Yesterday, I decided to try something new.
Actually, the truth is that I was going to try two new things, but, thankfully, I changed my plan.
Yesterday, my family came over for a late Father’s Day celebration. I cooked supper and had planned for a cake for dessert. Because of all this cake drama, I found out that my dad’s favorite cake is Chocolate Sour Cream cake… note to self for the next celebration centered around him.
I baked the German Chocolate cupcakes Thursday night, intending to frost them Friday morning. I made the frosting Friday morning, and it did not go as planned. Keep in mind, NEVER done this before.
German Chocolate (from Barbara Bakes)
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Put the cupcake liners in the pan.
2. Mix the cake mix, 1 c. buttermilk, 1/2 c. vegetable oil, 3 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla in a mixing bowl for one minute on low. Then, beat at a medium speed for two more minutes.
3. Spoon the batter into the 24 cupcake liners, and let them cook for 20-25 minutes.
4. When you take them out of the oven, let them cool for about 5 minutes before you take them out of the pan to cool some more.
The first batch of frosting, I couldn’t get it to really thicken. I also disagreed with it telling me to put the vanilla in AFTER I was done cooking it. I couldn’t get it to look or taste like frosting. Maybe it was salvageable. Maybe I shouldn’t have given up on it so quickly. I threw it away.
I ended up using a different recipe for the frosting. Here’s what I learned about making this frosting from scratch…
Coconut and Pecan Frosting (from AllRecipes)
Note: The process I’m sharing has been altered from the original recipe because I don’t like throwing away leftover ingredients because I NEVER use them (like evaporated milk).
1. Cook 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk, 1 1/2 c. brown sugar, 4-5 egg yolks, 3/4 c. butter, and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla over medium heat. (On my cooktop, I started out at 4, but when it started spitting at me, I turned the heat down to 3. I also started out with 4 egg yolks, but I added another one when I had trouble getting it to thicken.)
2. Stir constantly until it thickens. This will take a while. Maybe 20-30 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the stovetop to cool and stir in about 2 c. sweetened coconut flakes and about 1 1/2 c. pecan pieces.
4. Let the whole thing cool to room temperature before frosting the cupcakes. (I also decided to drizzle some of a melted chocolate bar on top. I just clipped off the corner of the wrapper.)
Let me tell you, this ended up being a group effort. My family had already come over and were supporting me through this dilemma, lol. Come to find out, my Grammy and my cook-from-scratch mom both just buy the ready-made frosting when they make German Chocolate cake. What?!
Silver lining? They were delicious. Dad and my husband ate two! I also learned to make this frosting, AND I separated egg yolks for the first time. No, I know. I had never done that before.
Next time, learning aside, I’ll just buy the frosting!