German Chocolate Cake!

  

Have you ever had a 'from scratch' German Chocolate Cake?  Not one made from a cake mix with frosting from a can, but a real, down home scratch German Chocolate Cake?  For a chocolate lover like me, there can't be anything much better as far as cake goes.  If you have never had one, you have to make this.

This cake is not German in origin, but is called the German Chocolate cake because of the chocolate  which was developed by an American chocolate maker whose name was Sam German.  He developed the chocolate for the Baker's Chocolate Company and the chocolate was named in honor of him...Baker's German Sweet Chocolate.  Much later in 1957, the recipe for German Chocolate Cake was sent into a newspaper by a Dallas, Texas homemaker.  The recipe became very popular and the sales for Baker's German Chocolate went up 73%.

 It's actually not a hard cake to put together and if you make it, everyone will be in awe of  your amazing baking skills. You can also look down your nose at people and say things like... "I only bake, 'from scratch' dear" and "Bless your heart, you used a cake mix"...lol.  Not that anyone who reads this blog would ever say such things to anyone.  I know you wouldn't, but it's funny to think of.  Ok, I might be exaggerating a bit, but you know I can do that at times.   If you want to try this cake, here is all you need:

1/2 cup boiling water
4 oz. Baker's German Chocolate bar
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
2  1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Frosting
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks
1  3/4 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate in 1/2 cup boiling water.
Mix sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks.
Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla.
Sift flour together with baking soda and salt.
Alternate adding the buttermilk and flour  to the egg, butter and sugar mixture ending with the buttermilk.  Blend together well, but do not over beat this. It's best to use a wire whisk for this. 

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they are at the stiff peak stage.

Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Do not beat this, just fold to blend them in.

Place wax paper in the bottom of 2  9 inch cake plans.  With either shortening or butter, grease the sides of the pans and I even grease the wax paper a little. 

Evenly divide the batter between the pans.  Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow them to cool completely before turning them out of the cake pans.   This cake can stick if you don't follow the instructions to use the wax paper and grease the sides of the cake pans well and also allowing them to cool completely. 

Frosting
Combine sugar, butter, milk, and egg yolks in a heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 3 minutes, turn heat down and continue to cook and stir until it thickens.  This will take about a total of 12 minutes.   Add vanilla, coconuts and chopped pecans. 

Place a cake layer on a cake plate.  Spread frosting on just the top of that layer and then place the second layer on top of that.  



Pour the rest of the frosting right in the center of the top layer and then spread over the top of the cake.  You don't frost the sides of this cake, but if some of the frosting runs over and down the sides it's ok.  As a matter of fact, it will and it's all good! 



 German Chocolate Cake!