Shortcut German Chocolate

Happy Birthday to me! Now where did I put that can of frosting? Just kidding!

It’s time to bake my annual Cheater’s German Chocolate Birthday Cake! This cake is called a cheater because it is so easy to throw together it just feels like you’re breaking the rules. Sadly, I do not know who to credit for the original recipe; my copy was passed down from my grandmother. Thanks GMom!
The beauty of this cake is that you do not need a mixing bowl, you don’t need beaters…heck, you don’t even need any non-stick spray to throw it together! Let’s get this party started!

Cheater’s German Chocolate Cake

3 c flour

2 c sugar

1/3 c cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

¾ c vegetable or canola oil

2 c water

2 Tbl white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325˚F

Sift dry ingredients into a non-greased 9x13 pan. You can use either a metal or a glass pan, either way you can’t go wrong!

Level the dry ingredients with a fork,

then make three wells in the dry mixture.

Put vinegar in one well, vanilla in another, and oil in the last. No worries if your oil overflows like mine did. It’ll be okay. Deep breaths.

Add water and mix (don’t beat)...

until there are no lumps. I traded my fork in for a silicon whisk at this point—make sure you get the corners well mixed!

Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

This cake is perfect as is—a moist, rich, chocolate cake that doesn’t even need icing. And it’s vegan! But seeing as how this is my birthday and I promised y’all my German Chocolate Cake…we will proceed.

While the cake bakes, you can make the frosting.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, egg yolks, butter, and salt. As you can see, I toasted my pecans while I cooked the frosting base, but you can toast your nuts ahead of time. Simply place them in a dry skillet over medium heat and give them a stir every minute or so. They’re toasty when you can smell them. Doing that ahead of time sure would have made my frosting-making a bit less hectic—just a heads-up.

Cook the milk mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil and thicken.

Remove from heat and add pecans, coconut, and vanilla.

Stir to combine.

Let it cool until spreadable, 15-20 minutes. Avoid the temptation to simply grab a spoon.

You can stop here, with a beautiful chocolate cake with coconut-pecan frosting. Or you can push it just one step further…

To make a pretty glaze for the top, I combined 3 tablespoons of evaporated milk (leftover from the frosting) with the same amount of chocolate chips. Since I don’t own a microwave, I thought I would be clever and melt it on the stove. Bad idea.

Oh, in the name of all that's inconvenient!

But after a quick break to restore my stove to his former glory, we carry on.

Oooh, glossy!

I used my favorite tiny whisk to stir together the hot milk and chocolate together. When you're heating them up, make sure they do not boil, you only want the milk hot enough to melt the chocolate.

Once the cake has cooled, slather it with frosting!

Then, pour/scoop your chocolate glaze into a zip top bag, snip a tiny bit off one corner, and go crazy.

Until next time!

Cheater’s German Chocolate Cake

3 c flour

2 c sugar

1/3 c cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

¾ c vegetable or canola oil

2 c water

2 Tbl white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325˚F. Sift dry ingredients into a non-greased 9x13 pan. Level off with a fork, then make three wells in the center. Pour vinegar in one well, vanilla in another, and oil in the third. Add water and mix (don’t beat) until no lumps remain, paying careful attention to the corners. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Coconut-Pecan Frosting

1 ¼ c chopped pecans, toasted (I used an entire bag, about 1 ½ c)

1 c sugar

1 c evaporated milk

3 egg yolks, lightly beat

½ c butter, cubed

1/8 tsp salt

1 ½ c sweetened coconut (I used more like 2 c)

½ tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, egg yolks, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in pecans, coconut, and vanilla. Cool until spreadable, 15-20 minutes.