Yum

German Chocolate Cake

A while back on my facebook page, I asked my followers there (why is it that every time I say “followers”, I feel like Jim Jones holding up a pitcher of kool-aid? Come to me, my pretties… I’ll make life allll better!) what they wanted me to make- sweet, savory, specific flavors? I was having a brain dead day. I have a lot of those. Most people came up with suggestions fitting this blog, i.e., fattening, high calorie, etc. A few however, seemed to forget where they were. I got suggestion for… *GASPS*…. low calorie foods and I was told in email that I needed to start blogging more low cal, even diabetic friendly recipes and that I should also post some vegan ones more often.

Ummmm…. no. I don’t. Have to, that is. Or even need to. There are plenty of other bloggers covering that territory. Those of us willing to put our blood sugar count on the line for you are getting harder to find, however. Appreciate us while we’re still alive and don’t have to be buried in piano cases. :-p

I can appreciate that people want those type of recipes and I will happily guide my readers towards some wonderful blogs and web sites that do that type of food, but unless I make something that just HAPPENS to fit that criteria, I won’t be posting that style of food. There are 900,000 blogs out there cooking under many different topics. Mine is a baking/comfort food blog. You wouldn’t go into a restaurant that specializes in home cooking, things like meat loaf, mashed potatoes, cream pies, etc and say, “Hey, I want you to make me a nice vegan lentil dish. This other stuff just isn’t what I’m looking for and you need to stop serving it.” Same thing here on my little corner of the internet.  I love you all more than pizza (fully loaded with extra cheese even) and if I make a recipe that is Vegan or low cal or wonderfully good for you, you’d better believe I’ll post it. But will I actively search for or make those kinds of recipes? No. I enjoy baking, I enjoy comfort foods (and big hips and thighs obviously). However, believe it or not, I make healthy foods sometimes But I do it because I like the sounds of a recipe or want to try making something differently or because I had to turn sideways to fit my hips through a door and can’t afford new jeans and am getting tired of sitting around the house in a Muumuu.

So there you have it. If you want foods that have enough calories to feed a small country or that will make you feel better on a day when all you want to do is eat your emotions, I’m your gal. If you want foods that will trim your waistline or lower your blood sugar, I may not be the blogger for you. I’d hate to see you leave, but I fully understand. 🙂

On that note….. cake. With calories galore.

This is my husbands favorite cake and I kinda like him, so I thought I’d give it a try. This recipe came from Southern Living. It’s moist chocolate cake, smothered in a thick and rich coconut pecan frosting

Because…cake. Chocolate….

FYI- This recipe makes a TON of frosting. I still had some left over and you can see how heavily iced this cake is. I can see cutting it in half and still having enough for the cake, easily. I have noticed in the past that Southern Living recipes can lean towards a bit of inaccuracy in amounts, as much as I love them.

You know the drill…

German Chocolate Cake

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temp
• 7 ounces of finely chopped semi sweet chocolate
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Frosting-
• 3 1/2 cups chopped pecans, lightly toasted and cooled
• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, room temp
• 2 14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 3 cups (10 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 9 inch cake pans with a baking spray that combines oil and flour. Wilton makes a good one.
2. Place the chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each one, until chocolate is fully melted. Set aside to cool a bit.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
4. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour (flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour). Fold in the melted chocolate.
5. Scrape batter (it will be thick) into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops of each pan of batter.
6. Bake at 350 until a wooden skewer inserted in each comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cakes cool in the pan, on a rack, for five minutes, then turn out carefully onto the rack to finish cooling.
7. While the cake cools, make your frosting- In a large pot, combine the butter, sweetened condensed milk and brown sugar. Cook over low heat, whisking often, until mixture is smooth. Don’t let it get extremely hot; you’re just getting it all melted down and combined. Add a little of the mixture to the egg yolks and whisk to combine. You’re just trying to heat the yolks so they don’t cook unevenly when you add them into the milk mixture.
8. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the milk one. Let cook over low heat, whisking often, until it has thickened up, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer it to a large bowl and add in 3 cups of the pecans, the coconut, vanilla extract and salt. let this cool. It will thicken more as it cools down.
9. Place one cake layer on serving plate. Frost with half the frosting. Lay the other cake layer carefully on top; frost with the rest of the frosting. Garnish withe the rest of the pecans.

Copyright Notice: From Cupcakes To Caviar images and original content are copyright protected. Please do not publish these materials anywhere without prior permission.