For my boyfriend's uncle's going away party (going to art school in New York) I made a German Chocolate Cake (his professed favorite...and one of mine too!). While looking for a good recipe, I did a little research and discovered that German Chocolate Cake isn't really German at all, but rather (Samuel) German, who developed the specific chocolate used in the recipe in 1852. I felt a little taken advantage of to say the least. All this time, thinking that the reason I liked that cake so much, must have been related to my heritage. It is sadly American down to the very last ingredient. Oh well....it's still pretty great, even if the recipe is only as old as my Great Grandmother. I also found out that the sides are traditionally left unfrosted, which normally goes against everything I stand for, but in the hopes of giving this recipe a bit mor legitimacy I stuck with the aforementioned "tradition".
The cake was relatively easy to make and included the always effective way of adding your dry ingredients alternately with your wet, in equal portions, always starting and ending with the dry. For some reason I just love this. So practical and so very specific. If this sounds too fussy for you, perhaps the resulting batter will change your mind. It's always perfectly smooth and evenly mixed.
I baked the cake for about 5 minutes less than the recommended minimum time and it could've gone in for even a bit less. Wound up making three thinner layers so it didn't need as much bake time.
Frosting was a cinch since the sides were left bare. All in all, not too bad to make and well worth the effort. Delicious. Even I almost couldn't handle the richness and chocolately-ness. It's an intense cake. Perhaps coffee or even milk would have been a better pairing than champagne? Hmmm, no.
Photos by Collin Monda
Speaking as the boyfriend's uncle's boyfriend and a lover of all things sucrose, your cake was amazing. Very moist (not a feature that most German chocolate cakes are known for) and was even better the next morning with a cup of coffee I'm so glad that you're doing this blog. Looking forward to more cake and more comments!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kyle! Haha I enjoy our connection (boyfriend's uncle's boyfriend). It was pretty tasty, and yes I'm sure it was better with coffee! You guys should check out this bakery in New York when you go visit (Babycakes). Supposedly really really good and an inspration for my bakery.
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