German Chocolate Cake

If you are not already getting enough sugar and added calories in your diet, then this is the cake for you. This recipe is replete with the cake, filling, and Frosting recipes, and you won’t be disappointment like you were back in seventh grade when Penny Shippely invited you to the Sadie Hawkins dance and all you could do stutter a panicked response . . . or was that just me?

Ingredients

• Cake
  • 8 oz German chocolate – melted in ban marie
  • 6 oz Buttermilk – room temp
  • 2.5 cups Flour
  • 1.5 cups Sugar
  • 0.75 cup Unsalted butter – room temp
  • 0.25 cups Sour Cream – room temp
  • 4 Eggs – separated
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 0.5 tsp Kosher salt
• Filling
  • 12 oz Evaporated milk
  • 3 cups Sweetened Shredded Coconut
  • 1.5 cups Sugar
  • 1.25 Cups Pecans – chopped and toasted
  • 0.75 cups Unsalted Butter – chilled and cubed
  • 6 Egg Yolks
  • 1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Frosting
  • 4.75 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1.5 cups Unsalted Butter
  • 1.25 cups Shortening – or more butter
  • 1.25 cups Natural unsweetened coca powder
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 6 tsp water or milk (maybe 7 tsp)

Process

1. Mise en Place: Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
2. Make Filling
   1. in sauce pan, whisk egg yolks, milk, and vanilla together.
   2. Add sugar and butter. Heat on med for ~15 mins. until thickened like pudding.
   3. Stir constantly to keep from scorching.
   4. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.
   5. Put in fridge to completely cool.
3. Make Cake
   1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
   2. Cut parchment paper for three 9″ pans and grease sides.
   3. Mix sour cream and vanilla.
   4. Add melted chocolate
   5. Add egg yolks one at a time to the batter. Stir constantly so yolks incorporate and don’t cook.
   6. In separate bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients.
   7. Mix buttermilk and water in another bowl.
   8. Add half the dry mix into the chocolate batter.
   9. Add other half, along with buttermilk, mix well and set aside.
   10. Whip egg whites on stand mixer’s highest speed until stiff peaks form.
   11. Gently fold 1/3rd into batter.
   12. Fold in remaining egg whites careful not to over work the batter.
   13. Pour batter equally into the three pans.
   14. Bake 25 mins.
4. Make Frosting
   1. Beat butter and shortening together.
   2. Add half the powdered sugar until smooth.
   3. Add Vanilla, coca powder and 3 TBL milk or water.
   4. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar.
5. Assemble Cake
   1. Pipe a dam of frosting around top edge of two cake pieces and fill interior with filling.
   2. Stack cakes with the unfilled piece on top.
   3. Use Ateco tip 844 to pipe swirls around the top of cake and fill interior with remaining filling.
   4. Frost sides of cake.
   5. If there’s frosting left over, pipe around base of cake.
   6. Store in fridge.