3-Layer German Chocolate Cake!

       Alright everyone, so I just have to say that before someone asked me to make them a German Chocolate Cake for a custom order, I’d never attempted to make one.   To be honest, I’d never even liked German Chocolate Cake (I know, I know...).  Then when the time came for me to have to make it, I scavenged the internet looking for a good recipe but couldn’t find one that I was happy with.  So I decided to come up my own recipe and this is the result.  I hope you ENJOY! 

(Editor's note:  Unlike Brian, I have enjoyed many a good German Chocolate Cake through the years!  I have to say this is probably the best one I've ever tried...the cake is so moist and the icing is rich but not too sweet and adds a nice crunch.  Yeah, I just really like it!) 

Here’s what you'll need…

4 ounces German Sweet Bakers Chocolate

½ cup water

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp + ½ tsp salt, divided

1 cup butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp butter flavor

1 ½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 cup buttermilk

       Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour three 9” round pans then set aside until needed.

        In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and water together until completely liquid and smooth.

       In two small bowls, separate the eggs and set aside.

       In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugars, vanilla extract, and butter flavoring.  Add in egg yolks, mix well.  Stir in the melted chocolate then set aside.

       In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and ½ tsp salt.  Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture in intervals, alternating with the buttermilk.  Continue adding and stirring until all of the ingredients are fully combined.

  In a small bowl with an electric mixture, whip egg whites and ½ tsp of salt until stiff and foamy. Gently fold egg whites into the batter then pour batter into the three prepared pans.

       Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

After the cakes have finished baking, allow them to cool for several minutes in the pans before carefully transferring onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Coconut Caramel Topping

2 cups evaporated milk

8 egg yolks

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ cups brown sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups butter

3 cups shredded sweetened coconut

½ cup pecan pieces 

       In a large saucepan, combine evaporated milk, egg yolks, sugars, vanilla extract, and butter.  Melt down over low heat.  After everything is melted, raise the heat up to medium.  Stir constantly to make sure it doesn't scorch on the bottom.   Continue stirring and allow the mixture to cook for 10 – 15 minutes.  It will thicken into a nice caramel texture.

Remove from heat and stir in shredded coconut and pecans. Once the cakes have cooled, add the caramel topping between each layer until you have assembled the three-layer cake!  Pour remaining icing on top.

 (Note: the pictures shown are of a two-layer version of this recipe, for which I had adjusted the ingredients.)

Enjoy!