German Chocolate Cake by Colleen (with recipe)

A Family Tradition

UPDATED 2020
Hi Barb --

I finally made the cake this week for Steve's birthday.  I am quite behind as it is actually William's birthday week.  I need to make him chocolate cheesecake before he leaves for school.  I still have three weeks.

The recipe is just the one that comes inside the Baker's Sweet German Chocolate box.  I usually do the cake
over two days.  Day one:  chop pecans for the frosting, separate eight eggs in batches of four (you need four egg yolks for the cake, and four eggs whites beaten separately, and four more egg yolks for the frosting).  

I also cut out pieces of parchment for the bottoms of the three cake pans.  And leave out the cup of butter to soften overnight.  The  next day I make the cake - if you are using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites first and then use the same beaters to mix up the butter, sugar, melted chocolate, etc.  This saves time and clean up.

The hardest part of making this cake is making sure you have all the ingredients before starting.  Not every pantry will have buttermilk, eight plus eggs, pecans, coconut, evaporated milk, and a Baker's German Sweet Chocolate Bar (four ounces) and nearly one pound of butter.

I say "eight plus eggs," as no matter how careful I am, I usually end up breaking a yolk into the whites during the separating process at least once. It is good to have a few extra eggs on hand.  (Saved egg whites can be used to make meringues).  

The recipe for the cake is on a little cardboard card inside the chocolate box.   Save the card and take it with you when you shop.  I have also gotten a bar of chocolate off the shelf and opened it up while shopping to remind me of all the ingredients.  I generally make this cake once a year which is just infrequently enough to forget the ingredient list.

I make the frosting while the cake is baking.  Although the recipe doesn't call for it, I generally add a pinch of salt to the frosting.  When the cake layers come out of the oven, you should run a knife around the edge of the pans immediately.  Then let them sit for 15 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.  Be sure to peel off the parchment paper when you take the layers out of the pans.   It takes a while for the frosting to cool and thicken, so be sure to allow enough time for this step.  Again, I find that allowing myself two days, one for prep, one for baking/assembly makes the process less daunting.

I use toasted pecans to decorate the top of the cake.  Save some pecan halves from your bag of pecans and toast at 375 degrees for about 6-10 minutes to bring out the flavor of the pecans.  Let them cool and then decorate the top of the cake.

Due to the coconuts and pecans, this cake is very polarizing.  The girls will not touch it - which is not a problem for Steve - more for the birthday boy.

On a separate note, I loved your write up of the macarons.

And if you want to see a good, sweet movie that will remind you of our trip, check out the Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren.  I liked it better than Chef, although both are celebrations of food.

  ---Colleen

German Chocolate Cake

1 4-ounce package Baker’s German Chocolate
½ cup water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom of 3 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
Boil water and pour over chocolate in small bowl.  Water until chocolate melts and cools.
Mix four, baking soda and salt and set aside.  Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in cooled chocolate and vanilla.  Add flour mixture alternating with buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth.

Beat egg whites in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold into batter and pour evenly into 3 pans.  Bake 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched in center.  Remove from oven and run knife around edge of pan.  Let cool for 15 minutes and then turn out onto wire racks.  Remove parchment paper and let cook completely.

Pecan Filling:

1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cups butter
4 eggs yolks
1½ teaspoon vanilla
1 package Angel Flake Coconut (7 ounces)
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
pecan halves for garnish

Stir milk, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in large saucepan until blended.  Add in butter and on low heat, stir until butter melts.  Cook on medium heat about 12 minutes until thickened and golden brown.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chopped pecans and coconut.  Cool to room temperature.  Spread filling between each layer and on top of cake (filling divided into thirds).  Decorate on top with pecan halves.  Refrigerate.