smitten kitchen every day trailer + book tour!

german chocolate cake + a wedding cake

Many years ago, with absolutely no experience or clue, I made a wedding cake for friends. It was fun and I learned a lot, but in the end, declared it “fully out of my system.” Apparently, 9 years is the statute of limitations on such claims, which is how it came to pass that when one of my oldest friends asked me to make his wedding cake, the words “that would be so much fun!” flew out of my mouth before anyone could talk me out of it. Would you like to come along for the ride?

 
Let’s talk about GCC.
The last time I made a wedding cake, the bride loved vanilla and coconut and lime and mango and the groom loved chocolate above all else. Because the wedding was relatively small (under 100), I decided to make both (the largest tier in chocolate and the smaller two in vanilla) everyone had a taste of each. This time, one groom loves peach and blueberry pie, and the other has a thing for things like chocolate and salted caramel; I could never choose between the two either but with a much larger headcount (180 invited), it had to be done. It was made easier when we were brainstorming one night and they announced they both loved German Chocolate Cake. Crisis averted. Or, at least this one.

Many years ago, with absolutely no experience or clue, I made a wedding cake for friends. It was fun and I learned a lot, but in the end, declared it “fully out of my system.” Apparently, 9 years is the statute of limitations on such claims, which is how it came to pass that when one of my oldest friends asked me to make his wedding cake, the words “that would be so much fun!” flew out of my mouth before anyone could talk me out of it. Would you like to come along for the ride? If written correctly, it’s actually “German’s” chocolate cake, as in, named after a guy (Samuel) with the last name German. He developed the baking chocolate in 1852 that now goes by Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. In 1957, 105 years later, Wikipedia tells us that The Dallas Morning News printed a recipe for German’s Chocolate Cake that was created by Mrs. George Clay, a homemaker, which became wildly popular. General Foods, which owned Baker’s brand at the time, took notice and distributed the cake recipe to other newspapers in the country. At some point, the possessive (German’s) was dropped, leading to all sorts of confusion.

This is the German Chocolate Cake recipe I used for the wedding cake but reduced to a 6-inch round cake, as shown here. The cake is baked in two layers and each is split into two thinner layers (this is not hard on a 6- or 9-inch cake, promise). The filling covers four layers of cake, including the lid. The final cake will be 3 inches tall, which is thinner than the 4-inch tall cakes I used in the wedding cake, which also has a bare top to leave space for prettier decorations (more on that below).

Why 6-inch pans? They’re my favorite to test cakes in because they hold exactly half of a more standard 9-inch cake layer. They’re also delightful for tiny party cakes like this — they serve 6 to 8 in adorable slices. To make this into a more classically sized 9-inch round birthday cake, double everything.

Many German Chocolate Cakes have a ganache or dark chocolate frosting element. My favorite go-to chocolate buttercream is this; this volume could be used to thinly coat the sizes of the cake. Or, you could fully chill the cake and pour a drippy ganache over the top made from 1/4 cup heavy cream (I like to put 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso granules in it) brought to a boil and poured over 4 ounces of dark chocolate chips. Let sit for a minute then stir until smooth before pouring.

CAKE

• 2 ounces (55 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) hot coffee
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons (70 grams) light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• Just barely heaped 1/4 cup (22 grams) cocoa powder (any variety)
• 3/4 cup (100 grams) all-purpose flour

FILLING

• 1 1/3 cups (3 1/2 ounces, or half of a 7-ounce bag) sweetened flaked coconut
• 3/4 cups (80 grams) chopped pecans
• 4 tablespoons (60 grams or 2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) half-and-half (or a mixture of 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup heavy cream)
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons (25 grams) light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon dark rum

Read more »


from smitten kitchen http://ift.tt/2u4ETVg
via IFTTT