Inside Out German Chocolate Cake

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German chocolate is a favorite in my family, and each person has their own way of making it. Some put the coconut and pecan icing on the entire cake, others on the top and between the layers, still others only on the layers and then frost the rest with rich, chocolate frosting on the outside. Personally I like it with a combination of chocolate frosting and the coconut and pecan, that way you get the best of two cakes. 

Recently I cane across a recipe for "Inside Out" German Chocolate cake on Epicurious and thought I would do a little comparison between their recipe and my tried and true one.  This cake requires a little more work than the standard cake but trust me it is worth it in the end. 

Inside Out German Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Epicurious

Moist Chocolate Cake

Jennifer Hill at Foodness Blog

Ingredients

1¾ cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated white sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ tsp baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk (or substitute by putting 1 tbsp white vinegar in a cup then filling the rest up with milk; let stand 5 minutes until thickened)

½ cup butter, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (or 2 tsp instant coffee in 1 cup boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch pans, line bottom with parchment paper circles and set aside. I USED  THREE 6 INCH PANS. THIS WILL MAKE TWO SMALL 3 LAYER CAKES. 

In a bowl of stand mixer, stir together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla beaut until smooth, about 2 to three minutes. 

Remove bowl from mixer and stir in hot coffee with rubber spatula, the batter will be very runny.

Pour into pans and bake on middle rack for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs attaches. 

Allow to cool on wire rack for 15 minutes, run butter knife around the pan. Invert pans onto rack. Cool completely before frosting. 

Filling:

Recipe from Epicurious

7 oz. sweetened flake coconut, toasted

1 cup toasted and coarsely chopped pecans

14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven 45 minutes. Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. Remove pie plate from water bath.

Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm.

Frosting:

Recipe from: HERSHEY'S Cocoa

Ingredients:

1 stick butter melted
2/3 cup of cocoa
1/3 cup of milk
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla

Melt butter in large bowl, whisk of use electric hand held mixer to bled in cocoa. Add one cup of powdered sugar, and a little milk, alternating between the two until both are used up and the frosting is creamy. Add vanilla and blend. 

Assemble:

Once cakes are cooled, cut each cake in half so that you end up with four layers. Place one layer onto a cake plate and spread a third of the coconut/nut filling on the layer, then add the second cake and add more filling and another layer of cake and more filling, finally add the last layer of cake. Spread cake with a thin layer of chocolate frosting to control the crumbs, let cool in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Frost entire cake with remaining frosting. Then enjoy!

This cake is moist, chocolaty and nutty. Compared to the standard German Chocolate Cake frosting the "inside out" has more depth to the flavor, it is richer, nuttier, and taste more like a carmel sauce mixed with the coconuts and pecans. 

I could have eaten a bowl of the coconut filling alone and in fact I think that I did. I have to tell you that I think this is now my "go to" frosting and cake for guests. It really is delicious and a special treat for the guests. 

Have a great day!

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Savvy Southern Stlye
Rattlebridge Farm