Summer German Chocolate Cake

By: Priya Krishna

servings

Dessert

Course

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Ingredients

Directions

Cake

4 oz

Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate

½ c

hot water

¼ c

unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pans

1 tsp

baking soda

2 c

white sugar

1 c

vegetable shortening

egg yolks

2 c

flour

1 c

buttermilk

egg whites (beaten stiff but not dry)

1 tsp

vanilla

Frosting

1½ c

white sugar

¾ c

unsalted butter

1½ tsp

vanilla extract

egg yolks

(12-ounce) can evaporated milk

7 oz

sweetened coconut flakes

1½ c

chopped pecans

In this recipe, gooey coconut-pecan frosting is spread between layers of moist chocolate cake. Despite its name, German Chocolate Cake is misleadingly American, and the term actually refers to a specific ingredient used, Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate.

Adapted from The Irving News Record

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease with butter.
In a small pot, combine the chocolate and hot water over low heat, and stir until the chocolate has completely melted into the water. Set aside.
In another small pot, melt the butter and mix in the baking soda until it has mostly dissolved. Set aside.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream sugar, shortening, and egg yolks together. Mix in the flour, salt, baking-soda-and-butter mixture, buttermilk, and melted chocolate, being sure to add the flour in small batches interchangeably with the rest of the ingredients. Finally, mix in the beaten egg whites and vanilla.
Distribute the batter between the three cake pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out relatively clean (a few cakey bits stuck to the toothpick are A-OK). Let the layers cool completely.
While they cool, make the frosting. Combine the sugar, butter, vanilla, egg yolks, and evaporated milk in a small pot over medium-low heat. Stir constantly (to prevent the eggs from scrambling) until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Strain the frosting through a sieve into a bowl, then mix in the pecans and coconuts. Chill the frosting for 30 minutes, until it’s thick and gooey but spreadable.
To frost the cake, arrange one of the layers on a plate with the parchment side facing up. Peel off the parchment, spread the surface generously with frosting, and top with the second layer, parchment side up. Frost and repeat with the remaining layer until you have three layers of cake and three layers of frosting. (You can frost the sides if you’d like, but I prefer the “naked” look.)

Priya Krishna

Priya Krishna is a food writer and the author of the college-centric cookbook Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks and Indianish.

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