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Italian Cream Bundt Cake- Doctored Cake Mix

Last Updated On: April 03, 2024 | Published: August 19, 2022 by Melissa Diamond | 10 Comments
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This Italian Cream Bundt Cake is AMAZING- it is so moist, has wonderful flavor from coconut and pecans, and it all starts with a box of cake mix!

You can bake it into layers if you would like, but today we decided to keep things extra simple with a bundt cake.

Sliced Italian Cream Bundt Cake recipe (from cake mix) on a white pedestal.

If you love scratch Italian Cream Layer Cake, you will love this doctored cake mix version too! All of the flavors that you love in a scratch Italian Cream Layer Cake are accounted for ;0) This cake is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Why we Love It

There are so many reasons to love this Italian Cream Bundt Cake from cake mix, here are just a few:

  • So moist and flavorful with pecans, coconut, and cream cheese frosting!
  • We love the convenience of bundt cake recipes!
  • Easy to make with cake mix (but tastes like a scratch Italian Cream Cake!)
  • Simple to decorate
  • Perfect birthday cake recipe, holiday cake, or dessert for any occasion (or no occasion at all)!

How to Make Italian Cream Bundt Cake

You can find our full, printable cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps- you are going to love this recipe!

  1. Preheat Oven, Prepare Pan: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup  Bundt Cake Pan.
  2. Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of your mixer, add the cake mix, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Whisk for 30 seconds to blend.
  3. Wet Ingredients: Add the  sour cream, water, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. 
  4. Time to Mix: With your electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds.  Increase to medium speed and mix for  2 minutes.  Stop after 1 minute to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula and then continue to mix for for the second minute.
  5. Coconut and Nuts: Fold in the coconut and nuts and pour into the prepared bundt pan. 
Italian Cream Bundt Cake Ingredients
Italian Cream Bundt Cake Batter
  1. Bake: Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Test for doneness with a toothpick or long skewer.  The cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. Allow the cake to cool in the bundt pan for 10 minutes before turning out.
Italian Cream Bundt Cake in the Pan
  1. Bake Time & Pan Size: This recipe makes 6 ½ cups batter.  We used a 10 cup bundt pan.  If using a 12 cup bundt pan, check on the cake after 40 minutes as the baking time will be less.  
Italian Cream Bundt Cake Image

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Italian Cream Layer Cakes are traditionally frosted with cream cheese frosting (or a combination of cream cheese frosting & pecans or coconut), and so we wanted to make sure to include this delicious flavor combination in our bundt cake as well!

We used a half batch of our favorite Cream Cheese Frosting since we won't need as much. This is such an easy and delicious frosting. It is a simple combination of cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

  1. Butter: Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
  2. Cream Cheese: Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
  3. Vanilla: Add the vanilla extract. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing on low speed until blended. You can cover the mixing bowl with a towel to minimize the cloud of powdered sugar.
  4. Mix until Fluffy: Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Be careful not to over-mix or it will become too soft. (If the frosting becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.)

Decorating the Italian Cream Bundt Cake

After allowing the cake to cool completely, it's time to apply the cream cheese frosting!

*Remember, cream cheese frosting is softer than most buttercream frostings. If at any time it becomes too soft, simply pop the bowl or your piping bag into the freezer for 5 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) to firm things up!

As long as the cream cheese frosting makes its way onto the bundt cake, there's really no wrong way to apply it! Decorate however you like ;0)

I used a medium sized round piping tip 12 to create the chunky bead piping that you see around the bottom edge of my frosted layer. I piped the beads vertically all the way around and then applied the frosting above it with a small rounded offset spatula.

Then, I added chopped pecans around the top!

Italian Cream Bundt Cake- Decorated
Italian Cream Bundt Cake, Decorated

Recipe FAQs

Yes, just as with the majority of our cakes (from Sour Cream Pound Cake to Strawberry Bundt Cake, Carrot Cake, Orange Cake and more), this cake freezes perfectly. 

After cooling the Italian Cream Bundt Cake until it is slightly warm, place it on a foil wrapped cake cardboard (for support) and wrap is tightly with plastic wrap followed by foil. Place in the freezer for up to three months!

Bundt cakes and pound cakes are larger than cake layers are therefore take longer to thaw.

