If you are looking for the best Christmas dessert recipes, you are going to want to give this Italian Coconut Cream Cake a try. It’s my mother-in-law’s quick and easy recipe and it is so yummy AND if you dress it up for Christmas with some greenery and pomegranate seeds, it doubles for a gorgeous centerpiece for your holiday table as you will see below. OK, I’m not going to lie…there are a lot of steps but you know what, it’s the holidays. Why not go all out? Trust me you will be glad that you gave this recipe a try. Who doesn’t love delicious AND gorgeous. Let me know if you’re going to give this one a try!
First of all you will cream together 1/2 cup Crisco, 1 stick of butter (softened) and 2 cups of sugar. Add 5 egg YOLKS only (separate the eggs yolks from the egg whites and keep the egg whites in a separate bowl). Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each yolk.
Next you will add 1 tsp baking soda to one cup of buttermilk and whisk well.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the egg, sugar, and butter mixture and mix well.
Next you will add 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of Angel Flake Coconut. Mix well.
Next you will Beat the 5 egg whites until stiff then fold it into the cake mixture. SORRY I didn’t get any pictures of this step for some reason but make sure you don’t skip it. You will beat the egg whites for several minutes until it comes to a stiff peak then add it into the cake mixture and mix well.
Spray and flour 3 – 9 inch cake pans and then pour the cake into the cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Take them out and let them cool completely. I cool overnight and cover them with foil.
NEXT MAKE THE ICING:
1 large package of cream cheese , softened (8 oz)
1 stick of butter, softened
1 box of powdered sugar (16 oz)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream together. Make sure your butter and cream cheese are very soft or else the icing will be too hard to spread.
Also, I DOUBLE this recipe because let’s be honest….the icing is the best part. If you’re not an icing person then don’t double but I recommend doubling it.
Get a spatula and pry up the first cake and flip it upside down onto the cake plate. Spread a generous amount of icing on the top and I also like to sprinkle another layer of coconut on top of the icing. Repeat this process with all 3 cakes.
For Christmas, I then like to decorate with fresh Rosemary Sprigs, pomegranates, and live greenery pieces.
And there you have it…a beautiful, DELICIOUS cake that serves two purposes – a gorgeous table centerpiece, and the yummiest dessert ever to wow your Christmas guests with.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Crisco
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1 cup buttermilk, add 1 tsp baking soda and whisk
2 cups flour
1 cup Angel Flake Coconut
Icing ( I double this recipe)
1 block of cream cheese, softened,
1 stick of butter
1 box of powdered sugar (16 oz)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of Angel Flake coconut (optional to sprinkle in between the layers)
Directions
Cream together: Crisco, 1 stick butter, sugar, 5 egg yolks – add one at a time and beat well after each yolk
Whisk 1 tsp baking soda into 1 cup of buttermilk then add to butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Mix well.
Add 2 cups flour and 1 cup coconut. Mix Well.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form a stiff peak. Add to the cake mixture and mix well.
Grease and flour 3 – 9 inch cake pans. Pour cake mixture into the 3 pans and Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
Let them cool completely then make the icing. Follow directions above to ice and decorate the cake.
