The World’s Best German Chocolate Cake

OK! So, I know any baker would claim that their German Chocolate Cake is the best, but I PROMISE that you will never try any other recipe ever again! Everything about this cake has me going back for bite after bite. It’s decadent and moist, and overall, a lavish PARTY in your mouth!

Here’s why I think it’s the world’s best German Chocolate Cake:

·        Sweet and moist

·        Soft crumb that holds its shape, making it easy to build

·        Dense without being too heavy

·        Chocolate cream cheese icing is light and sweet, rather than thick and fudgy (I could eat an entire bowl by itself!)

So, let’s get to it! When you first start making this cake, you will melt the baking chocolate with boiling water. It is important that you let it cool enough so that adding it to the batter doesn’t cook the egg yolks, but don’t stress if it’s not quite room temperature.

Sifting the dry ingredients helps ensure that the batter won’t be lumpy. If you don’t have a sifter, I usually use a small strainer to do this, but if you don’t have one of those either, a whisk should work fine.

The most critical part of this recipe is the addition of the egg whites. You want to whip them until stiff peaks form. My grandmother swears that only a copper bowl will do, but she is also accustomed to whipping them by hand. BLESS HER! Not only do I not own a copper bowl, but I don’t have the strength or the patience to whip egg whites by hand. Using a hand held or stand mixer at the highest setting seems to be just as effective. (No offense, Grandma!) So, after you’ve got peaks, GENTLY fold the egg whites into the batter. DO NOT over-mix. You want to keep the batter as fluffy as possible. It gives you the soft crumble you want. Over-mixing will make the cake too heavy.

I snapped a couple of pictures of my favorite helper.
Please forgive the papers in the background! We just moved to our new home, and what you see is our collection of un-filed warranties. 

I recently made this cake for my uncle’s 60^th birthday, and he’s not a big fan of chocolate frosting. He requested that I frost it entirely with the coconut pecan filling. At first, my heart hurt! The chocolate frosting is TO DIE FOR! Not to mention, the filling does not make the most workable or attractive frosting. I doubled the recipe for filling, and tripled the amount of coconut and pecans that I usually do, hoping it wouldn’t all slide down into a goopy (yet amazingly delicious) mess. Thankfully, it worked! I added a few pecans around the top just to give it a little something extra, and it was a crowd pleaser!  

I’ve made this heaven-sent treat time after time, and it always leaves people in awe, drooling as they beg me to give up my secret.

Being a self-taught baker, I’ve had my share of tries and fails, but luckily for me, this recipe has been perfected and passed down from mother to daughter for generations. And, luckily for you, I’m finally willing to part with just this one.

Happy baking!

German Chocolate Cake Yield: SERVES 10-12  Prep time: 10-15 minutes  Bake time: 30-40 minutes Total time: 3 hours 45 minutes (includes cooling time)

Ingredients: Chocolate Cake: 4 ounces (1 package) Sweet Cooking Chocolate* ½ cup boiling water 1 cup unsalted butter** 2 cups sugar 4 eggs, separated 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 ½ cups sifted cake flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup buttermilk

Coconut Pecan Filling: 1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted 1 cup sugar 3 egg yolks ½ cup unsalted butter 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 cup flaked coconut*** 11/2 cup chopped pecans***

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting: 4 Tbl unsalted butter 8 ounces cream cheese 3 ounces sweetened cooking chocolate, melted**** 3 cups sifted powdered sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla extract Pinch of salt

Directions: For the cake: 1.       Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans. Set aside. 2.       Melt chocolate with the boiling water. Let cool. 3.       In a medium bowl, combine sifted flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. 4.       In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and chocolate. Mix well. 5.       Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk; beat until smooth. 6.       Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. 7.       Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake about 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out nearly clean. 8.       Let cool in pan 10 minutes before turning onto cooling racks.

For the Coconut Pecan Filling: 1.       In a saucepan over medium heat, combine evaporated milk, egg yolks, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Cook, stirring frequently until mixture thickens. This should take about 12 minutes. 2.       Remove from heat, and mix in coconut and pecans. Beat until thick.

For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting: 1.       In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, cream butter and cream cheese. Add melted chocolate, salt and vanilla. 2.       Gradually add powdered sugar and heavy cream, alternating between the ingredients. Mix well.

To Assemble: 1.       After the cakes have completely cooled, begin by leveling the top of the cakes. 2.       Place the first layer on your platter of choice, and top with 1/3 of the coconut pecan filling. Place the second cake layer on top of the first, covering with another 1/3 of the filling. Place the last cake layer, bottom up on top. Save the last 1/3 of filling for later. 3.       Use the chocolate cream cheese frosting to apply a crumb coat. Refrigerate for at least 15-20 minutes. 4.       Put the last 1/3 of the coconut pecan filling on top of the cake. Use the remaining chocolate cream cheese frosting to coat the sides of the cake. Use any remaining chocolate cream cheese frosting to decorate as desired.

Recipe Notes *I like to use Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate. It comes in a green box. **You can substitute butter for shortening if preferred. ***Sometimes I add more to make the filling a thicker consistency. I would especially recommend doing so if you are going to forgo the chocolate cream cheese frosting and decorate the entire cake with filling. (Which is also AMAZING!) ****I usually use the same Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate, but it is perfectly fine to use an unsweetened cooking chocolate if you prefer your chocolate frosting to be just a bit more bitter. Hey folks.. This is so not like me, but when I actually made this cake, I intended to take original photos. Unfortunately, when I was working on it, the cake fell to the floor and made a huge splattering mess! I was filled with anguish! I would've made another one and redone it, but this blog is for a class, and I am on a time crunch! So, the cake pictures are not originals. The top picture is from another blogger. I'm sure hers is delicious, and it looks very similar, but trust me, this is seriously THE BEST GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE, EVER!! https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2017/05/10/german-chocolate-cake/ Update: I found a picture of one of the German Chocolate cakes I made for my husbands birthday a long time ago! Here it is...