German Chocolate Cake
I have spent the last month or so dreaming of making this cake! As Jill and I work on a new project over the next handful of weeks, we have been incredibly inspired by whimsical baking. I have been feeling really nostalgic for some of my favorite childhood films, television shows, and toys in this season of life. I am beginning to realize that much of what I dreamed of and loved as a child is what we have built our content around. As we learn and grow in our art, we have decided to just embrace being a bit odd and make content that brings forth the nostalgia of cottage life. We have often been compared to the show Little Bear or the movies of Studio Ghibli, and our followers on TikTok seem to believe that we are secretly Marilla Cuthbert. Ha!
This cake, to me, makes me think of all of those lovely inspirations and something that I would have desperately wanted to be able to make when I was a little girl. Now I get to!
the history of german chocolate cake:
Did you know the German Chocolate Cake is not German at all? It is actually an American invention from the mid twentieth century. The German baking chocolate was invented by Samuel German, an English-American baker who worked for the Baker’s Chocolate Company (the same company whose chocolate I used to bake this cake!). German chocolate is sweeter than semisweet chocolate, giving it a bit of a different effect in baked goods.
However, the cake recipe itself did not appear until 1957, created by Mrs. George Clay. It was just chocolate cake made with German Chocolate so that it was sweeter. Funny!
the chocolate truffles:
You may have noticed that I topped the cake with large chocolate truffles. Jill and I had been wanting to make some truffles, so we decided to incorporate a drizzled ganache on top the cake and use the remaining ganache for a little extra treat. The ganache is made with dark chocolate and then dipped in melted milk chocolate, and finally rolled in Dutch cocoa powder. This cake is a LOT of chocolate.
the method:
In truth, this cake took me several days to assemble. I would not recommend trying to make it a single day! Many of the parts of the cake can be made in advance, such as the cake itself and the coconut filling. As for the frosting and ganache, I would make those the day that you plan to assemble the cake and decorate it.
If you would also like to make a fancy, bakery style looking cake, then I would invest in a few piping tips! I used an open star and closed star tip to decorate my cake. One thing that you will want to make sure of is that your frosting is spreadable and easily piped. Make sure to practice a bit!
If you are afraid of your cake falling over, stick a few toothpicks in between the layers to help hold them together!
Once the cake is assembled, it is ready for eating! I suggest popping it into the refrigerator for about 1 hour before slicing and serving. This will help the custard filling to set up in between the layers and prevent it from spreading all over.
This is a lot of cake for one serving. Make sure that you save some space for leftovers or plan to share this with friends and family! (:
Enjoy!!
xoxo Kayla
German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour
- 3 cups fine granulated sugar
- 2 cups Dutch cocoa powder
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup vegetable oil or melted butter, slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup strong black coffee
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 oz German chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cups salted butter
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 8 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
- pinch sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4-6 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 oz milk chocolate
- 1/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 3 9-inch cake pans. Set aside until ready to use.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt twice. Place the sifted dry ingredients into the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Mix in the beaten eggs, buttermilk, oil or butter, coffee, vanilla, and melted chocolate. Mix on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and thoroughly combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for another minute.
- Evenly divide the cake batter between the pans, filling to about halfway.
- Bake the cakes for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes rest in their pans for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans to a wire cooling rack. Let the cakes cool to room temperature before decorating them.
- If you are making the cakes ahead of time, wrap them securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- In a medium saucepan, warm the butter and evaporated milk over medium heat until the butter has fully melted, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until the eggs have become light in color and are a bit frothy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Pour about 1 tablespoon of the warm butter and milk into the egg mixture. Whisk immediately to temper the eggs. Then pour the eggs into the pot of butter and milk. Stir with a wooden spoon over low heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the custard from heat and gently stir in the shredded coconut and pecans. Pour the custard into a large bowl and top with plastic wrap, making sure that it touches the surface of the custard. Place this into the refrigerator until fully chilled, about 3-4 hours. You can help it to cool down by stirring occasionally.
- As another option, you can make this 1 day ahead.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add about 2 cups of the powdered sugar, the cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, and vanilla to the mixture.
- Pour in a couple of tablespoons of cream and beat the frosting. Continue alternating the remaining powdered sugar and cream until the frosting becomes thick with a soft peak that curls at the end.
- In a medium saucepan, bring about 1-2 cups of water to a simmer. Place a large bowl over the top of the saucepan, sitting so that it is not touching the water. Fill the bowl with the heavy cream and dark chocolate.
- Stir the cream and chocolate constantly, until the chocolate has melted and mixed in fully with the cream, about 10 minutes. Be careful as the bowl will be hot from the rising steam.
- Remove the bowl from over the pot. Place the bowl of ganache into the refrigerator. Stir the ganache every 10 minutes for 30 minutes to cool it down. You still want it to be a bit runny so that it can drizzle down the sides of the cake, but not too warm that it will melt the frosting. If you leave the ganache in the fridge for too long, then it will become very thick and it will not be pourable.
- Once the ganache has cooled enough, pour about 1/2 of it on top of the cake. Gently spread it over the top of the cake all the way to the edges and let it slowly drip down the sides. This is a rather thick ganache, so it will not be too runny for a lovely thick, drizzled effect.
- As for the other 1/2 of the ganache, place it back into the fridge and allow it to fully thicken, about 1-2 hours. With a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop out mounds of ganache and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for about 20-25 minutes or until the ganache is fully hardened.
- Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave. Dip the balls of ganache into the melted chocolate and place them back onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Once the chocolate has hardened over the ganache, roll them in the cocoa powder. Place these on top of your finished cake!
- Assembling this cake takes some time! Begin with a first layer of cake. Spread about 1/3 of the coconut filling over this layer all the way to the edge of the cake. Place the second layer of cake on top, then another 1/3 of the coconut filling. Finish with the final layer of cake, making sure that everything looks even.
- About one half of the frosting will be used to coat the cake. Scoop out a large dollop on top the cake and spread it evenly over the top, making your way down the sides of the cake. Spread it all around the sides and scrape it to the edges of the cake layers. This is made a bit easier by using a tool like a frosting spreader or a bench scraper.
- Refrigerate the cake in its crumb coating for at least 20 minutes. Next, put on the final layer of frosting. Spread any remaining frosting into piping bags. I used an open star tip and closed star tip to decoarte my cake. Then begin decorating! I used extra toasted coconut, and topped the cake with the remaining 1/3 of coconut filling.
