Irresistable German Chocolate Cake

I was fully aware upon beginning this blog that soon I would get distracted and stop writing. However, its a New Year and I am going to try to get back into the swing of things. It is likely that the same problems will ensue and as homework increases blog posts will decrease, but lets start out a little optimistic.

I discovered this recipe and was initially quite skeptical as I don't really like German Chocolate cake, but this changed my view on everything. If you have New Years Resolutions to be healthy, please stay far far away from the coconut filling because no matter how strong willed you think you are, this will be your demise.
 
The first time making this I covered it with a chocolate ganache, which I always dread working with but made it deliciously rich. The second time I was covering the cake in fondant to decorate so I put a layer of chocolate buttercream over the cake beneath the fondant to hold it all together. Both were supremely tasty and worked out quite well, so try either one depending on what's your favorite, or just what ingredients you have on hand.

The only pictures I have of it are the fully decorated versions (a blackjack cake for an engineering friend and a Jewish book cover for my grandfather) so it is a little difficult to see what the cake actually looks like. Trust me though, it's delicious and worthy of making as a spectacular gift for someone's birthday. 

Enough talk. Cake time:

German Chocolate Cake

4 oz. German Chocolate

1/2 C. water

4 eggs, separated

2 C. flour

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 C. butter, softened

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 C. buttermilk

• Microwave chocolate and water in large bowl in 30 s. intervals until melted
• Beat egg whites in small bowl with hand mixer until stiff peaks form, set aside
• Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy - add egg yolks 1 at a time
• Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla extract
• Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beat until well blended
• Fold in egg whites, stir gently until combined
• Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test
• Let cool in pan(s) for 15 minutes then place on wire racks
• Trim cake and layer with coconut pecan frosting, top with chocolate ganache or buttercream

 Coconut Pecan Frosting

4 egg yolks

12 oz. evaporated milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 C. sugar

3/4 C. butter or margarine

7 oz. shredded coconut

1 1/2 C. chopped pecans

• Beat egg yolks, evaporated milk and vanilla in large sauce pan
• Add sugar and butter - cook on medium heat for about 12 minutes or until think and golden
• Remove from heat - stir in coconut and nuts
• Try not to eat it all before you put it on the cake

To cover the cake, take your pick between chocolatey options...

Chocolate Buttermilk Frosting

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted

1 C. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 C. Cocoa powder

5 C. powdered sugar

1/3 C. buttermilk 

• Cream butter and chocolate - add vanilla and cocoa powder
• Add sugar one cup at a time
• Pour buttermilk in small intervals until desired consistency is reached
• Spread generously over cake layers

Or if you're feeling like taking the more traditional German Chocolate route...

Chocolate Ganache 

12 ounces chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1 cup heavy cream

3 T. Kahlua or Baileys

• Bring cream to a simmer in a small sauce pan
• Pour cream over chocolate pieces and stir until melted
• Allow mixture to cool - the longer you let it sit the thicker it will be
• Pour over cake layers and allow to cool in refrigerator until completely set

So when you've let all your New Years Resolutions slide by the wayside, give this recipe a try and just bask in its decadence with some good friends!
 

No blowtorch needed

Like most college students, I have a healthy passion for lighting things on fire.

A few years ago my friend showed me fire soccer, the incredible sport you play by dousing a tennis ball in rubbing alcohol, lighting it and then kicking the ball around for a while. I've never been a huge soccer player, but this was one game I was always ready to play. 

 

Fireworks are great too, but they require a bit more advanced planning since unlike rubbing alcohol and a tennis ball, you cannot run into a Walgreens any time of the year and buy them. Plus, they take a lot of open space and draw lots of unwanted attention. 

This week, I decided to try another one of my favorite ways to light things on fire that remains completely contained in the kitchen. The only thing better than cake and ice cream, is cake and ice cream that is covered in meringue and lit on fire. That's right, it's time to get going with some Baked Alaska. 

I've tried making it once before, but I did it in such a hurry that I did not make the cake from scratch and used store bought ice cream. It was not very good. This time I started the day before and planned it much more thoroughly.

There are 4 main components to a Baked Alaska:

Cake

Ice Cream

Meringue

Flame

First I dealt with the Ice Cream

I refused to let my lack of ice cream maker prevent me from making my own ice cream. It is totally possible and actually quite simple so long as you are not trying to get too fancy. I chose to make a vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate peanut butter chip cookie dough inside. 

So I made up a half batch of cookie dough without the eggs and rolled bite sized pieces. I shoved them in the freezer for a while so they could stiffen up while I made the ice cream.

