“Rediscover German Chocolate” |
| Posted: 09 Feb 2011 10:09 PM PST When I turned 12, I was finally allowed to have hands-on experience baking my favorite special occasion dessert: German Chocolate Cake. My training was conducted by my short French grandmother, Olivette Deshay LeJeune. I inherited my height genes from the statuesque Germans on the other side of my family, and by the time I was given these early cake-baking lessons I was already a good head taller than the woman teaching me. So in addition to my early egg-cracking and mixing duties, I was tasked with retrieving little-used bowls from high shelves. And I remember doing lots of reaching. The recipe inside the Baker's chocolate wrap was perfection, but making the batter required melting, sifting, creaming and beating — all in separate bowls. Mawmaw and I would start early in the morning, and before our towering chocolate, coconut and pecan creation was complete, we had dirtied every mixing bowl in the cupboard. But neither of us complained. Baking this cake was a true labor of love. My love affair with the German Chocolate Cake continued over the years, and it has since become my signature dish that I bring to family gatherings and potluck suppers. Alas, during the 1970s, I followed the lead of many home cooks and began making my cakes from box mixes — even my German Chocolate Cakes. Somehow I managed to convince myself they were just as good as those I had made with Mawmaw Olivette. Then, a few years ago, I attended a wedding reception that forever changed the way I look at German Chocolate Cake. This particular soirée featured a manly German chocolate groom's cake, a three-layer masterpiece completely covered in coconut and pecan frosting. It had dense yet tender layers that tasted like real chocolate. The filling was creamier, with a stronger caramel flavor than my box version. The coconut strands were long, not minced, and the pecans were chopped into meaty chunks. Could it be? I hadn't tasted one in so long I hardly recognized it; but in my sticky fingers I was holding an old-fashioned German Chocolate Cake made from scratch. Thus began my renewed interest in a real homemade version of my favorite dessert. On these pages is my recipe, a concoction as good as the original but simplified so the batter can be made in just one bowl. I've also included tips on how to slice and assemble this four-layer version of the cake so it turns out just right. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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