German Chocolate Cake with Homemade Pecan Coconut Frosting

I hope you never buy German Chocolate Cake frosting from a can ever again! If you like German Chocolate Cake, you're going to love this frosting!

I'll admit, I didn't make the cake from scratch. I'm just not very good at making cake from scratch for some reason, so I don't. The box stuff works just fine for me and I'm ok with that. But when it comes to frosting...I think all store bought frostings are way too sweet. My sensitive teeth can't handle them! 

I was pleasantly surprised by this toasted pecan coconut frosting recipe (with a slight variation on what kind of milk I used). Despite having sweetened coconut and a cup of sugar, it is well balanced with the eggs and milk. It's really good! 

Toasted Pecan Coconut Frosting

(for German Chocolate Cake)
*adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups pecans

1 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

3 large egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/8 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecans on a baking sheet for about 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from oven, let cool, coarsely chop.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cream, milk, egg yolks, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture begins to boil and thicken, remove from heat. 

Stir in chopped pecans, coconut, and vanilla. Let cool until thickened more and spreadable.

To assemble cake: 

Place one layer of cake on your serving plate and cover with 1/3 of the frosting. Place second layer onto first layer and spread another 1/3 of the forsting. Add thrid layer and top the cake with the remaining frosting leaving sides of cake bare. The finished cake can be stored at room temperature for a few days or it can be refrigerated.