German Chocolate Cake

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cut out two pieces of parchment paper the same size as the bottom of two 8″ or 9″ cake pans.

Place a large bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Place the butter, dark chocolate, water, cocoa powder and sugars in the bowl and stir until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat. Keep the pot of water nearby to use for making the frosting.

Stir the buttermilk and oil into the chocolate mixture. Whisk in the three egg yolks. Set it all aside.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk, fold or stir into the chocolate bowl until just barely combined.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand or hand held mixer. Beat on medium high speed until they just start to form peaks. Fold these egg whites into the batter.

Pour the batter evenly between the two pans. Forget everything you ever heard about cake baking and avoid the urge to tap the pans (this punches down air pockets, which will lead to a denser cake).

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the center no longer jiggles when you shake or poke it. Place the cake pans over your stove’s burners or a cooling rack and let the cakes cool in their pan for at least an hour.

Once cooled, run a butter knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Flip the cakes onto a piece of parchment or your counter. Peel back the parchment paper and let the cakes cool some more.

Make the filling and ganache:

If your pecans aren’t toasted yet, go ahead and do so by placing them on a cookie sheet and baking them for about 7 minutes at 325F.

Place the condensed milk, butter and sugar in a pot over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves (about 3 minutes). Add the yolks and whisk continuously, still over medium heat, until everything begins to thicken. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the coconut and pecans.

Cool (this happens a lot faster if you pour the mixture over a cookie sheet and spread it).

Make the ganache:

Place a large bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Combine the chocolate, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and water in the large bowl and whisk or stir until the chocolate has melted.

Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the butter, followed by the cream. Pour into a large bowl or on a rimmed cookie sheet and chill until spreadable (about 30-45 minutes).

Once the cake has completely cooled off, split each into two layers. Place the second best layer on a serving platter or (and our recommended way) onto an 8″ or 9″ round cardboard cake circle that sits over a 10″ or 12″ cardboard cake circle.

Place a nice, hefty dollop of German chocolate filling over the first layer and place your least favorite cake layer over that. Repeat until you place your prettiest cake layer on top.

Dollop about 2/3 of your frosting over the top layer. Using a small offset spatula or butter knife, pick up swoops of frosting and, hovering just above the sides of the cake, swoop frosting to cover the sides.

Once the sides of the cake are frosted, spoon the remaining ganache on top of the cake and swirl it about. Don’t overthink this. Just relax (wine helps here) and give the cake graceful, pillows swooshes.

EAT CAKE.