How To Make German Chocolate Cake

If you are dieting or a diabetic, just move on. Don't even keep reading.

Okay, here's how to make German Chocolate Cake from scratch!
(First, make sure you've got about 4 hours of continuous free time.)

Here's what you need:
Cake flour, buttermilk, flaked coconut, eggs, salt, water, sugar, good chocolate, baking soda, butter, vanilla, evaporated milk, and pecans.


Separate 4 egg yolks from the whites. If you have one of these cool egg separators, use that! If not, just do it the old-fashioned way.
Either way, get 'em all separated.

Next, sift the flour (2 and 1/2 cups), baking soda (1 tsp) and salt (1/2 tsp) into a bowl and combine. Actually, I don't have a sifter, but I figured using a strainer would accomplish pretty much the same thing.

Set that aside, and fix your attention on the stove. Combine 6 oz of baking chocolate and 1/2 cup of water in a sauce pan and heat 'em up until the chocolate melts.


Now set that aside too, and fix your attention on your mixer. If you don't have one, you should buy one. They are amazing. Anyways, put 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar into the mixer, and just watch it go.


Till it's light and fluffy


And then add the 4 egg yolks, one at a time.


Nice action shot, right? I didn't take a picture, but at this point you should also add 1 tsp vanilla and the chocolate-water mixture (which has been cooling).

Do this next part by hand so you don't over-mix your cake batter: Alternate adding the flour mixture and 1 cup of buttermilk to the chocolate-creamed butter-sugar mixture.


It should still be kind of lumpy when you're finished mixing in the flour and buttermilk. It should look like this.


If you're alone in the house and starting to miss humanity, take some time to look out the window.


Okay back to the cake. Set the oven to 350 F.

Next you need to beat the 4 egg whites until they form soft peaks. Now... I already worked out this morning--and besides, I know this great trick--so if your real mixing bowl is still dirty from the chocolate stuff, you can just put the egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl and hold it under the mixer for a while.


Until you see soft peaks.


And then fold the soft-peaked egg whites into the chocolate batter. Don't over-fold here. Just until the streaks are gone.


Okay now grease 3 pans, square or circles, but they should be 9 inch pans. Pour the batter evenly between the three pans. And stick 'em in the oven. They take about 20 minutes, but do the toothpick test to tell for sure when they're done.


Okay! The cakes are in the oven! We are 1/3 of the way done!

Time to make the filling. Chop up 2 cups of pecans.


And stick 'em in a big pan. We're gonna toast them.


But before you stick 'em on the stove, add 2 and 2/3 cups of flaked coconut.


There. Now put that over low-med heat, stirring occasionally, until they seem done to you.


I don't know how you're supposed to tell really. I got side-tracked and burned mine.


But I still used it, because look--it doesn't look that bad.

By this time, the cakes are probably about done. Take them out and let them cool about 10 minutes. Then, in an effort to keep them from breaking when you take them out of the pans, do this: cover with wax paper, and stick them in the freezer for the next hour or so.


Now. The cakes are in the freezer. Back to the filling.

Combine 2 sticks of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of evaporated milk, and 6 egg yolks in a pot, and stir until thickened.


Heads up. This is going to take about 45 minutes, stirring constantly.


So grab a stool, and get cozy. And keep stirring.


And then when you think it might be thickened... well, it's probably not. Keep stirring.


Okay! If it finally has the consistency where it stays on the whisk for a second before slowly dripping off, then it's thickened. Don't worry about the yellow color.

Because now you add the coconut and pecans!


And it looks about how you've probably seen German Chocolate filling. I was pretty worried about the yellow color, if you can't tell. But it looked normal in the end.

Now then. Get the cakes out of the freezer and run hot water over the backs of the pans to loosen 'em up a bit. I would also run a little spatula around the edge to pry them up.

Put the first cake on your platter, and layer it with some of the filling. Then put the next layer on.


Don't freak out if the cake falls apart a little.


You can just pack a little bit of cake in that hole, and no problem. Put more filling on.


And finish layering the cakes.


This is a naked German Chocolate Cake.


Welp. That Is all the filling. So... as you can see, it doesn't completely cover the cake. But that is okay, because next comes the ganache!

Use a food processor to pulverize 4 oz of baking chocolate.


And heat 3/4 cups of heavy cream until it just begins to bubble.


At first, when you add the chocolate in, it will look like this.


But just keep stirring and it will look like this.


And then you just let it cool a little bit and spoon it over the edges of the cake.


I forgot to take a picture of the finished cake before I put it into its box. I'm taking it to my BIL's birthday party. So here it is, in the box.


Oooooh look at that! Can't you imagine it with some candles? Beautiful.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 6 oz German sweet chocolate
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites

• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups evaporated milk
• 1 cup butter
• 6 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 2/3 cups flaked coconut
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
  
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat water and 4 ounces chocolate until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
4. Pour into 3 - 9 inch pans Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then freeze for an hour and remove by running hot water over the back of the pan. Loosen the edges with a knife or spatula before removing the cake.
5. To make the Filling: In a saucepan combine 2 cups sugar, evaporated milk, 1 cup butter, and 6 egg yolks. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until thick enough to spread.
6. Spread filling between layers and on top of cake. In a small saucepan, heat cream until it just boils. Add 4 oz chocolate. Stir until smooth, cool, and drizzle down the sides of the cake.