All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [71]
6. In a heat-proof measuring cup, measure your orange juice and add enough of the boiling water to make 1 cup. Add the melted chocolate and stir together. Add this mixture to the batter. Stir the batter with a wooden spoon or spatula until just blended.
7. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake layers test done.
This is where things did not go as planned because I was using thicker pans than recommended in that wee, cranky oven. If you’re in the same situation, my best advice is to check the cakes after 15 minutes, then again in 5-minute intervals until the cake layers test done. The second time you make this cake, you’ll have a better idea of how long it will take you. The layers needed 25 minutes in my oven.
8. Cool the cake layers in the pans for 5 minutes, then unmold onto cake racks and cool to room temperature.
TO MAKE THE FROSTING
9. Cream the butter in the mixer on medium speed, gradually adding half of the confectioners’ sugar. Add the cream, the rest of the confectioners’ sugar, the salt, and orange oil or orange extract.
10. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave on high power. Using a spatula, add the chocolate to the frosting and beat until smooth and fluffy. Let the frosting stand while the cake layers cool.
11. Construct the cake, frosting in the usual manner, the crown first, and then the sides.
TO DECORATE THE CAKE (OPTIONAL)
12. Melt 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl. Dip the tips of the clementine or orange slices into the chocolate, and set aside on wax paper to cool. Arrange the slices as a border on the cake plate or arrange on top of the cake.
German’s Chocolate Cake
Achtung! Nicht Deutsch!
I don’t know how these urban myths get started. You think a mouthful of Pop Rocks and a swig of Coca-Cola killed Mikey, the kid from the Life cereal commercials, and you think over in Germany they eat German chocolate cake. Well, Mikey didn’t die from the Pop Rocks Coca-Cola combo, and in Germany they eat German chocolate cake only when idiot Americans pop over with what they think is a native dessert. The culprit here for international gastronomical misunderstanding is a possessive s gone AWOL.
This cake should really be called German’s Chocolate Cake. And the inventor, Sam German, wasn’t German; he was English. In 1852 he developed a brand of chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company that tasted somewhat like milk chocolate. Flash forward 103 years, when an unnamed Dallas housewife sent this recipe to a Texas newspaper, as Texas housewives are wont to do (remember Tunnel of Fudge Cake, page 89). The Lone Star state loved it. The company that owned Baker’s Chocolate, General Foods, thought “cah-CHING!” So, it sent out copies of the recipe to the nation’s newspapers. German’s Chocolate Cakes started popping up in kitchens across America, and Baker’s sold a lot of German’s chocolate. They still do. And that’s why you’re reading about German’s Chocolate Cake today.
The cake itself has a soft, moist, bouncy, milk-chocolaty crumb. The filling and topping contain a sweet ‘n’ crunchy mix of coconut and pecans stirred into a sweet ‘n’ smooth spread. Korva Coleman in Newscast especially likes it, and she’s not crazy about coconut. There’s an optional chocolate frosting that should be applied to the sides only. The cake is fine with or without it. You can also double the recipe for the filling and topping and apply some to the sides.
This cake is also a good choice for dark chocolate lovers who are feeling a bit burnt out on dark chocolate, but are not ready to fully detox at the Promises L.A. rehab facility yet.
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YOU’LL NEED
Two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans
3 or 4 medium bowls
A whisk attachment and extra bowl for mixer
A food processor
A double boiler, real or improvised
FOR THE CAKE
One 4-ounce package Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate
½ cup boiling water
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature