German Chocolate Cake

For my birthday this year, my great love offered to make me a cake.  The catch was that he only does package cakes.  No thanks...I'll make my own.  It's a lot of work to make a German Chocolate cake properly, but it is soooo worth it!  So he took care of the flowers instead.  My one concession to time was to make it as a sheet cake rather than a layer cake.  I've given you instructions for both below.

German Chocolate Cake

Cake

4 oz of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

1/2 c boiling water

4 eggs

1 c butter or margarine

2 c sugar

1 t vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 1/2 c cake flour

1 c buttermilk

Grease the bottom and sides of a baking pan (or three 8 inch cake pans) and add waxed paper to the bottom. Preheat the oven to 350. Gather together all ingredients plus the following bowls: 2 c glass measuring cup, 4 c glass measuring cup, small bowl, and a large mixing bowl.

In the 2 c glass measuring cup, pour 1/2 c boiling water over the broken up chocolate. Stir until dissolved and let it sit until cooled.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the 4 c glass measuring cup and the yolks into a small bowl.

In the large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the chocolate mixture and the vanilla, beating them in thoroughly. Add the baking soda and salt, mixing them in well. Add the milk and the flour, alternating between them, beating the whole time.

Beat the egg whites at high speed until they form firm peaks. Fold the whites into the batter, half at a time, slowly and carefully.

Bake the cake for 50 minutes (for a pan) or 35 minutes (for 8 inch rounds). Check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. If doing a layer cake, let the layers cool for 15 minutes before removing them from the pans. Use a knife to loosen it from the pan, and then flip them over onto a cooling rack and remove the wax paper from the bottom.

Frosting

1 c heavy cream or evaporated milk

1 c sugar

3 egg yolks, beaten

1/2 c butter

1/2 t salt

1 t vanilla

1 1/3 c unsweetened coconut

1 c pecans, chopped and roasted

Heat the pecans for 2 minutes, stirring after one minute, in the microwave. Mix the cream through the vanilla on a stove set on medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut and roasted pecans. Cool the frosting until it is firm enough to spread.