German chocolate cake is another one of my favorites from childhood. I never even considered trying to make it safe, figuring it was just too hard. Well, guess what? It's easy. Ok, the cake is super simple, but the frosting gave me a bit of trouble. Yes, you heard right, I actually made my own frosting, and it's delicious! Like really delicious! I mean my husband ate 1/2 the cake in 24 hours and I was eating the leftover frosting with a spoon. It is a variation of the recipe from Alice's Tea Cup in NYC.
Cake
3 1/2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 c. sugar
2 cup soy milk
1 c. canola oil
2 c. maple syrup
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
Preheat your oven to 350 and have two 9" round pans greased and ready. Combine all dry ingredients, then incorporate the wet. Stir until just combined. This recipe is using baking soda and vinegar as the egg replacement, so it you over stir, if won't rise correctly. Pour equal amounts into each pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Frosting
1/2 c. soy milk
1/3 c. corn starch (or other thickener if allergic to corn)
2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. coconut milk
2 tsp. vanilla
3 or 4 c. shredded coconut
Combine the soy milk and corn starch and set aside. Now, in a medium sauce pan, combine the brown sugar and coconut milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring quite often, until it starts boiling. Turn the temperature down, until it's just simmering and continue to stir for 5 minutes. Now pour in the soy milk, corn starch mixture and continue to stir and heat this mixture until it thickens. This is where I messed mine up. I got a bit impatient (it was taking forever) waiting for the frosting to thicken and I took it off too soon. All that happened was that my frosting wouldn't stick to the sides of the cake. If you run into this problem too, just pile it in between layer and on top. It's still awesome. Anyways, back to the recipe. Once thickened, stir in the shredded coconut, and then place it all in the fridge to cool.
Once you cake and frosting are both cooled, stack and frost them. You may top with a drizzle of melted chocolate if you would like. I did, and while it doesn't replace the nuts, it did add a bit of a crunch. I didn't measure this, but I'm guessing I used about 1/2 c. enjoy life chocolates combined with 1 Tbsp. canola oil.
Give this one a try on your extended family or friends that are not typically allergy free. Everyone who tried some, said it tastes "normal" and that's about as good of a compliment as anyone could give me. Hope you all have a great week.
