We wanted to do something special to celebrate our friend's birthday, and since German Chocolate Cake is a favorite of hers, I decided to make her one. This is a three-layer cake that is flavored with a mild, sweet chocolate and it is filled and topped with a sweet filling of coconut and pecans.

4 oz bar of German's sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cups cake flour (or 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Grease 3 round cake pans (either 8" or 9") and line with parchment paper.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, add water and chocolate (break up bar into smaller pieces) and stir until chocolate is melted and blended into water. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Using an electric mixer, combine softened butter and sugar and cream together until light and fluffy. Add one egg yolk at a time, beating well after each addition. Once all four egg yolks are in the mixture, slowly add melted chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix until well blended.

In a bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk into the batter. Add 1/3 of the flour, then one third of the milk, then another 1/3 of the flour, another 1/3 of the milk and so on. Scrape down bowl as needed. Blend until entire batter mixture is smooth.

Using CLEAN beaters and a bowl, beat the four egg whites until stiff. Add beaten egg whites to batter mixture and gently fold in until well combined. Divide batter evenly between the three cake pans. Place pans in 350 degree oven and bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove cake pans from oven to a cooling rack and allow cake to cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then turn cakes out of pans on to rack and allow them to cool completely - at least an hour. While the cakes cool, you can get started on the filling mixture.

1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 stick butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla and egg yolks. Stir to combine and cook over medium-low heat until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, stirring frequently. Add coconut and pecans and stir well to combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Mixture will thicken a little more as it cools.

When both the cakes and filling have cooled completely, you can start to assemble the cake. You have to divide the filling by sight, but try to put the same amount between the bottom two layers. If you have a little more for the top of the cake, that is fine. The sides of the cake are not covered. Keep this cake covered in a cool place. Enjoy!
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