Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Piece of cake? Not exactly.

My dad's birthday was this past Sunday and he requested a German chocolate cake, which my mom asked me to bake. I was excited to do it, since I rarely make cakes or frosting from scratch. Based on recommendations from the What's for Dinner board on the Nest I used the Baker's recipe for both the cake and the frosting. Things with the cake started off rocky. What a pain in the a@@ that cake was! Separating eggs, melting chocolate, whipping egg whites, folding ingredients. It honestly took me close to an hour to prep my baking pans and mix up the batter for the cake. The cakes went into the oven just fine though, and after 30 minutes they were brown and crisp on the edges and tested done in the center. When I tried to remove them from the pans, however, each layer fell completely apart. They did not seem to be cooked all the way through, although they had seemed to be done... After a mini temper tantrum on my part (which may or may not have included me cursing and hurling broken chunks of cake into the sink) I ended up making the cake with a box mix the next morning. I did, however, proceed with the coconut-pecan frosting, and that turned out wonderfully! And the cake looked beautiful, homemade or not. I'm posting only the recipe for the frosting, because that cake recipe can go to hell. Happy birthday, Dad!

Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting

4 egg yolks
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (about 2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups PLANTERS Chopped Pecans

BEAT egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with wire whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter; cook on medium heat 12 min. or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
ADD coconut and pecans; mix well. Cool to room temperature and of desired spreading consistency.
USE to frost your favorite cake or cupcake recipe.

10 comments:

Bridget said...

THAT makes me laugh! :) The finished product looks beautiful!

Jaime said...

hahaha...sorry your cake did not turn out; did you butter and flour the cake pans?

looks like your dad enjoyed the cake regardless! :)

Robin said...

I'm sorry the cake didn't work out but the final product looks delicious! Nothing wrong with cake from a box and that frosting sounds glorious! I might have to try this one day!

Brooke said...

Oh, the cakes came out of the pan just fine, they just wouldn't hold together. I even lined the bottoms with parchment paper so they wouldn't break apart. Oh well...

Paula Villas Boas said...

I love the fact that you ended up with a great cake anyway! The frosting looks so delicious, and your dad so happy! I really have to try it some day!

Maria♥ said...

Awe Brooke I sympathise with you, I've had my fair share of baking disasters and yep like you had a complete freak out and tantrum, hehehe. You ended up with a gorgeous cake despite everything ;o)

Maria

~Amber~ said...

Your cake looks awesome. I could lick all that icing off. :)

Emily said...

Happy Birthday Dad! What a nice cake you have.

Shelby said...

Hi Brooke, I've been reading your blog for the last couple of weeks and I really enjoy it!

I was hit with the meme tag today and am passing it on to you. The directions of passing the tag along are in my blog.

HoneyB

LisaRene said...

What a huge, special, beautiful cake!