German Chocolate Cake

Ok, so it took me about 50 minutes to whip up the cake batter because I mistakenly thought I could do it between my mamogram and dermatology appointments. Wrong. So they are in the oven and look good so far. Had to remeasure the dry ingredients because I put baking powder in instead of baking soda. This was when I was upset about a friend's sick baby and was texting back and forth with my daughter. So, as you will see when i post the recipe, it is kind of a pain to have to separate the eggs and then wash the bowl and beat the whites separately. I can see that it is worth it tho, because it is making the cakes much taller! I had to throw out the first whites I whipped because I, again, trying to multitask, and sorting laundry, over whipped and instead of soft peaks they were too stiff. I could tell that they wouldn't fold into the cake batter well, so redid them. Lucky I didn't have to go to the store. Do not plan to do this when you are tired or have something on your mind. Also if you don't have a stand mixer, you may be in trouble, because you have to beat the sugar and butter 5 minutes. With a hand mixer, your hand might fall off. ( maybe it would take 10 min. to get it light and fluffy).

Filling: doesn't call for toasting the pecans, but have decided to do it. Believe it or not I already had to redo those because I burned them. I don't usually make all these mistakes, must be the pressure. Made it through the recipe without screwing anything up. Biggest challenge is trying not to eat it. Yum. By the way, toasting the nuts added a nice layer of flavor. I think you'll like it too.

Frosting: my favorite. I am wearing one of those masks that Hank wears when he mows the lawn. This is to keep from eating it all. 1 1/2 lbs of New Season's best bittersweet chocolate. Heavy cream and corn syrup. Heaven in a bowl. Be sure and chop the chocolate so it melts under the heat of the cream. I put it in the frig for about 30 min. before frosting the cake.

Assembly: So I was shaking in my flip flops, but I cut each layer in 1/2 so there would be 4 layers, more room for that delicious filling. It was hard! The cake is delicate so it was nerve wracking, but I got it done. If you are too scared, don't do it! Just put twice as much filling between layers! I put a very thin layer of ganache over the entire cake and chilled it for 25 min. It keeps crumbs from coming off and messing up your frosting. I poured myself a glass of zinfandel. I frosted the sides first, then the top. I had reserved a cup of the filling and I spread it right in the middle of the cake. (I really put a lot of frosting on because it is the best part, if you don't want it, don't eat it all). Decorated around the edges with toasted whole pecans. Voile! Recipe to follow! Don't be afraid, just make sure you have a whole day without kids or appointments! Enjoy!