For this reason, we like to move the wrapped bundt cake to the refrigerator the day before it is needed. Then, remove the next morning and continue thawing.

Yes, because of the cream cheese frosting, Italian Cream Bundt Cake needs to be refrigerated (in an airtight container or under a cake dome).

However, for best flavor and texture, move from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow the cake and frosting plenty of time to warm to room temperature and soften.

So far, this is the only doctored cake mix version of Italian Cream Cake that we have. However, we also have a scratch Chocolate Italian Cream Cake as well as a Caramel Italian Cream Cake.

More Cake Mix Recipes to Try!

If you enjoy working with cake mix recipes, you are in luck! We've made many over the years.

Here are just a few of our favorites from our Box Cake Mix Recipes section: Easy German Chocolate Cake , Hummingbird Cake from Cake Mix, and Easy Strawberry Cake.

Italian Cream Bundt Cake- Doctored Cake Mix

Thanks so much for stopping by today! We hope that you try this easy Italian Bundt Cake recipe- you are going to love it.

*Also, if you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, we have a huge collection of Free Cake Decorating Video Tutorials!

We'll show you How to Frost a Cake, Elegant Cakes, themed Birthday Cake designs, and more.

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Italian Cream Bundt Cake- Doctored Cake Mix

Italian Cream Bundt Cake- Doctored Cake Mix

BY Melissa and Bebe
This moist Italian Cream Bundt Cake has amazing flavor from a combination coconut, pecans, and cream cheese frosting! Nobody would guess that it starts with a cake mix!
Course: Cakes and Cupcakes
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix. Do not follow directions on the box- use only the ingredients listed below. We used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Classic Yellow cake mix, 15.25 oz.
  • 1 cup cake flour or all-purpose flour (114g)
  • 1 cup sugar (200g)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
  • 1 cup sour cream (you can substitute with plain or Greek yogurt) (242g)
  • ¼ cup Canola Oil (54g)
  • 1 cup water (242g)
  • 3 whole eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)
  • 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut (75g)(We used Baker's Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut)
  • ¾ cup chopped pecans (127g)

Cream Cheese Frosting (This is a half batch of our frosting recipe)

  • 1 stick unsalted butter,softened (113g) (Should still be slightly firm but easily dents when pressed.)
  • 8 oz Cream cheese, softened, full fat. We used one 8 oz block of full fat cream cheese.
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (1g)
  • 3 to 3 ½ cups powdered sugar (345g-373g)
  • *Optional: Crushed Pecans to sprinkle on top

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  • Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup  Bundt Cake Pan - see note below
  • In the bowl of your mixer, add the cake mix, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Whisk for 30 seconds to blend.
  • Add the  sour cream, water, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. 
  • With the mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds.  Increase to medium speed and mix for  2 minutes.  Stop after 1 minute to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl then continue to beat for for the second minute.
  • Stir in the coconut and nuts and pour into prepared bundt pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
  • Test for doneness with a toothpick or long skewer.  The cake will be done when the toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out.
  • The recipes makes 6 ½ cups batter.  We used a 10 cup bundt pan.  If using a 12 cup bundt pan the baking time will  be a less so check at 40 minutes, keep an eye on it.  
  • For the Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
  • Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
  • Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
  • Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
  • This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
  • Decorating the CakeApply the frosting however you like! We took ours only about halfway down. I piped chunky beads of frosting with a round tip 12 vertically all the way around before spreading on the frosting above it. Then I sprinkled on crushed pecans.
  • **Because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake should be refrigerated. Remove from the refrigerator a few hours before serving to allow the cake to warm & soften for best taste and texture.

Notes

NOTES:  To determine the baking capacity of your bundt pan, click on the link below.  The batter in my 10 cup bundt pan came to within 1 ¼ inches from the top of the pan.  
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2016/08/02/bundt-pan-size
 
4/24- The amount of oil and pecans have been slightly adjusted. (Vegetable oil from 2 Tablespoons to ¼ cup, and pecans from ½ cup to ¾ cup.)
 
4.46 from 68 votes (68 ratings without comment)

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10 Comments

  7. I tried a small piece of this before I threw it away, and it was delicious. The cake fell while baking, obviously I need to adjust for high altitude 5600. What do I need to change?

    Reply