Friday, April 29, 2011

Mothers Week: German Chocolate Cake

Is your mom like mine? The woman loves chocolate. I agree. I think anything but chocolate cake is pretty much a waste. My husband was sent a trial to a new magazine this month (Cuisine at Home) and it has a recipe for the most delicious looking chocolate cake ever.

I want to take just a second and tell my mom that I love her! She's the best mom ever. She gets me. She gets my humor when most people don't. Love you mom!

I have to tell you a funny story. Growing up my mom didn't bake a ton of things from scratch. She made cookies, but that's about all I can remember. (Not to say she didn't make more, I just have a really bad memory.) My best friend since middle school has an amazing baker of a mother. Her mother makes awesome bread. I went to their house once and she was making a cake from scratch. In all seriousness I asked if you could make a cake without a box. I legitimately had no idea. I'm so grateful for all the positive influences of mothers I have in my life.

When I made a cake from scratch the first time it was not good. It took a lot of work and wasn't near as good as a cake mix. I put the idea of cake from scratch away for a while. That is, until I saw this recipe.

German Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

What you need:
3 c All Purpose Flour
2 c Sugar
1/2 c Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 t Baking Soda
1 t Salt
2 c Hot Water
3/4 c Vegetable Oil
2 T Distilled White Vinegar
1 T Vanilla Extract

Now I took pictures along the way, but I was using my stainless mixing bowls and was kind of in a hurry so the pics didn't turn out that hot. This cake was really easy so you don't really need many pictures, just go for it!

  • Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 inch cake pans.
  • In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
  • In a separate bowl mix together the water, oil vinegar and vanilla.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry. (Remember what happened in science class when you mixed vinegar and baking soda? Yeah that happens a little.) Whisk until just combined. There will be a  few lumps.
  • Divide batter between your two greased pans.
  • Bake 35-40 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Cool the cakes in the pans on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then flip them over on the rack to get the pan off. Leave the cake upside down. This helps flatten the domed cake.

I made this cake for my husband. It was his birthday. (Happy Birthday Babe! I love you!) His favorite cake is German Chocolate. I don't love the coconut frosting like he does. If I can just toot my own horn for a minute, I made the frosting this time and TOOT TOOT, it was awesome! I found the recipe here. I think I get put off by making things from scratch because it will take too much time or it might not taste as good as something store bought. This one was so easy, quick and turned out great.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

What You'll Need:
1 c Evaporated Milk
1 c Sugar
3 Egg Yolk beaten with 1 t water
1/2 c Margarine
1 t Vanilla Extract
1 c Chopped Pecans
1 c Flaked Coconut

  • In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla.
  • Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick.
  • Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.
  • Spread on cake while still warm.


Be sure to tell the mothers in your life that you love them!

10 comments:

Jennifer said...

This looks wonderful!! What a great Mother's day gift!! I will have to be honest here... I never heard of making a cake with out a box until I got my first cook book, when I got married. Thanks for the recipe!

Carlee said...

I am a make from scratch girl, but I have my mum to thank for this for the most part. I remember some kid at school talking to me about how her cookies were made from scratch, and I thought that must be some special ingredient. I had never heard the term before because I didn't know there was any other way to make things!

Looks yummy!

Amy Gilman and Emily Lee (Sisters of the Wild West) said...

looks soo delish! you cant beat from sratch! will be taken this beauty to my mom on mothers day.
Amy
www.SistersoftheWildWest.blogspot.com

keatseatsblog said...

This looks amazing! I'd love for you to link it up to my sweet treats party tomorrow!
-Ashton www.somethingswanky.com

Sarah said...

That looks DELICIOUS - I already bookmarked it! My roommates and I are always looking for new recipes and we all agree that THIS is going to be the next thing we make for a a dessert next week! Thanks so much for sharing! It looks so good!

VickiT said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
VickiT said...

This looks like an awesome cake. Thank you for this recipe. YUM! I have to tell you that *I* am one of those 'baker Moms' you speak of. My kids were totally spoiled while growing up. I told all three of my boys that they really need to cook if they expected to have all the homemade things Mom made for them while growing up. Two of the three boys did just that and can hold their own in any kitchen but that third one ~ yea, he'd burn water. LOL Good thing he's going to law school so he'll be able to afford to go to the expensive places to eat once he graduates and finds a good law firm to work with. LOL My oldest is with someone now and they have plans to marry but yea, she does NOT cook. Ever! He's very glad he listened to me and learned to cook for himself. I still kinda snicker at that. Sometimes it's the small things us Mom's find funny - like being right in advice given to your own children that they don't realize until years later that Mom right. LOL

Anyway, to stop my rambling I'll just say thank you once again for this recipe. Even with all the cookbooks and recipes I have collected over the year, I do not have a really good recipe for German Chocolate Cake and the box mixes do NOT ever taste that good for this cake. I've already printed this one and hopefully will make it very soon.

Rita@martenssmily said...

But why is this cake german??? The ingredians are very untypical for germany ;)
But I should try it, it looks delicious!!! :)

Stacey - Elle Belle said...

ooooh yummy!

Unknown said...

Hi there! I found this cake on Pinterest. I have made it twice now (once for a party, 2nd for Father's day) it was a ginormous success both times!! I was surprised that the cake itself didn't call for eggs (can you tell I am used to the box versions?) I was thrilled when it turned out so well! Also, I thought I would mention that I used a bundt mold and it came out beautifully. Thanks for the recipe!