A Little Gourmet Everyday

The Icing on the Cake -

A Cake Made by a Granny with Love,

A Grandson's Wonderful Memories, and a

Great Granddaughter's Cooking Inspiration

My dad's favorite cake for as long as I can remember has been German Chocolate Cake. He remembers his Granny Gideon would make it for his birthday and as a special touch she would make extra frosting and frost the entire cake - not just the top and between layers. After all, he loves his pecans, as every good Texas boy does.

A few more questions and my dad remembers she first made it for him sometime in his early teens, though he doesn't remember exactly when.

I always assumed that it was either made from German chocolate or originated in Germany but a little research reveals it has no connection to Germany whatsoever. In 1852 an englishman by the name of Samuel German created a baking chocolate for Baker's Chocolate Company called German's Sweet Chocolate Bar.

Over 100 years later, on June 3, 1957, the Dallas Morning News Food Editor Julie Benell's "Recipe of the Day" feature was a recipe for "German Sweet Chocolate Cake" submitted by Dallas housewife, Mrs. George Clay. Named so, it appears, for its use of Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate Bar. The recipe utilized typically southern ingredients like pecans, coconut, and buttermilk.

Putting the pieces together, my father was born in 1943. On June 3, 1957, when the original recipe was published in the Dallas Morning News, he lived in Ranger Texas, a town a couple hours west of Dallas. I imagine my Granny Gideon seeing the recipe in the Dallas paper and thinking how much her grandson Ronnie loved pecans and coconut and so on July 10, 1957, she made the cake for him for the first time on his 14th birthday - with extra frosting to make it extra special.

Not only was it a hit with my young father, but people everywhere loved it. Baker's republished the recipe in several newspapers and printed it on the back of their German's Sweet Chocolate Bar box and sales of this chocolate are said to have skyrocketed over 70%.

My Great Grandmother Gideon and my Grandmother Gaynell

This year I wanted to make my dad his favorite dessert, just like his Granny Gideon use to do.

I found the original recipe - here's a link:

German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

Although it sounded delicious, a few things occurred to me:

1) I usually prefer cakes made with dark chocolate for more chocolate flavor as does my dad.

2) I only had two cake pans and an oven too small to cook three cakes at a time even if I had another cake pan.

3) Since all parts of the the eggs were used - was it really necessary to separate the eggs?

A visit to one of my favorite cooking resources Cooks Illustrated answered all these questions for me. It seems fine minds think alike. They have a slightly revised version using dark chocolate and adding cocoa powder, reducing the batter so it fit into two pans, and skipping the egg separation. To create the layers they cut the cakes in half creating a beautiful four layer cake.

I used this version of the recipe for my dad's 68th birthday - probably 54 years after the first time his Granny Gideon made it for him. Of course I doubled the icing recipe, just like his granny did, so he could have frosting with every bite. I also toasted some coconut and whole pecans to add some color to the cake.

While he said this was the best German Chocolate Cake he ever had since it's technically not a German Chocolate Cake - no German's Chocolate used - I think Granny Gideon still holds that title. I'll take the title best cake inspired by Granny Gideon. Nothing is better then a cake made by your granny, especially when she tells you "Ronnie, you are the best birthday present I ever received." She was born on July 9 and my dad's birthday, July 10. Happy Birthday Dad!!

German Chocolate Cake

published in Cooks Illustrated January 2005

Ingredients

Pecan Coconut Frosting (double if you want to frost entire cake)

4 egg yolks
1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted on baking sheet in 350 degree oven until fragrant and browned, about 8 minutes

Chocolate Cake

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
4 large eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream (room temperature)

DIRECTIONS
1. FOR THE FILLING: Whisk yolks in medium saucepan; gradually whisk in evaporated milk. Add sugars, butter, and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is boiling, frothy, and slightly thickened (this took ten minutes on my stove). Transfer mixture to bowl, whisk in vanilla, then stir in coconut. Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. (Pecans are stirred in just before cake assembly.)
2. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine chocolate and cocoa in small bowl; pour boiling water over and let stand to melt chocolate, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth; set aside until cooled to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, spray two 9-inch-round by 2-inch-high straight-sided cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out excess. Sift flour and baking soda into medium bowl or onto sheet of parchment or waxed paper.
4. In bowl of standing mixer, beat butter, sugars, and salt at medium-low speed until sugar is moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula halfway through. With mixer running at medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl halfway through. Beat in vanilla; increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer running at low speed, add chocolate, then increase speed to medium and beat until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl once (batter may appear broken). With mixer running at low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream (in 2 additions), beginning and ending with dry ingredients, and beating in each addition until barely combined. After final flour addition, beat on low until just combined, then stir batter by hand with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl, to ensure that batter is homogenous (batter will be thick). Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; spread batter to edges of pans with rubber spatula and smooth surfaces.

The batter is very thick.
I used a measuring cup to transfer the batter to the pans.

Use a spatula to spread the batter to the edges of the pan.

5. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard paper rounds. Cool cakes to room temperature before filling, about 1 hour. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)
6. TO ASSEMBLE: Stir toasted pecans into chilled filling. Set one cake on serving platter or cardboard round cut slightly smaller than cake, and second cake on work surface (or leave on wire rack). With serrated knife held so that blade is parallel with work surface, use sawing motion to cut each cake into two even layers. Starting with first cake, carefully lift off top layer and set aside. Using icing spatula, distribute about 1 cup filling evenly on cake, spreading filling to very edge of cake and leveling surface. Carefully place upper cake layer on top of filling; repeat using remaining filling and cake layers. If necessary, dust crumbs off platter; serve or refrigerate cake, covered loosely with foil, up to 4 hours (if refrigerated longer than 2 hours, let cake stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before serving).