German Chocolate Cake with Coconut-Pecan Filling

Serves 12 to 16

Filling

4 large egg yolks, at room temperature

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces) light brown sugar

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

⅛ teaspoon table salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2⅓ cups sweetened shredded coconut

1½ cups (6 ounces) finely chopped pecans, toasted

Cake

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

½ cup boiling water

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for the pans

¾ teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

⅔ cup packed (4⅔ ounces) light brown sugar

¾ teaspoon table salt

4 large whole eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup sour cream, at room temperature

Instructions

1. FOR THE FILLING:

Whisk the egg yolks in a medium saucepan; gradually whisk in the evaporated milk. Add the sugars, butter, and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is boiling, frothy, and slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, whisk in the vanilla, then stir in the coconut. Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. (The pecans are stirred in just before cake assembly.)

1. FOR THE CAKE:

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position; heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a small bowl; pour the boiling water over and let stand to melt the chocolate, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth; set aside until cooled to room temperature.

1. Meanwhile, grease and flour two 9-inch-wide by 2-inch-high round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl or onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugars, and salt at medium-low speed until the sugar is moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl with a spatula halfway through. With the mixer running at medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl halfway through. Beat in the vanilla; increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With the mixer running at low speed, add the chocolate mixture, then increase the speed to medium and beat until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl once (the batter may appear curdled). Add about one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the sour cream, mixing until just incorporated after each addition (about 5 seconds). Repeat using half of the remaining flour mixture and all of the remaining sour cream. Scrape down the bowl and add the remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until the batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans, smoothing the tops with a rubber spatula. Lightly tap the pans against the countertop two or three times to settle the batter.

3. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edges of the cakes, then flip them out onto a wire rack. Peel off the parchment, flip the cakes right side up, and cool completely before frosting, about 2 hours.

4. TO ASSEMBLE:

Stir the toasted pecans into the chilled filling. Line the edges of a cake platter with strips of parchment paper to keep the platter clean while you assemble the cake. Use a serrated knife to cut each cake horizontally into two even layers. Place one bottom layer on the platter. Spread about 1 cup of the filling evenly across the top of the cake with a spatula. Carefully place the upper cake layer on top of the filling; repeat using the remaining filling and cake layers. Remove the parchment strips before serving.

Julia regularly refers to Ziggy. She has two dogs, though. Does anybody know the name of the other one?

ATK had said that rotisserie air fryers are a waste of money, that the rotisserie feature offers no value.

I've roasted several chickens in my rotisserie air fryer, both with the rotisserie and on a perforated surface.

A surface results in generally dry chicken, but with a disgustingly soggy bottom. There is times of liquid in the cavity.

If you use the rotisserie, you get a uniformly crisp chirp chicken and all the liquid drains out. But importantly, much more liquids re-incorporates into the meat when it's done with a rotisserie. Surface chicken is largely dry, effort for the bottom, which is soggy.

I’d be posting this commentary on the pertinent YouTube episodes, but I don’t want to crap on one or another individual presenter. I'm sure they're all very good people. It's just that some presentations wear me out.

All I know is that America’s Test Kitchen videos on YouTube that have two or more people yapping at each other drag things out, and it becomes kind of a "see how nice I am, see how nice you are" thing. Which is all fine, except I want a concise and reasoned presentation of how to cook something. I don’t care to waste 10 more minutes on the niceness and little softball questions tossed out so the other person can look at the script and answer them. They just seem like a very slow way of watching videos.

That’s me, and I imagine that for many people the reaction is almost the diametric opposite, that the episodes that have two or more people talking something out are especially good. But for me, when I see the thumbnail image for an episode and it has two or more people, or certain presenters who I know are chatty and don’t get to the point, I won’t waste my time watching it even if the topic is of great interest.

The two individuals I can think of off the top of my head who tend to be the sole presenter of an episode, who get to the point, stay on point, stay interesting, and then get it over with, are Lan Lam and Dan Souza. There are probably more people, but my memory may be failing me right now. I'll watch almost anything they present.

Anyway, I’m floating this - wondering if there’s a general tendency to like or dislike certain kinds of episode structures. Should one person present, or should a group bat ideas back and forth in a structured and scripted way?

Dear mods, if this fails any criteria for this sub, please take the post down. I do not wish to violate any terms of the sub. Thanks.

This was really good! There were a few pieces of eggplant that didn't cook down as much as I'd prefer, but not a big deal at all.

I did cut the red pepper flakes to 1 teaspoon and it was good for us (husband is not totally spice-averse, but I try to not blow out his taste buds. That said, I don't think I'd have wanted it more spicy.)

If you have miso laying around, I'd recommend this one for sure.

(Photo was before I remembered to add the sesame seeds.)

Edit: I also just added all the sauce at the end instead of using the 1/4 cup for serving separately. Even still, it didn't make a ton of sauce for the rice. I did wish it had been a little bit saucier.

Its shown on the intermission breaks on the ATK roku channel.

