German Chocolate Cake

When I found out that my coworkers favorite cake is german chocolate cake, I thought it would be fun to make my own spin on it!

I've made this cake before, but I found the cake to be a little dry, and the filling very sweet and gloopy. So I decided to use the basic flavor ideas but change things a bit. In the process, I think I made the recipe a little easier!

Instead of making a custard with egg yolks, I just stirred cream, nuts and coconut into dulce de leche. I think this was still sweet, but it was tempered a little with the toastiness of the nuts and the caramel of the dulce de leche.

I used the luscious chocolate cake from Elise Strauss' Confetti Cakes

German Chocolate Cake

9 inch chocolate cake, divided between two cake tins, and torted (to get 4 layers).

I tin of dulce de leche (I just boil 3 tins of condensed milk for 3 hours in a saucepan)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup coconut

1 cup pecans

Chocolate buttercream

Chop the pecans, toast for around 5 mins, then add the coconut and toast for a further 5 mins. Watch like a hawk!

Heat the dulce de leche and heavy cream in a saucepan and stir until combined. Add in the chopped pecans and coconut. While this mixture is still warm, pipe a 'dam' of chocolate icing, then spread a layer of the mixture inside the dam.

Add a layer of cake, and build up until you have all 4 layers, topping with the remainder of the nut mixture.

Spread the sides with chocolate buttercream then pipe around the outside to clean up the look of the cake.