer is on low, add in buttermilk. Mix until batter just barely forms.

6. Fold in coconut and pecans

7. Carefully fold in the egg whites a little at a time.

8. Divide between two round 9 inch cake pans. Can also use this recipe for cupcakes. Fill cupcake pans ¾ of the way full.

9. Bake round cake pans 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Bake cupcakes 18-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

10. Once cake is cooled, spread frosting and sprinkle additional coconut and pecans on outside of cake to your hearts content.

So as you view this recipe and then decide to make this Italian Cream Cake, just remember to give yourself a moment to connect with God and allow Him to look inside your heart and see what ingredients you have hiding in your heart pantry. Allow Him to do the painful work of exposing whatever you are hiding as a “flaw” and using that to make you the most beautiful creation. It is sometimes a very painful process, but this Hot Mess Express can tell you that it is worth every painful moment.