Inside Out German Chocolate Cake…YUM!
Posted By Michelle on August 6, 2008
Even Non-Bakers Can Master This 3-Layer Chocolate Cake
Pay no attention to our last name; it’s time to share a painful secret – Greg does not bake. With rare exceptions, nothing good comes from it. The kitchen is going to be covered in flour, his clothes will inevitably be covered with chocolate, and he will be cranky – very cranky.
He wouldn’t have even graduated culinary school had his pastry instructor not given him a “mercy D” that made it possible for him not to have to repeat the class. Things were so bad that he had his chocolate taken away from him because the teacher thought that he was playing with it. How else can you explain being covered from hands to waist in chocolate within 5 minutes of starting a project?
Later, in times when he found his staff short of a baker, he was forced to shoulder the burden of desserts himself. The rest of the staff just kept their heads down and worked in silence as Greg cursed, screamed, threw things, kicked things, and more often than not, put his creations in their rightful place of honor – the garbage can. Nobody had a good day if he was baking.
But a few months ago, we had a conversation about the importance of birthday cakes. To Michelle, it’s just not a birthday without a cake. In almost 8 years of marriage, Greg had no clue. At that point, Greg vowed to put his pre-disposition to baking aside and ensure that his loving wife would always have a homemade cake from that year forward.
This 3 layer, inside out German chocolate cake covered in a ganache-like glaze, inspired by chef Mary Laulis seemed to fit the bill. Awesome flavors of toasted pecans and coconut melded with buttery caramel like filling stuffed between layers of German chocolaty goodness, plus a low degree of difficulty equal “yeah, even Greg can pull this off”. The only notable caveat in this plan is that if you want to create a triple layer cake in an 82 year old house with a slightly leaning foundation like we have, you will find your layers quite lopsided and will need to do some structural engineering to ensure the cake’s stability.
Inside Out German Chocolate Cake
Inspired by Chef Mary Laulis of The Bridge Street Bakery, Waitsfield, Vermont
For cake layers
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup boiling-hot water
For filling
7 oz sweetened flaked coconut - toasted
4 oz coarsely chopped pecans - toasted
14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
For glaze
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
10 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extract in another large bowl until just combined.
Beat the egg mixture into the flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high speed 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just combined (batter will be thin).
Divide the batter into 3 – 9 inch cake pans and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Increase the temperature of the oven to 425 degrees.
Place the sweetened condensed milk in an oven proof container, cover with foil, and place in a water bath for about 90 minutes, checking occasionally to ensure that the water hasn’t boiled out, until the milk is thick and brown.
Remove the milk from the oven and stir in the nuts and vanilla.
Cover and keep warm.
Make the glaze by melting the butter, and then add the corn syrup and chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is just melted.
Assemble the cake by placing one cake layer on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath.
Spread the top of this layer with ½ of the filling.
Place another cake layer on top of this and repeat with the filling
Add the third cake layer and slowly pour the glaze over the top, spreading slightly to cover the sides as the glaze runs down.
Stumble it!
Looks tasty…you said it easy to make right? Maybe i’ll give it a shot over the weekend
If Greg can do it, anyone can do it.
yowza - looks like a paula deen recipe
and i mean that in the nicest way
honestly!!!
send me a piece, ok?
That cake looks so good! I have been wanting to try a German chocolate cake for a while now.
Yea, I hear ya, Claudia.
The sweetened condensed milk and the chocolate/corn syrup ganache-ish glaze were a bit off-putting but both were amazingly tasty.
And uhm, I managed to make this without succumbing to a complete fall-down-screaming hissy fit.
Mmm. Paula Deen and all, this looks like it’s worth a try.
Y’all are gonna make us gain a few pounds at our house. I can tell already. Fried chicken… cake…
Post something healthy darnit
This is such a cool and fun idea, plus it looks delicious :).
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