Italian Cream Cake (Italian Wedding Cake)
Italian cream cake, also called Italian wedding cake, is a fabulously moist cake with flavors of coconut, pecans, and almond. It’s slathered with cream cheese frosting, and all the flavors come together beautifully. (soy-free and gluten-free options)
Servings: 10
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar rice vinegar or white vinegar
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract optional
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream or non-dairy yogurt
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup finely shredded coconut
- ½ cup raw pecans chopped, measure first, then chop
- ½ teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup vegan cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder, or more, to taste
- a few drops almond extract optional
Topping
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 3 tablespoons large shred coconut or more, to taste
Instructions
Make the cake.
- Make the buttermilk by mixing non-dairy milk with the vinegar in a medium bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Depending on your milk, it may curdle a lot or just slightly. It’s fine either way. Add the oil, coconut cream or yogurt, almond extract, and vanilla to the bowl, then set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients until well combined. Add half of the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and fold them in gently. Then, add the rest of the wet mixture and fold in again until there is none of the milky mixture remaining and there are no dry flour clumps. The batter will be slightly thicker than regular cake batter, more like muffin batter. If it’s too thick, you can add up to 3 teaspoons of non-dairy milk. If it’s too thin, add about a tablespoon of flour. Whether you need to make adjustments will depend on how you measured your ingredients, the brand of flour you used, etc.
- Line an 8x8” or 9” round cake pan with parchment paper or grease it really well, and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Pour in the batter, spread it evenly, and tap the pan to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 25 minutes, then test with a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Otherwise, bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then remove and transfer it to a serving plate.
Meanwhile, prep the cream cheese frosting and toppings.
- In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, vegan butter, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and almond extract. Whip until fluffy with your spatula, incorporating some air, until the butter is well combined. Taste and adjust the flavor. Add powdered sugar, if you prefer it sweeter, and sugar and more butter if you want it less tangy.
- Heat a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Once the pan is hot, add the pecans and toast them for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Remove them from the skillet and chop, then toast the coconut in the same skillet for 2 to 4 minutes, stirring every 15 to 30 seconds, until it starts turning golden. It browns quickly, so watch it closely. Set both of these aside to cool in separate bowls.
Assemble the Italian wedding cake.
- Once the cake is completely cool, frost with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle with toasted pecans and coconut. Optionally, frost the sides and press extra coconut onto the sides for a prettier finish.
Video
Notes
If the cake edges feel a little dry on the edges/slightly overbaked, mix 2 teaspoons of sugar with 2 tablespoons of water and brush that all over the cake before frosting to re-moisten it. Even if it’s not dry, you can do this to have a super moist cake.
Storage
The cake will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, stored in a closed container, or slice and freeze the slices for a couple of months. Always serve at room temperature. Let the refrigerated cake sit out for 30 minutes. If you froze it, thaw it on the kitchen counter, then microwave in short bursts to bring it to room temperature and gets soft and moist.
Italian wedding cake is soy-free, as long as you use soy-free vegan milk, cream cheese and butter.
To make it gluten-free, mix ¾ cup almond flour, ½ cup oat flour, and ¼ cup tapioca starch or potato starch. Use all of this mixture instead of the all-purpose flour. Also replace the 1 cup non-dairy milk with ¾ cup non-dairy milk plus ¼ cup club soda, folding in the club soda after incorporating all of the wet mixture into the dry mixture.
Nutrition
Calories: 319kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 155mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 111IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 1mg