Search Good Living

Friday, October 10, 2008

Worth-the-Hassle, Wow-Your-Friends, German Chocolate Cake

This, my friends, is a serious cake for people who are serious about their desserts.   Fortunately enough, it is not seriously hard to make, just requiring one extra step beyond a normal scratch cake.  I and my entire family can vouch that it is worth your time.

Mindblowingly Good German Chocolate Cake (From Kathleen King's must-have cookbook, Tate's Bake Shop) yields either two 10 inch layers or three 9 inch layers

4 oz. Baker's German Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup canned cream of coconut (Coco Lopez is the brand)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup salted butter, softened to room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 tsp. good vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour three 9 inch rounds or two 10 inch rounds.  Microwave chopped chocolate and cream of coconut until melted and smooth, about a minute or two.  Stir well to combine.  Set aside to cool.

Mix together flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl, set aside.

In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often.  Beat in the vanilla.  Stir in melted chocolate mixture and mix until combined.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk to the chocolate mixture, ending with the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to a soft peak.  Do this right before you are ready to use them.  Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the cake mixture.  Fold in the remaining egg whites.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides and the center feels springy to the touch.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and turn it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.  Spread the frosting evenly between layers, the sides do not get iced.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting 
1 cup butter
2 cups evaporated milk (About a can and a half)
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup pecans (I buy the salted and toasted ones from Trader Joe's)

In a small saucepan stir together the butter, milk, egg yolks and sugar.  Cook the ingredients over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and is golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Add vanilla.  Remove from heat.  Cool it completely.  Taste for salt and add a bit if you need to.
Stir in pecans and coconut.
If you make this icing in advance, store it in a plastic container with a lid and bring it to room temp before icing the cake.

1 comment:

Nicole said...

You had me at "serious about desserts"...can't wait to try it!!!!