A Traditional Farm Life - German Chocolate Cake

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

 

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!   It’s the dog days of summer, and I’m dog-tired.  Triple digit temperatures coupled with additional duties at the restaurant have left me dragging at the end of the week.  There simply aren’t enough hours in the day!

I spent several mornings this week teaching my husband Michael the finer points of making lunch specials.

We are bringing back a daily lunch special Wednesday through Friday.  Instead of trying to make a completely different stand-alone meal each day, we will prepare an entrée that can be served with our regular array of sides.  Not only will this bring an additional choice to those not hungry for a sandwich, it gives our own family some more variety as well!

Fresh tomatoes are also adding a little variety to our diet these days.  The boys took some beautiful slicing tomatoes to the Enterprise Farmer’s Market Friday afternoon.  I wish I had time to can the extra ones they brought home, but, alas, there are just too many other things ahead of them on the to-do list.

Here’s one of them.  Our oldest daughter was recently asked if she could bake a German Chocolate Cake from scratch for a friend.  She loves baking cakes, but there was one small problem:  We’ve never made a German Chocolate Cake before.

We aren’t big coconut fans around here, so this time we were really starting “from scratch.”

In typical Hamilton fashion, I put the cart before the horse and started with the frosting recipe. It was easy to come by, as my brother requests German Chocolate Cake for his birthday every year.  My mother was more than willing to share her recipe.  She uses a cake mix, so it was time to choose the right “horse.”

First I consulted our “Fanny Farmer” and “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbooks.  Fanny Farmer’s recipe required separating the eggs and beating the egg whites--something I avoid at all costs.  The Better Homes and Gardens recipe looked like a possibility. I was hoping to find a recipe that used cocoa, but each one I found used Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate instead.

Since this was to be a learning experience, we went ahead and bought the German sweet chocolate.  Wonder of wonders, there was a recipe right on the back of the box! 

Now we were really getting somewhere.  It looked a little short in the salt and vanilla categories, so after consulting a chocolate cake recipe in my King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, I increased the salt and vanilla, and our oldest daughter rolled up her sleeves and got mixing.

The results far exceeded our expectations.  The moist chocolate cake coupled with the silky caramelized Coconut-Pecan Frosting was outstanding.  Our oldest son declared it his “new favorite cake” and requested another in a few short weeks when he has his next birthday. 

Because both the cake and frosting are from scratch, I’ll share the cake recipe with you this week, and keep you on the edge of your seat until next week for the final installment!

German Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (4 oz.) sweet German baking chocolate

3/4 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*

Coconut-Pecan Frosting (next week)

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cut parchment or waxed paper to fit the bottom of two (9”) round cake pans or three (8”) cake pans.  Spray pans with non-stick cooking spray, place paper on bottom of pan, and spray paper.

3.  Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan and heat until butter melts.  Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Move chocolate mixture to mixing bowl.

4. Add sugar and beat with mixer until blended.

5.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in vanilla.

6. Combine 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add to chocolate mixture; mix well.

7.  Add remaining flour alternately with buttermilk, mixing well after each addition.

7.  Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

8.  Bake 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Carefully loosen edges with a table knife, turn out from pan, remove parchment paper, and finish cooling on a wire rack.  Fill and frost with Coconut-Pecan Frosting.  Yield:  12 servings.

*To sour milk, place 1 tablespoon vinegar in a 2-cup measure.  Add enough fresh milk to equal 1 cup.  Stir well and allow to stand at room temperature 5 minutes before using.

Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.