A Birthday Cake and Some Memories

My mom was an awesome cook. Her specialties were desserts. Every weekend there were homemade cakes and pies and always (she never used a mix)  they were made from scratch.

Today is my brother’s birthday. He’s my only sibling and I love him dearly, but he is hard to buy for. About a week or so ago I was trying to think of something I could give him for his birthday that he would enjoy and it occurred to me that my mom’s Italian Cream Cake would make a good gift.

My first semester of college my mom made me one every weekend to take back to school with me. They were always delicious and my cousin Martha (who was my roommate) looked forward to them as much as I did.

I thought I had the recipe in my collection of mom’s recipes, but it turns out I didn’t. Luckily my aunt did (thanks Kate) and so yesterday I went to the store, purchased what I needed and got busy.  I’ll spare you the detailed version but let’s just say I don’t know how in the world my mom did everything she did and baked all the time.  I kept my baby granddaughter yesterday and found that making a cake and watching a baby was a little harder than I thought it would be. By the time I finished it looked like a flour bomb had exploded all over the kitchen, me and the grand-baby!

Here’s the end result.

My son’s dog thought I was making a picture of him. Shhh, don’t tell him it was really the cake I was shooting.

 

Italian Cream Cake

 

cream 1 stick margarine, 1/2 cup solid Crisco, and 2 cups sugar.

beat in 5 egg yolks.

sift together 2 cups flour and 1 tsp baking soda

add alternately with 1 cup buttermilk and 1 tsp vanilla

fold in small can (3 and 1/2 oz) flaked coconut and 1/2 cup chopped pecans

fold in 5 stiffly beaten  egg whites.

 

bake in 3 greased and floured 8 in pans at 350 for 25 min or until tests done

cool 5 minutes  before removing from pans.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

 

mix one 8 oz pkg of room temperature cream cheese with

1 stick butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and 3 cups confectioner’s sugar

Mom always put pecans on top of cake.

 

I hope this cake brings back some memories of my mother for my brother. Oh how she would have loved to have seen his children and watched them grow up! There’s no love like a parent’s love- that’s for sure.

Have a great weekend!

Teresa

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  2. Mom’s Mississippi Mud Cake
  3. Baking with Martha – Lemon Pound Cake
  4. A Million Dollar Pound Cake With Strawberries On Top

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3 Comments

  1. My grandmother was the cake baker in the family. She used to make these awesome decorative ones. I remember when I was little, watching her make them and licking the beaters. It’s one of my favorite memories. Your cake looks delicious! Tell the dog he’s very handsome too, lol!

  2. Thanks for stopping by NanaHood.com I will definitely visit you and look forward to getting to know more about you! Teresa

  3. OH that looks, sounds… I can almost smell it and it is amazing! I’m sure you did your mama proud and made your brother a happy birthday boy. =)

    Aloha,
    I’m so very lucky to be a Bloggy Mom with ya and am following you from the Nov. hop. I’d love to have you join me for the ride at Local Sugar Hawaii. We’re riding the wave of life, one teensy tinsy adventure at a time and it would be so sweet to have ya along. And… this is my oh so personal invitation to join me today for An Aloha Affair. It’s a new sort of being and growing together on Aloha Friday, come mingle and grow.

    xoxo,
    Nicole
    localsugarhawaii.com

    P.S. I have this little campaign with my little shop, this is no sort of pressure to buy at ALL, called We Are The Makers of Pearls: A Campaign Celebrating The Strength of Women. I have a feeling you might appreciate a bit of the story of the campaign and the lives we hope to touch. http://www.localsugarhawaii.com/2012/10/we-are-makers-of-pearls.html

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