German Chocolate Cake

My youngest daughter has asked for a German chocolate cake for her birthday - she'll be thirty. I am quite excited for the opportunity to make one, as I've never made one before. So here's a recipe I've found, and I'm going for it.

Prepare three 9" cake tins lined with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 350.

4 oz German's Sweet Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup boiling water

8 oz butter
15 oz of superfine sugar

4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

10 oz cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Melt the chocolate gently in boiling water.
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg yolks, vanilla, and chocolate.
Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, then fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour into the three 9" pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Frost only the tops of the layers with the traditional German chocolate cake coconut pecan frosting, leaving the sides unfrosted.

coconut pecan filling and frosting:

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecan nuts

Combine all ingredients except coconut and pecans in a saucepan.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 12 minutes. When the mixture thickens, remove from heat.
Stir in the coconut and pecans.
Cool until the mixture is spreadable.

Or should I use this classic old recipe from the inside of the chocolate package.

GERMAN Sweet Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet Chocolate
1/3 cup boiling water
2 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 tsp. Baking soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1-1/3 cups Sugar
3 Eggs, separated
3/4 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 cup Buttermilk

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
1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (about 2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups 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.

Creamy Fetta Vinaigrette

1/4 olive oil

1/4 rice wine vinegar

1/4 water

juice of 1/2 lime

heaping Tbl sugar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

pinch salt

dash pepper

some Sunny Paris (Penzeys) , if you have some, or some herbe de Provence

1 clove garlic

a little piece of red onion or a piece of green onion

about an inch square hunk of fetta

Put it all in the blender and process on liquify until liquified.

Sunny Paris: shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf

Tyler Florence's Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Cointreau Carrots

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This is not exactly Tyler's recipe. I like the cake, but his cream cheese frosting was more cream cheese than I can handle. The only reason I make carrot cakes is because my mother really likes them. And I actually don't like cream cheese frosting. But for those who would like to know what Tyler's cake is like, here's the link. I'm making this for my mother's 90th birthday cake.

1 1/2 cups finely minced carrots (7 ounces)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (3 ounces)
2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour, (12 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
A pinch of kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup molasses
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a jelly roll pan and line with parchment. Set aside.
Take the carrots and chop into large pieces, then mince in a food processor until you have a fine texture. Drain pineapple and finely chop walnuts. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices together. In a separate bowl mix buttermilk, molasses, eggs, vegetable oil and dark brown sugar together.
Now combine wet and dry ingredients together to make a batter then fold in the carrots, pineapple and walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cake is set and springs back when gently pressed in the middle. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool on a rack while you prepare the frosting and cointreau carrots (recipes below). Once the cake has cooled, cut into three rectangles by cutting the cake lengthwise twice. Stack the cake up into three tiers with cream cheese frosting in between each layer. Frost the outside of the entire finished cake - smoothing off the edges and corners (an offset spatula works well). Top with Cointreau carrot rounds and drizzle a little of the syrup on top as well.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Using a kitchen mixer, combine cream cheese and butter until blended and you have a smooth, light texture. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and powdered sugar and beat until combined. Continue to beat until smooth and glossy - about 7 minutes.

Cointreau Carrots:

1 medium carrot
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup Cointreau
pinch of salt

Slice carrot up into rounds. Add carrot, butter, sugar, cointreau and salt to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce until syrupy - about 5 minutes.

Now when it came time to make the cake for the birthday I found I needed more than expected, and so I decided to go with making three bundt cakes. So this batter went very nicely into a large bundt pan, and I made the cream cheese icing, and this is what I got.

Note to self: Don't grease a bundt pan with olive oil, use shortening!