German Chocolate Cake

November 16th, 2009
by: Blue

I made this for a co-workers birthday at work.  I did a lot of research before making it and pretty much pieced together a combination of different recipes I found.  It took a ridiculous amount of time but it is a ridiculously amazing cake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cake Layers:

4 ounces baker’s chocolate (recommend: Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate)
1/2 cup water
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk

In a micro-safe bowl, melt chocolate and water together in microwave. Stir until smooth and set aside. In a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla extract, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating, until everything is combined.

Beat egg whites, in a small bowl, until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the batter.

Pour batter into 3 (9-inch) cake pans or 2 (12 capacity) cupcake tins. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Coconut Pecan Frosting:

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
5 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut, toasted
2 cups toasted pecans

Combine evaporated milk, slightly beaten egg yolks, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and butter in a large saucepan or heavy pot over low heat. When butter melts raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken after 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Add coconut and pecans and cool before frosting cakes. 

Syrup:

1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum

In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum. 

Chocolate Ganache:

8 ounces bittersweet (60% cocoa) chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 ½ ounces unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and 1 ½ ounces of butter.  Heat the cream in a pan until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate in the bowl. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let sit until room temperature.

To assemble the cake:

Remove the cake layers from the pans.  Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush well with syrup. Spread about 1 cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top.   Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, then spreading 1 cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.

Ice the sides with the chocolate ganache, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top.


One Response to “German Chocolate Cake”

  1. Sue barron on November 19, 2009 2:44 pm

    Be sure to spray the cake pan bottom and sides with Pam, then line bottoms and sides with parchment paper. Spray Baker’s Secret on top of the parchment paper, then fill with equal amounts of batter in each pan by filling them one cup of batter at a time for each pan. This technique will prevent overbrowning the cake, insure evenly baked cakes, and you will have no trouble removing the cakes from the pans without sticking or tearing.

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