HOMEMADE GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

A beloved tradition in our family is when someone’s birthday rolls around, I make them the cake and dinner of their choice for our family dinner celebration no matter how simple or complicated their choice is. 

My daughter-in-love almost always chooses German Chocolate Cake with the delicious layers of coconut pecan filling and a buttercream chocolate frosting. This cake is truly incredible!  It is super moist and is satisfyingly chocolatey enough to please even the most die hard chocolate fans.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

• 2 cups white sugar

• 1-3/4 cups flour (If baking in high altitudes, add 3 tbsp flour)

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup very hot water

Coconut Pecan Filling:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup butter

• 3 large egg yolks

• 3/4 cup evaporated milk

• 3 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• 1 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Chocolate Frosting:

• 3/4 cup melted butter

• 2/3 cup cocoa powder

• 3 cups icing sugar

• 1/3 cup cream

• 1 tsp vanilla

• Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

• Heat your oven to 375°F. Prepare your pans by greasing two 8 or 9-inch round baking pans. NOTES: I don’t recommend spring form pans for this recipe as the batter for this cake is very thin and may leak out. Also, cutting out a round piece of wax or parchment paper for the bottom of the pan helps make sure the cake comes out easily.

Cake:

• Blend the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, blend the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and whisk well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk or use a hand mixer to combine thoroughly. Slowly stir in the boiling water. This will make the batter very thin. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

• Bake for 25 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

• Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to wire baking racks to finish cooling completely before building with the filling and frosting.
  

German Coconut Pecan Topping:

• Add both sugars, butter, egg yolks, and evaporated milk to a medium sized saucepan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat stirring constantly for a few minutes until the mixture begins to thicken.

• Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, pecans and coconut. Allow this mixture to cool completely before building your cake.
  

• Chocolate Frosting:

Stir the butter and cocoa together until smooth in a mixing bowl. Add the icing sugar, cream, vanilla and salt and beat until fluffy. Feel free to add a bit more cream or icing sugar until you reach your desired consistency.

Assemble the Cake:

• Place one of the cake layers on a plate or platter.

• Evenly spread a half of the Coconut Pecan Filling over the cake layer leaving a 1/2 inch uncovered around the entire top. This helps keep the filling from getting in the way of the chocolate frosting.

• Stack the second cake layer on top and again spread the remaining half of the coconut pecan filling on the top, leaving a 1/2 inch gap to the edge.

• Spread 2/3 of the chocolate frosting over the outside of the cake.

• Place the rest of the frosting in a piping bag with a tip of your choice to decorate with rosettes around the edge of the top edge and the base of the cake. You can also use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off in necessary.