Cake #16: German Chocolate

Until I made this one, I'd only ever had German chocolate from a mix with the canned coconut pecan frosting. It was never my favorite. Not that I disliked it--Hello! It's still chocolate cake and I am...me--but I wouldn't choose it given other options.

But then it was my dad's birthday. And the family got together to celebrate. And I remembered that he likes German chocolate cake. No...I remembered that he likes pretty much any dessert with nuts in it. And since German chocolate cake meets that criteria, I figured it was as good a time as any to try my hand at one.

I'm glad I did. More than that, I'm glad other people kept my girls out of the kitchen so my brother-in-law Trevor and I could pull this bad boy together. It was the perfect dessert for a pretty much perfect evening.

Happy birthday, Dad!

German Chocolate Cake
recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch

Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 375°. Butter and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla, and beat with mixer on medium for two minutes. Mix in boiling water; the batter will be very thin. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for about ten minutes, then remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.


Coconut Pecan Frosting
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut

In a medium saucepan, mix the first five ingredients together. Stir on medium heat until thickened. (This seemed to take a really long time, but we probably thickened ours a little more than was strictly necessary.) Remove from heat and stir in nuts and coconut.

Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. (I needed it...my frosting was THICK.) Stir in vanilla.

Cake Assembly:
Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread about half (or more, if necessary) of the coconut pecan frosting evenly over it. Top with the other cake layer. Frost sides and top with chocolate frosting. Spread the remaining coconut pecan frosting on the top. (I used lots in the middle so there wasn't enough left to cover the top, but it all worked out fine.) Slice and serve.