German Chocolate Cake with Coffee, Cashew, and Coconut Filling

Name: German Chocolate Cake with Coffee, Cashew, and Coconut Filling
Yield: Serves 12 to 16
Ingredients: 4 , egg yolks; 1 can, evaporated milk (12 ounces); 1 cup, granulated sugar (7 ounces); 1/4 cup, packed light brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces); 2 teaspoons, ground coffee; 6 tablespoons, unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 6 pieces; 1/8 teaspoon, table salt; 2 teaspoons, vanilla extract; 2 1/3 cups, sweetened shredded coconut (7 ounces); 1 1/2 cups, roasted unsalted cashews (6 1/2 ounces), finely chopped and toasted on baking sheet in 350-degree oven until fragrant and browned, about 8 minutes; 4 ounces, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine; 1/4 cup, Dutch-processed cocoa, sifted; 1/2 cup, boiling water; 2 cups, unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces), plus additional for dusting cake pans; 3/4 teaspoon, baking soda; 12 tablespoons, unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened; 1 cup, granulated sugar (7 ounces); 2/3 cup, packed light brown sugar (about 4 3/4 ounces); 3/4 teaspoon, table salt; 4 , large eggs, room temperature; 1 teaspoon, vanilla extract; 3/4 cup, sour cream, room temperature

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated January/February 2005

Desserts or Baked Goods

Chocolate

Cakes

This cake has made it into the dessert hall of fame, but a closer look reveals shortcomings: faint chocolate flavor, microsuede-like texture, and a complicated mixing process.

SERVES12 to 16

TIME2½ hours, plus 2 hours chilling and 1 hour cooling

German Chocolate Cake with Coffee, Cashew, and Coconut Filling

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

We wanted a streamlined German chocolate cake recipe that would be less sweet and more chocolaty than the original. After testing, we discovered that the texture of the cake actually improved when we used whole eggs instead of laboriously s...

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