While they chilled, I got out my crappy handheld mixer and made the ice cream. I decided to make 8 small baked alaskas, so I got out my ramekins and some regular kitchen mugs and lined them with saran wrap. I divided the ice cream between the cups and let it freeze for an hour. I wanted to let the ice cream solidify a bit before adding the cookie dough so that the pieces wouldn't all sink to the bottom. I put the mugs and ramekins in the very back of my fridge and that was it. 

Now to make the cake...

  Since the ice cream usually melts a bit into the cake, I wanted a denser chocolate cake to go with the ice cream and to prevent the rum soaking into it too much when we lit it on fire. I found a great recipe for a dark chocolate mud cake that seemed perfect, especially since I still had so much dark belgian chocolate to use!

 It made just enough to fit into a 10 x 13in rectangular pan, which was all I needed for my mini baked alaskas.

Conquering the Meringue

I have a slight aversion to meringues because they're so particular that it is almost not worth it. But you can't light the cake on fire unless its coated in a meringue, so I worked through my apprehension and whipped up an absurd amount of egg whites. It could've gone better, but I managed to coat every cake with the nice white fluff, even if the last few got a little droopy.

Assembly

 I cut the cake into little circles the same size as the ramekins and plopped the ice cream on top. I assembled them one at a time because once the ice cream was pulled out of the freezer, I had to work quickly because this ice cream was very soft (that's what I get for not having an ice cream maker...). I had the meringue ready to go and I used a spatula and spread it all around the sides, ensuring to cover all the cake and ice cream completely.

Let the Flames Begin!

Okay, so most recipes require a kitchen blow torch to toast the meringue and "bake" the alaska. However, as you may have guessed, I do not have a blow torch lying around for these purposes. But, as we learned above with fire soccer, alcohol can help with a very low temperature flame that's easy to produce. I don't have a bottle of propane for a torch, but I did manage to get my hands on a bottle of Bacardi 151, which might as well be the same thing. I wanted to pour a ladle of flaming rum onto the cakes, but they were small for that much rum and I didn't actually have a metal ladle that would work. I tried using my Max Brenner Hug Mug, but that became problematic when the cup was englufed in flames. After a few trials, we found the most effective method was to spoon a few tablespoons of 151 onto the meringue and light it with a zippo. Then, just let the flames do their job and toast the sides of the meringue.

It didn't work as well as a blow torch, but it certainly made a great spectacle. Plus, since its an alcohol based fire there was no smoke and it was not super hot, so there were no problems with lighting it or setting off the smoke detector.

 

Once you light it, just let the flames extinguish themselves on the meringue and make sure there are no little unburned portions of 151 on the cake. It's quite a strong flavor to add to the cake if it doesn't burn off. 

 Overall I was very satisfied with both the amount of flames we got and am very thankful that all the little bits of flame that dropped onto the floor were so easy to blow out. . . 

I'd recommend trying this, but just make sure you take the time you need to make it happen, and stay safe -  keep flammable materials far, far away.

Recipes:

 Vanilla Ice Cream (without Ice Cream Maker)

2 C. Heavy Cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 T. vanilla extract

add-ins

• Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form
• Gently stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Pour into container, freeze overnight.
• If adding cookie dough (recipe follows) or other add ins, let the ice cream harden in the freezer for about an hour and then stir them in. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie dough pieces 

1 C. flour

1/3 C. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 C. peanut butter chips

• Cream together butter and sugar, add vanilla extract. 
• Stir in flour, baking soda and cocoa powder, blend well. Add peanut butter chips and stir until evenly distributed. 
• Roll into dime-sized spheres and freeze for 30-40 minutes before adding to ice cream.

Chocolate Mud Cake from Almost Bourdain

375 g (13 1/2 oz) butter, softened

1 1/3 cups (230 g / 7 7/8 oz) brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups (300g / 10 1/2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup (80 g / 3 oz) cocoa powder, double sifted

200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate, melted

3/4 cup (180 ml / 6 fl oz) milk

• Preheat the oven to 160C (320F).
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture is light and creamy.
• Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
• Fold through the flour, baking powder, cocoa and melted chocolate and stir in the milk.
• Spoon the mixture into a 22cm (8 1/2 in) round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
• Cool in the tin.
• Cut into desired shape to fit ice cream molds

Meringue

I don't feel qualified to actually provide information on meringues since I'm not proficient with them yet. So if you don't know how to do it already....

For the meringue-challenged

Flames

Bacardi 151 Rum

lighter

• Spoon 2-3 T. of the rum onto the meringue, light on fire and let it burn