German Chocolate Cake

As mentioned previously, my husband planned a birthday dinner for his dad's 60th birthday. German Chocolate Cake is one of his favorites, so my husband made it to go along with the Austrian dinner. This was the very first time he had ever made a cake from scratch! I tried not to help, but I did end up doing a few things (like separate egg yolks from egg whites... and I also made the frosting because it was getting late).

And of course it wouldn't be proper to post this recipe without giving credit to the family member the recipe came from: my maternal grandmother Mary Baynor Whitley. She died young so I never got to meet her and therefore cannot ask where she got the recipe. Perhaps it could be traced even further back in the family.

So in her words (or what my mom had written down), you will need:

1 (4 oz.) bar Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate
½ c. boiling water
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 egg yolks, unbeaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ c. cake flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. buttermilk
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten (we forgot to do this but the cake turned out great anyway)

Melt chocolate in double boiler. Cool. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well after each. Add melted chocolate and vanilla. Mix well.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add alternately with buttermilk to chocolate mixture. Beat until smooth. Fold in egg whites.

Pour into 3 deep 8” or 9” (we used 9") round cake pans (greased and floured). Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Cool. Frost tops only with Coconut-Pecan Frosting.


To make the Coconut-Pecan Frosting, you will need:

1 c. evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
3 egg yolks
½ c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 c. coconut flakes
1 c. chopped pecans

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened (about 12 minutes). Add coconut and pecans. Beat until thick enough to spread.

This frosting recipe it only enough to frost just the tops of the layers. Double the recipe if you're a frosting lover and want to frost the entire cake!

Comments

  1. VeedaOctober 25, 2011 at 7:59 AM

    I LOVE seeing a homemade German Chocolate Cake recipe. Thanks for sharing Jenny!

    ReplyDelete

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