A light and airy Italian Spongecake filled with a Creamy Cheesecake Filling, created in partnership with PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese.
Not only are we celebrating Easter this weekend, we are celebrating Nick’s grandmas 90th birthday!! I’m so excited to get together with his family, including all his aunts, uncles and cousins (and they are Irish Catholic, so that means there will be a ton of people there) to celebrate this wonderful woman! I really love his grandma…and we know how lucky we are to still have her in our lives! 90 is definitely worth having a big, huge celebration, don’t you think?
Whatever you are celebrating this weekend, this time of year the best desserts are the ones that feature those tasty fruits that are almost fully in abundance! Berry season is so close, I can almost taste it! This Rustic Italian Spongecake with Creamy Cheesecake Filling is the perfect dessert for your celebrations. It’s so beautiful and not so sweet that it overwhelms you. It’s just like a gentle spring breeze… light, airy and oh so good!
The spongecake is good by itself, but I knew I wanted to make a creamy filling, featuring PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese. Made with fresh local milk, rich wholesome cream and real ingredients, I knew PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese would provide just the perfect amount of creaminess to compliment this cake!
However you are celebrating this weekend, I hope it is wonderful! Happy Easter from Dine & Dish!
Rustic Italian Spongecake with Creamy Cheesecake Filling
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 6 eggs seperated
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Creamy Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 3 oz box vanilla instant pudding
- 2 cups cold milk
- 1 8 oz block PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
Instructions
For the Cake:
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Prepare two 9" round cake pans by spraying with Pam Baking Spray or greasing and flouring.
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Preheat oven to 350°
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Separate eggs, putting whites into a large mixing bowl fitted to an electric mixer and yolks in a small mixing bowl.
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Add 1/2 cup sugar to whites and beat until very stiff (several minutes).
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Add 1/2 cup sugar to yolks and beat until very thick and light yellow in color.
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Fold egg yolk mixture into egg whites. Next, fold flour in, 1/3 cup at at time, incorporating well after each addition.
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Spoon batter into prepared pans and bake in 350° oven for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
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Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan and set aside.
For the filling:
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat pudding mix and milk together until soft-set (approximately 5 minutes)
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Add cream cheese. Beat on high for 5 minutes, until no lumps appear. Add powdered sugar and beat on medium for another 5 minutes, until mixture is smooth and creamy.
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Fold in strawberries.
To assemble the cake:
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Place one layer of cake on a cake stand. Spoon creamy cheesecake filling over top of cake layer. Add the second layer and spoon creamy cheesecake filling over top, allowing to drizzle down the side of the cake (aka no big deal if that happens!).
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Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
Italian Sponge Cake recipe adapted from Food.com
Disclosure: I’m proud to be a compensated ambassador, bringing you delicious content and recipes featuring PHILADELPHIA cream cheese. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
We just celebrated my Husband’s Grandma’s 96th birthday! So happy to have her in our lives! This cake is absolutely gorgeous, Kristen! Love the rustic look and the cheesecake filling. Sharing!
This cake is so freaking gorgeous! LOVE this recipe!
Absolutely gorgeous. I want 17 bites, and then maybe I’ll be satisfied 🙂
This looks divine!
90 is one heck of a good reason for a massive celebration! My husband works at a rehab facility and so many of the patients are getting younger and younger, in there due to not taking care of themselves in many cases. To make it to 90 is awesome 🙂 And this cake looks like a wonderful way to celebrate!
Can’t think of better reason to celebrate! This cake is gorgeous!
I don’t even know what to do with my life until I face plant into this cake. Cheesecake is my life….and with spongecake? This is what Heaven looks like! drooling…pinning!
That cake is absolutely gorgeous!
This cake is stunning!! And happy birthday to her, 90 – wow!!
All I can seem to mutter right now is wow. So. Much. Goodness.
Just had to stop by and say how absolutely stunning these photos are – especially the first one. My oh my, I can imagine that this one was a tough one to get “just right”. Beautiful.
What an incredible looking cake!
What a gorgeous cake for an amazing celebration! Love that cheesecake filling! Pinned!!
So. Much. Goodness.
It’s dripping! 😀 I love it!
This is definitely my kind of cake. I don’t like fussy cakes with frosting. The frosting is usually too sweet and it takes forever to get it looking pretty. Pssh. This is WAY better!
Oh my yes…all of it in my belly now!