German Chocolate Cake

This Cake.

Oh my goodness, this cake.

If you like cake and chocolate, then you will LOVE this German Chocolate Cake. It's insanely delicious.

Truly outrageous.

I made this cake from scratch on Saturday for my mother-in-law's birthday. It was so much better than any box mix. Honest. 

I got this recipe from my Aunt Lana's mother, Carolyn. She brings this cake to every special occasion and everybody chooses to have a slice of it over any other cake or pie present. The recipe is from Baker's, you know, the brand that actually makes the chocolate. You could probably get it off the box of chocolate itself, but I'm sharing with you here, accompanied by step-by-step photos, because it's that good. Your welcome.

German Chocolate Cake

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Cake Ingredients:

1 pkg (4 oz) Baker's German Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup water

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

Instructions:

First, preheat the oven to 350.

First, we're going to melt the chocolate with water.

Melt in microwave on high 1.5 - 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir halfway through.

Stir the mixture until chocolate is melted. Set aside. 

(see that steam?)

Now, mix the flour, baking soda and salt

Stir together and set aside.

In your mixing bowl, add softened butter and sugar.

Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, should look like this:

(I didn't get pictures of this next step. Just plum forgot.)

Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition

Blend in melted chocolate:

Also, add in the vanilla here, too.

It will look like this when mixed well:

Now, add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively:

Blend well after each addition.

Now, it should look nice and fluffy, like this:

In a separate bowl, place the egg whites:

Mix on high speed until soft peaks form:

Using a spoon, fold this gently into the cake mixture.

Prepare 3 8" or 9" cake pans by cutting rounds of wax paper and greasing the sides.

(If you're me, you realize right about now that this makes enough to require the 3 layers. I only had 2 cake pans. So, my 17 year old brother-in-law, Ryan, ran to Kroger for me and bought that one that's mismatched. Thank heavens for teenagers that love an excuse to drive! He's so awesome and sweet!)

Pour in the batter evenly.

I will say that this batter isn't like a regular cake batter. The texture is similar to chocolate mousse. Don't be alarmed. That's because its better than a box mix, friends!

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when you put it in the center:

Run spatula around the edges immediately.

Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then let cool completely on wire racks. Discard the wax paper, of course!

Coconut Pecan Frosting!

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1.5 tsp vanilla

1.5 cups sugar

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter

1 pkg (7 oz) Bakers' angel flake coconut

1.5 cups chopped pecans

In a medium saucepan (heat off), add the egg yolks:

Add the evaporated milk:

And the vanilla:

Whisk until well blended.

Add the sugar:

And the butter and put over medium heat.

Stir constantly, for about 12 minutes, or until thickened. Yes, it will seem like a small eternity. Play some songs on your ipod or something.

Should look about like the above!

Next, add the coconut and nuts:

Mix well:

Note: this needs to cool now until it sets up enough to frost, or you'll just have a globby mess!

Frost the 3 layer cake! This took a little bit of patience because the frosting is soooo thick. I felt like I was spackling a mudslide at times.

But, it turned out great!

Oh yeah, German Chocolate Cake heaven.

It's really moist and fluffy. Just divine.

Keith and I have shared a small piece each night for dinner since Saturday. It's almost gone and, I admit, I'll be very sad to see it go. YUM!

PS- good thing I recently started working out. more about that later!