German Chocolate Cake

As I sat down to write this recipe down, I realized that this is the first recipe in October! So yay for that! I never understood what was so special about "German" chocolate cake. I mean really, what makes it think it's so much better than regular chocolate cake?

I still haven't figured it out.

Regardless, all the guinea pigs officers seem to prefer it. I made one once before for a birthday treat, but I used the cake mix out of the box and the store bought frosting. However, when one of the guinea pigs reminded me that he had a birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, by the way!) and that his favorite cake ever was German Chocolate Cake, I decided I'd give it a go again, this time from scratch.

German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
Batter:
1/2 cup boiling water
4 ounces sweet cooking German Chocolate
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter, softened
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of buttermilk*
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Coconut Pecan Frosting
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter or margarine
1 cup of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups of flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Batter: 
1.) Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Grease two (2) 9-inch pans.
3.) Line bottom of pans with wax paper.
4.) Pour boiling water on chocolate, stirring until chocolate is melted; cool.
5.) Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
6.) Beat in egg yolks one at a time.
7.) Beat in chocolate and vanilla on low speed.
8.) Fold in egg whites.
9.) Divide Batter among the pans.
10.) Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes. If you decide to use a square pan, bake for 40-45 minutes.
11.) Allow to cool and top with frosting.
Frosting:
1.) Mix sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and egg yolks in a saucepan.
2.) Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thick; about 12 minutes.
3.) Take off heat.
4.) Stir in coconut and pecans.
5.) Beat until spreading consistency. Allow to cool and thicken before icing cake.
Notes: This was probably one of the most clear and to the point recipes that I've ever tried. I had no problem following along with it, and truthfully, the cake didn't take long to make. I expected it to be an all day project as this was the first actual cake that I was making, but I was pleasantly surprised. One of the things you'll notice is the asterisk by the buttermilk. In the event that you want to attempt this cake but have no buttermilk (or a desire to go buy buttermilk), it's easy enough to substitute. All you do is take about a cup of milk and mix it with white vinegar or lemon juice. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and you're good to go. Another thing that a lot of recipes called for was 'roasted pecans'. While this recipe didn't specify, I went ahead and roasted mine anyway. To do that, just set the oven to 350 degrees and bake the pecans on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing I found really difficult about the cake was spreading the frosting on the sides of the cake. It could be because I didn't let it cool all the way (my bad, y'all) but who cares really because what it lacked in 'spreading consistency' it make up for in yumminess. And I hate coconut.