ITALIAN CREAM CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Prepare Cream Cheese Icing; cover and chill. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 3. Coat bottoms of 3 (9 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans), and line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray. Dust with flour; set aside. 4. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of an electric mixer until well blended. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour and baking soda; stir well. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Stir in pecans and extracts. 5. Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Fold egg whites into batter; pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes. Let cake layers cool in pans 5 minutes on wire racks. Loosen layers from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula; turn out onto wire racks; let cool completely. 6. Place 1 cake layer on a plate. Spread with 2/3 cup Cream Cheese Icing, and top with another cake layer. Spread remaining icing over sides and on top of cake. Garnish with lemon zest if desired. Yield: 20 servings (serving size: 1 slice) Cream Cheese Icing 1 Tbsp light butter, chilled 1 (8oz) pkg Neufchatel cheese, chilled 1 (1 lb) package powdered sugar, sifted 1 tsp vanilla extract 1. Beat butter and cheese aat high speed of an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla; beat low speed just until blended (do not over beat or icing will become runny). Cover and chill. Yield: 2 2/3 cups.