Porter's German Chocolate Birthday Cake

This cake is a Porter family tradition. Most of the people in my husband's family have this as their birthday cake. I has my first slice of it when I was in high school and at his house hanging out a couple of days after his birthday. So when I was a college and knew my husband's birthday was coming up (we were just friends then) I decided that I was going to surprise him with a german chocolate cake for his birthday.

The problem was, I had no idea that they made this fancy of a german chocolate cake. I bought a boxed german chocolate mix and a store-bought jar of coconut pecan frosting. I never did end up making the cake. We were only so so friends - the kind of friends that only hang out when they have a buffer friend - not super close - so I felt very awkward doing something for him that felt like something only a close friend would do. In the end, I talked myself out of it and the boxed cake mix just sat in my pantry all semester.

Ironically, that was the same semester that we started dating and ended up getting engaged - so maybe I should have just made the cake! Ha.

Let's Get Started!

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

CAKE

• 1 (4 ounce) package baker's German sweet chocolate

• 1⁄2 cup boiling water

• 1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine

• 2 cups sugar

• 4 eggs, separated

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup buttermilk

USE THIS FROSTING (Pecan Coconut Frosting)

• 1 1⁄2 cups evaporated milk

• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar

• 4 slightly beaten egg yolks

• 3⁄4 cup butter or 3/4 cup margarine

• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla

• 2 cups shredded coconut

• 1 1⁄2 cups chopped pecans

Directions

DIRECTIONS FOR CAKE

1. Oven at 350ºF.

2. Melt chocolate in water, cool.

3. Cream butter and sugar.

4. Beat in egg yolks.

5. Stir in vanilla and chocolate.

6. Mix flour, soda, and salt.

7. Beat in flour mixture, alternately with buttermilk.

8. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

9. Pour batter into three 9-inch layer pans, lined on bottoms with waxed paper.

10. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs bake when lightly pressed in center.

11. Cool 15 minutes; remove and cool on rack.

12. Frost cake.

COCONUT-PECAN FROSTING

Makes 4-1/4 cups

1. Combine evaporated milk, sugar, slightly beaten egg yolks, butter or margarine and vanilla in saucepan.

2. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in shredded coconut and chopped pecans.

4. Cool until thick enough to spread.