Well its been snowing and we have been having lots of fun sledging and with our new puppy, he has just loved the snow, so much so that we have renamed him ‘The Snow Dog’. It is our first winter in our new house and not only is it really toasty, but also we back onto a park that has the perfect slope for sledging, where all the local children come to. Luca has been in heaven, we have not seen him for the last three days as he has spent most the time with his friends out on the slopes having a ball. Again proving that we were right to move into this house and that it really is all about location, location, location.

The only down side was that on Friday I was suppose to have my friend over for coffee and had made this really gorgeous Italian cake for us, the snow meant that she had to cancel and I had a whole cake to eat to myself, just looking at it I could feel the pounds piling on!

As much as I could of eaten the whole thing and loved having it for breakfast with my morning espresso, I did send half of it over to my Daughters boyfriends family, just to save myself a few pounds.

It is one of those cakes that you can not stop thinking about it, you know its there in the kitchen, you know you shouldn’t really have another slice, but you just can not stop yourself.

It is a bit of a pain to make, separating the eggs, having to beat the whites separately and then having to fold them in, there is also a fair bit of weighing out to do and as you can see, it is an American recipe, so the measurements are done in cups and ounces, but it is so worth the effort, it is just delicious.

So I hope you have all enjoyed the snow, hopefully used it as an excuse to do lots of baking and I hope you are all toasty and warm.

Buon appetito

1 stick margarine, (4 ounces)
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3 ounces flaked coconut, about 1 1/3 cups
5 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1/2 cup shortening (I used Crisco)
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans, or walnuts
.
Frosting:
1 package cream cheese, softened (8oz)
1 box icing sugar, (1 pound)
1/2 stick margarine, softened (4 Tbs)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the margarine and shortening; add the sugar and mix well.

Add egg yolks and beat well.

Combine baking powder and flour, add to creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

Stir in vanilla. Add coconut and nuts. Fold in egg whites.

Pour into 3 greased and floured cake pans, bake at 350F, 180 C for 25 to 30 minutes.

Frosting: Beat cream cheese until smooth; stir in sugar. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread on cake layers; sprinkle top with chopped nuts.