As you know, we recently celebrated Richard's birthday and, although, thankfully, he didn't ask for a birthday cake in the shape of St. Thomas Aquinas, he might as well have done so. No, instead he requested German Chocolate Cake for his big day. Not as simple as it sounds folks, because when my dear husband asks for German Chocolate Cake, what he is
really asking for, is:
"German Chocolate Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling and a Ganache-Buttercream Frosting" to be precise. Far be it from
me to say
"No" to my wonderful husband who works so hard to provide for his growing family, who pays all the bills
and chops all the wood. Well, truth be told, I did say "No"... only
at first. Then I felt bad. So I made it. It
is his favorite.
Now, I am pooped beyond all telling. The kind of 'pooped' from which you can never recover. Ever.
Why? It took me exactly 1.5 days to make, assemble and frost this gorgeous ganache-laden cake. Let me take you behind-the-scenes:
First you start with the
Pecan-Coconut Filling because it has to be chilled:
FOR THE FILLING:
4 large eggs yolks, room temperature
1 (12oz. can evaporated milk
1 C. sugar
1/4 C. light brown sugar
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 1/3 C.sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 C. pecans, toasted and chopped coarse
Whisk egg yolks in medium saucepan, then gradually whisk in evaporated milk. Add granulated sugar, butter and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is boiling, frothy and slightly thickened about 6-7 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a bowl and whisk in vanilla (this is where a premium-quality vanilla extract makes a difference), then stir in the coconut.
Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. You don't stir in the pecans until just before assembling the cake, otherwise you end up with Soggy Pecan-Coconut Filling. Not good. Upward and onward...
FOR THE CAKE:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/4 C. Dutch-processed cocoa ( An item that has become next to impossible to find. I order mine online.)
1/2 C. boiling water
2 C. (10 0z.) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 C. (7 oz.) granulated sugar
2/3 C. packed light brown sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 C. sour cream, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans ( I like Wilton because they are 2 inches deep), line with parchment paper, grease parchment ans flour pans. Combine chocolate and cocoa in small heatproof bowl,
pour boiling water over mixture, and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Whisk mixture gently until smooth, then let cool to room temperature. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl and set aside.
Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and salt on medium high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla, increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. Reduce speed to lo, add chocolate, and then increase speed to medium and beat until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl once or twice.
Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture in 3 additions. alternating with 2 additions of sour cream, scraping down bowl as necessary. Give batter final stir by hand (batter will be thick).
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with rubber spatula. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in centers come out clean, about 30 minutes, rotating pans half way through baking.
Let cakes cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and let cool completely, about 2 hours, before filling.
Moving on to the Ganache-Buttercream Frosting:
FOR THE FROSTING:
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine (do not use chocolate chips)
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 C. sugar
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C. heavy cream, chilled
Melt the chocolate in heatproof bowl set over saucepan containing 1 inch of barelt simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, melt butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Increase heat to medium, add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4-5 minutes. In large bowl, combine melted chocolate, butter mixture and cream and stir until thoroughly combined. This is where you start thinking and hoping you're done and then cry softly because you're not. Steel yourself.
Place bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against the sides of bowl (1-2 minutes). Beat frosting on med-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Using rubber spatula, stir until completely smooth.
Whew! Don't say I didn't warn you.
FOR THE ASSEMBLY:
Now, you are ready to assemble the German Giant. Remember those toasted, chopped pecans? It is time to mix them into your coconut filling.
If you are real adventurous, you could cut each layer in half and end up with a four-layer cake but I don't like all those crumbs.
I inverted the top cake so you end up with a nice smooth top to work with.
Almost there...all that's left are the final touches
Ta-Daaa!
Okay, I'm going to bed now.
Signed,
Frau Meloche
* Recipes adapted from Cooks Illustrated.
