Italian Cream Cheese Cake Cake - Mentors and Miracles

This is a photo of the Italian Creme Cheese Cake my mom made the other night when we had dinner with her and my sister's family.  The recipe will follow in a minute.

It comes from one of Mom's treasured mentors.
"Mom, tell me a little more about Mae Lamb when she introduced you to this recipe," I say over the phone after Mom's given me the recipe.
"Well, when I was a young mother in Oklahoma, this older sister, and her sister-in-law, Bonnie, took us in and practically adopted our whole family; me, your dad, all your siblings.  Their husbands were brothers and family was all-important, but their kids were grown so they just took us everywhere with them.  We'd go out to their farms, to the lake, on all sorts of outings.  Mae's husband Tommy could play the harmonica and make it sound like a train, coming down the tracks.  Do you remember that?" she asks.
"Yes, and it's all I can do to hold back my little southern drawl just thinkin' of the memory. I was tiny, but I remember singing songs and lots of food."
"Mae and Bonnie both were phenomenal cooks.  They had bought their homes for just a few hundred dollars during the depression and had spent a lifetime making them centers of warmth and hospitality. They were kind, gracious, loving, and most of all, SO welcoming.  They just took me under their wing and shared so much more than recipes and good food."

I am struck.  Mom is the epitome of hospitality.  Her parents were, too.  But, here I have another set of benefactors to be grateful to for one of my favorite personal traits.  Every one of the miracles that Mae and Bonnie shared with Mom walks with her still, and I am thankful for the example, and the memory.

Note: The funny thing is that Mae wasn't even Italian, but we are.  I pass the recipe on to you with Mae's, and Mom's, warmest hugs and hospitality.  Enjoy!  And, before you go, please share.  What is your favorite cake mentoring memory?

Warning: This recipe is more complex than the ones I usually share.  Still worth it.

Italian Cream Cheese Cake
In a large mixing bowl, add:
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 c shortening
Cream these three together.  Next add:
5 egg yolks (set 5 whites aside)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup buttermilk (you can make your own with one cup milk and 1 tbs vinegar)
Mix these all well.  In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients 1/2 cup at a time.  When everything is well mixed. fold in:
2 cups shredded coconut
Now beat 5 egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold into the rest of the cake batter.

Pour batter into 2 prepared cake rounds.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Bake for 23-28 minutes.  Don't over do it. When the cakes are done and cooled, remove from the pans and cut each layer into two layers.  Your finished product will be a four layer cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 2/3 cups powder sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Cream all ingredients together and frost your cake

Top cake and press into sides:
2 cups toasted coconut
1 cup toasted almond slivers (optional)

Here's a how-to video for frosting a layered cake.  It is only 1min 30sec.