Focus on food: December 31, 2006

German Chocolate Cake

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The following recipe is from the previous class Wine and Food with Wayne Gibson. You can use this recipe and add your own style as you make your own homemade German Chocolate Cake. This recipe was copied from The Diner Desserts cookbook, written by Tish Boyle.

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 oz baking chocolate, chopped
½ cup coconut milk or whole milk
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup softened butter
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated, room temp
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:
1. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8” round cake pans. Line the bottoms with fitted parchment cutouts. Dust the sides of the pans with flour and dump out the excess.

2. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients.

3. In a small saucepan, heat the chocolate and coconut milk. Stir constantly until smooth.

4. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and vanilla.

5. In an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium high speed for 1 minute. Gradually add the 1-½ cups of the sugar, 1 T at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides and add the melted chocolate mixture. Beat until just blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 2 additions. Beat until smooth.

6. In a clean bowl of the mixer, beat the whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and begin beating on medium high speed. Add the remaining1/4 cup of sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture. Scrape into the prepared pans

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick dry. Cool on wire racks. Remove from the pans and frost only the tops of each layer. Do not frost the sides, as the frosting will run down the sides instead.