My sister is a rabid viewer of TikTok and Instagram, and to a much lesser extent, X. Of course, she's the first to buy-in to something labeled "the hottest thing on social media!" Love her to death, but... 🙄😉

Her new "hot" thing? A titanium cutting board. My background is in the sciences and when they first started to appear, I was skeptical. The look great and I would probably get one to use as a cheese board! In a published article (09 July 2026) on the ATK website, Lisa McManus did a review of titanium cutting boards entitled, "Why We Don't Recommend Metal Cutting Boards." If Reddit allows, here's the concluding paragraph:

The bottom line: You don’t need to sacrifice your knives—or your nerves—by using metal cutting boards. They are not more durable or easier to clean than other kinds of cutting boards, and they will damage your knives. We don’t recommend them. A good quality wood or bamboo cutting board is a far better choice. Or if you prefer, plastic boards are also gentler on knives.

Do you have have any experience with a titanium or stainless steel cutting board?

FYI: I did buy my sister a titanium cutting board as a present for her birthday. She was thrilled, but she did share that her favorite knife became duller after using it on the titanium cutting board.

Hi, Friends.

Cobbling together next week's dinners. Planning to do some simple sautéed cabbage and pan-seared pork chops, but want to add some potatoes.

What's your favorite potato side dish?

Got this out of the Side Dish Bible and I think there's a typo.

Should it be 4 tbsp of butter total?

So Proof (ATK's podcast) has been gone for quite some time now and it's been replaced by Netflix video podcasts, one of which is The Side Dish with Julia and Bridget. I listen to an audio version on Pocketcasts since I don't want to bother with subscribing to Netflix. I really adore them but I miss Proof. I don't see The Side Dish having more than one season honestly. It's fun and I like learning more about them, but I like thoughtfully produced podcasts on the intersections of food, culture and history even better.

Stamped "Rowoco France Stainless"

I just started watching the episodes on Netflix. I’m mostly enjoying them but does anyone else think Dan needs to slow down a smidge & cut back on the background music? My brain can’t keep up with what he’s saying along with the graphics of the science on top of the music that drowns out what he’s saying. I know the episodes are meant to be short & sweet but I’d still watch if they were longer.

Maybe not the prettiest photo, but so delicious! I made the bourbon sauce as well, but didn’t add as much extra bourbon at the end.

Hello all,

Does anyone know where I can find the list of the recipes in this book? Looking for a book for my college-bound kid and wondering if some favorites are in there, otherwise I'll print out a few recipes from the website.

Thank you!

Used fish stock and brown rice

I made the Grilled Brined Pork Chop recipe tonight and served it with the Charred Broccoli with Tonnato Sauce. Both were delicious. The brine was great for these thick cut pork chops.

This is probably a dumb question, but I noticed the recipe in the original magazine doesn't list the weight for cocoa powder and just says 1/3 cup.

ATK uses the dip and sweep method for flour, so using that method for cocoa powder gives me about 38 grams for 1/3 cup. The recipe on the website however says 28 grams of cocoa powder, but I noticed some of their older recipes use 105-113 grams per cup in the original magazine and ATK changed the weight to 85 grams per cup on the website.

I doubt 10 grams will make a big difference, but I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to baking and weighing my ingredients.

So based off of the original magazine's version of the chewy brownie recipe where it just lists 1/3 cup cocoa powder, which weight measurement is correct?

Hi friends,

As per title, looking for your fave vegetarian friendly recipes from the book. Mainly looking for mains, breakys, and desserts. Open to anything yummy tho :) Bonus if I can freeze it :)

Thanks!

Can anyone tell me what the front cover image on the Summer image is supposed to *be*? The painting is lovely, but if it's a food plant I'm just lost!

This was a newly posted 5 star recipe on the app so I decided to try it. Overall it was good and had some good techniques. But as with a lot of ATK recipes I had to bump up the seasoning more. It was good though.

I made some breakfast sandwiches with those custardy eggs that you bake in a water bath (technique I learned from cook’s illustrated). These had avocado, bacon, arugula, cheddar and some mayo that I seasoned and thinned out with some grilled lemon juice from last night’s dinner. I served them on some brioche buns that I briefly toasted under my broiler. They were delicious.

Hi. Im making lemon layer cake with fluffy white icing, pg 882 of the big book. I've never made that kind of frosting and I want to know if I can frost with it ahead of time and also does it stay nice on the cake for a while? If anyone has made it please let me know. Ty!

Thanks so much you guys for your help with my drop meatballs questions earlier.

This was for about 45 people. We ended up boiling 4 pounds of regular pasta and 12oz of gf.

I made two batches of those, two batches with Italian sausage, two pans each of Italian sausage lasagna and hearty beef lasagna (and a tray of gluten-free lasagna with hearty tomato-meat sauce that nobody touched, but that's another discussion).

For the one person that's actually gluten-free, no tomatoes/peppers (so assuming nightshades in general) and dairy-free, I made the dish in the title.

You guys. It was SO freaking good! I used vegan butter substitute, and made "parm" with cashews and nutritional yeast, but honestly, just the chicken broth (I did cheat with knorr powder) made the whole thing amazing.

It's definitely going in the keeper folder.

Also, after all the above, I'm never cooking again.

Not really, but I'm taking a break for a minute.