german chocolate mini cakes

Global Disclosure Statement add here
For chocolate lovers everywhere, I present this wonderfully creative recipe for German Chocolate mini cakes. This riff on German chocolate cake features individual mini cakes, their sides enrobed in chocolate, topped with the classic caramel-coconut-pecan filling/topping. While traditional German chocolate cake is a sweet, lighter-colored cake-more milk chocolate than dark¬-our version is devil’s food and delicious. By the way, German chocolate cake has nothing to do with the country, and everything to do with Sam German, an employee of the Baker’s Chocolate Company, who came up with this recipe in 1852.

GermanChocMiniCakes_01.jpgGerman Chocolate Mini Cakes
Recipe and photograph courtesy of King Arthur Flour
Yields 12 servings

Cake

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter*
  • 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) Baker’s Special sugar or granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons espresso powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) cool water

*If you use salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon.

Icing

  • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream

Topping

  • 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup (2 ounces) half and half or milk
  • 1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon pecan flavor or pralines & cream flavor, optional
  • 1 cup (2 1/2 ounces) shredded or flaked coconut, sweetened or unsweetened, toasted*
  • 1 cup (3 3/4 ounces) chopped pecans, toasted*

*Toast the pecans and coconuts till golden brown in a 350°F oven. This
is most easily done if you place each in a 9″ round cake pan, and put
them in the oven as soon as you pull out the finished cake. Bake for
about 10 minutes, watching carefully towards the end, as the coconut
will brown quickly. Remove from the oven, and stir the coconut to
distribute the less-browned and more-browned pieces together evenly.

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.

To make the cake:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter,
    sugar, salt, espresso powder, baking powder, and vanilla till very
    smooth and creamy, beating for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the eggs to the butter
    mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to
    scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl after you’ve added the first 2
    eggs.
  3. Stir in the cocoa.
  4. Add one-third of the flour to the creamed
    mixture, then add half the water, another third of the flour, the
    remaining water, and the remaining flour.
  5. Scrape the sides and bottom
    of the bowl occasionally throughout this process.
  6. Pour the batter into
    the prepared pan.
  7. Bake the cake in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until a
    cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cake
    begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
  8. Remove the cake from the
    oven. Cool the cake for 10 minutes, then run a table knife all around
    the sides of the pan to loosen the edges.
  9. Use a spatula to gently lift
    the cake free of the pan all around the edges; you’re going to turn it
    out of the pan, hopefully without sticking.
  10. Place a piece of parchment
    or waxed paper on a cookie sheet, put the sheet, parchment-side down,
    atop the cake pan, pick up the cake pan/cookie sheet, and turn the
    whole thing over. The cake should settle down atop the cookie sheet.
  11. Lift off the pan, and allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes.
  12. Use a 2 ¾”
    to 3″ round biscuit or cookie cutter to cut 12 circles out of the cake.
    Or use whatever shape cutter you want: hearts or scalloped flower
    shapes are nice, too. Whatever you use, it should be around 3″ in
    diameter.
  13. Carefully transfer the cakes to a cooling rack, right side
    up, and allow them to cool.
  14. As for the leftover scraps, snack on them
    (baker’s privilege!), or stir into instant pudding for an easy dessert.
  15. You’ll have about 4 to 5 cups of coarse cake chunks, just in case you
    have a recipe calling for that amount.

To make the icing:

  1. Heat the chocolate chips and cream till the cream is
    very hot; this is easily done in the microwave.
  2. Remove from the heat,
    and stir till the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes smooth. Don’t
    panic; it’ll look very sloppy at first, but keep stirring and it’ll
    become a smooth, rich glaze.

Icing the Cake

  1. Working with one cake at a time, grasp it in the center with thumb and
    forefinger, and roll it through the chocolate like a wheel, to coat the
    sides.
  2. Place the coated cake onto a piece of parchment paper, to catch
    any drips.
  3. Repeat with the remaining cakes.

To make the topping:

  1. Combine the butter, salt, half and half, and sugar
    in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and cook gently,
    stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  2. Remove from the heat, and stir in
    the flavors, coconut, and pecans.
  3. Spoon the topping evenly atop the
    cakes; you’ll use about 2 1/2 tablespoons for each. A tablespoon cookie
    scoop is perfect for this task.