German Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake with Coconut-Pecan Frosting

 

Oh, German Chocolate Cake, how I love you. I remember traveling to Germany as a young college sophomore and being super confused as to why German bakeries didn’t sell German Chocolate Cake. Turns out, German Chocolate Cake isn’t the slightest bit German. In fact, the recipe for it was first published in a Texas newspaper– The Dallas Morning News. Texas!

I can’t feel too bad about my blunder because Lady Bird Johnson, who is actually from Texas, made the same mistake. Her’s was more newsworthy though and even dubbed “the biggest German Chocolate Cake gaffe in history.” The first lady actually served German Chocolate Cake to German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard during a state dinner at the Johnson’s ranch in Johnson City, Texas.  So at least they were in the right state where the German Chocolate Cake originated.

So, if it’s not German, what’s the deal with the name then? German Chocolate Cake was originally called German’s Chocolate Cake–named after Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate that was the main chocolate component in the cake. The chocolate was named after two guys who weren’t even German (or bakers). Go figure.

It makes no difference to me what the name is–Texas or German, it’s delicious! So, here’s our play on the Texan origins of this cake. Our favorite Texas Sheet Cake recipe transformed with our family’s Coconut Pecan Frosting recipe. We would have taken a photo of the entire sheet cake in its iconic sheet pan, but… you know how it goes… as soon as we topped it with frosting, it went pretty fast. Enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter

1 Tbs + 1 tsp cocoa

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together sugar, flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Bring water, butter and cocoa to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Combine buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Slowly add to boiled mixture (so you don’t cook the eggs), and then add to dry ingredients to form a thin batter. Pour onto a jelly roll pan (15″ x 10″) and bake at 375 for 18 minutes.

Fudge Frosting

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Bring butter, cocoa and milk to a boil over medium heat. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla. Add the powdered sugar (sift if you want the frosting perfectly smooth). Whisk until smooth. Pour over cake and spread evenly. Cool before spreading with coconut pecan frosting layer.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

Combine the evaporated milk with sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened–about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the coconut and pecans and beat until slightly cooled and easy to spread. Spread over cooled Texas Sheet Cake.