By special request, I am posting the recipe for Carrot Cake—or was it Italian Cream Cheese Cake??? I cant remember, so you are getting both with the recipe for icing that is used on both.
I changed my opinion of Cream Cheese Icing when I saw this recipe in Baking and Pastry Cookbook from The Culinary Institute of America. It seemed that my recipe was runny no matter how much powdered sugar was added. I realized that the large amount of cream cheese and butter made this recipe light and fluffy without a lot of sweetness from the powdered sugar. That’s when we started using this recipe at Stevens Catering.
The recipe for Carrot Cake is large, but is well worth the effort. You can always bake 2 smaller cakes and freeze one. Butavan is a commercial flavoring that is no longer being marketed. It can be substituted with 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 butter flavoring. It is a good product and used in commercial cakes. If you would like to try something similar, I have put a link below. Enjoy!
Italian Cream Cake
Equipment
- 3 9" round pans
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick margarine/ butter
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 cups coconut
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream Cheese Icing- from The Culinary Institute, Baking and Pastry Book, Page 422
- 2 8 ounce packages cream cheese
- 2 sticks butter
- 8 ounces powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
- Cream sugar, butter, and shortening. Beat in egg yolks one at a time. Combine flour and soda. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to creamed mixture .
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites and vanilla into batter. Stir in coconut and pecans. Bake in three layers at 350 degree F for 25 minutes.
- Frost layers with Cream Cheese Icing.
Notes
- 2- 8 ounce pkg cream cheese
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- 2 sticks butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Cap’s Carrot Cake
Equipment
- stand mixer
- cake pans
Ingredients
- 4 cups sugar
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- 6 whole eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 2 cups cake flour
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 4 cups carrots grated
- 1 15 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 2 tablespoons Butavan can use half vanilla and half butter flavoring
Instructions
- Maximun for a 5 qt. mixing bowl.
- Beat sugar, oil and eggs until thoroughly creamed.
- Measure flours, soda, salt and cinnamon and mix together. Add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Add carrots, pineapple, pecan and flavoring. Mix well.
- Fill pans 1/2 full. Makes 3- 10 inch layers.
- Bake at 300 degrees F for 55 minutes for small cakes and up to 1 1/2 hour for large cakes.
- Cool layers and frost with Cream Cheese Icing.
Notes
Note, this post includes affiliate links where I may get a small commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. The Carrot Cake calls for a 5 qt. mixer as shown below. Since I have burned up several mixers except the one made by Hobart, I look for Hobart Kitchen Aide Mixers at estate sales. Of course, I was using them everyday commercially. For home use this type will do fine. Thanks for your support.
