German Chocolate Cake

This week my dad turned the big 5-0! In honor of this monumental celebration, I baked one of his favorite cakes: German Chocolate. German chocolate cake is a chocolate layer cake that is filled with a gooey coconut-pecan frosting. Yummy!

A lot of people think that this cake originates from Germany. A fair assumption considering it is called German Chocolate Cake. In actuality, the cake's roots date back to 1852 (thank you, Wikipedia) when Sam German developed a dark, sweet chocolate for Baker's Chocolate Company. The chocolate was then marketed as Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate in honor of him. About 100 years after German's chocolate's original debut, a woman from Dallas, Texas submitted a cake recipe titled "German's Chocolate Cake" to the Dallas Morning Star. The recipe was extremely popular and increased the sale of Baker's chocolate so dramatically that the company quickly snatched up the recipe to print on the back of their chocolate boxes.

I decided to keep to it classic when making my dad's cake and use the Baker's German Chocolate Cake recipe. The only changes I had intended to make were to melt the chocolate down with strong coffee instead of water and add a little cinnamon to the cake batter. I thought these little adjustments would add another delicious layer of flavor to the cake. However, when I started making the cake, I realized I had completely forgotten to buy the main component for the cake: German's Sweet Chocolate. I am not sure how I managed to do that (long week!) but luckily I had some unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate laying around the kitchen and substituted half-and-half. So I guess, technically  my cake is neither German Chocolate nor German's Chocolate!

The cake is really simple to make and even quicker to put together since you don't have to frost the sides. The only slightly time consuming part is making the frosting and waiting for it to thicken up. Considering the cake only really took a couple of hours to make, I think it makes a very elegant and impressive display.

We had a little candle disaster....

My dad ended up loving his cake, as well as the rest of the family, and we all had a great time celebrating his 50th birthday. 

To another great year of life! Happy 50th Birthday, Dad! 

Live. Love. Bake.

German Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Baker's German's Chocolate Cake recipe. Yields 1 8-inch cake.

Cake Ingredients

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

4 eggs, separated

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup buttermilk 

Frosting Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk 

3/4 cups butter

5 egg yolks, beaten

2 cups flaked coconut

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped 

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 

Method

1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line three greased 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper. 
2. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate with coffee over low heat. Set aside and let cool.
3. In stand mixer with a paddle attachment, on medium speed cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; about 5 minutes. Beat in 4 egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. 
4. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 
5. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Start and end with the flour mixture. 
6. In a small bowl, with clean beaters, beat the 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Mix a fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to help loosen the batter. Softly fold in the remaining egg whites. 
7. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centers come out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing cakes from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
8. For the frosting: In a small saucepan, whisk egg yolks together. Add the sugar and milk. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble, thicken and is golden brown. Remove from heat.
9. Transfer milk mixture to a large bowl. Stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until the mixture is thick enough to spread.
10. Cake assembly: Cut of the tops of each cake layer, making sure that they are flat and even. Spread 1/3 of the frosting over each layer and stack the layers. Allow a little frosting to seep out of the edges for a pretty presentation.