A Southern Grace: hurra! (chinet giveaway nummer vier)

October 14, 2013

hurra! (chinet giveaway nummer vier)

Yum

Did I ever mention that I'm trying to teach myself German? It's true. I mean...es ist wahr.


I'm using a program called Duolingo, and I really recommend it, though you do need to be particularly motivated to learn. It takes some real dedication to sit down and study something of your own unsupervised accord, believe me.

As I've mentioned before, German chocolate doesn't have anything to do with Germany, but I chose to ignore that teensy tiny detail for the purposes of this series of posts. What I've made in my 9x13-inch piece of Chinet Bakeware® is just a regular batch of brownies topped with the filling of a traditional German chocolate cake. To me, that filling is the very best part of the cake, and here, it takes a simple brownie from tasty but boring to decadent and exciting.


Though I've been super pleased with my Chinet Bakeware®, I have to confess to one minor frustration: I have trouble getting the lids to fit snugly, so much so that I've just resorted to covering the food with plastic wrap. It's entirely possible that I'm missing a simple trick, but if not, consider this your fair warning.

If you want a final chance to try out this still-fantastic Chinet Bakeware® for yourself, leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of chocolate. If your comment is randomly picked, you'll win a full set of pans! I'll leave the comments open for a week and close them next Monday, October 21st. Viel Glück!

Deutsch Schokoladenkuchen
Makes 12 large bars
Ingredients:
Brownies:
  • 6 ounces butter
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup pecan pieces
Frosting:
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
First, make the frosting: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from oven and cool.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, egg yolks, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, and when the mixture begins to boil and thicken, remove from heat (about 5 minutes). Stir in the chopped pecans, coconut, and vanilla extract. Let cool until spreadable (about 30-60 minutes).
Meanwhile, make the brownies: Grease a 13x9-inch pan. In a medium saucepan (or in the microwave), melt together the butter and unsweetened chocolate. Whisk until smooth, then let cool for a few minutes. Whisk in the sugars and blend well. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Fold in the flour, salt, and pecans, then pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven 40-45 minutes, or until edges are beginning to harden. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
To assemble, simply slather the frosting onto the cooled brownies, then slice and serve!



Disclosure: While Chinet did provide me with a stipend and their terrific bakeware free of charge, the opinions in this post are all mine. While I'm apparently totally bribable, it wasn't necessary here.

34 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A nice "Kuchen"! I love the German language.

Grüsse,

Rosa

~~louise~~ said...

Another intriguing recipe, Grace. As I read this post, it seems obvious that "dressing" up a brownie (not that they ever need it in my book:) for a special occasion "with the filling of a traditional German chocolate cake" is simply astonishing. What a terrific idea!

However, as impressed as I am with these delectable goodies, the fact that you are learning another language on your own is as they say, "priceless." Kudos to you!

I must check out that program. My daughter looked into the Rosetta Stone. Not only is it very expensive, her linguistics professor told her it wasn't really the ideal program.

Thank you so much for sharing, Grace...

Alicia Foodycat said...

I love that coconut filling and topping. The only thing that stops me is American style soft sweet coconut costs an absolute fortune here!

Jenn said...

Grace, I just started using Duolingo last week! I like it as well. This brownie recipe comes at the perfect time. Tomorrow is son #2's birthday and he always asks for brownies instead of cake.

grace said...

@Jenn: better yet, how about some chocolate chip cookies? ;)

modulatetome said...

Wow, this recipe looks amazing

And my favorite kind of chocolate is anything with mint!!

Carolyn Jung said...

Kudos to you for attempting to learn German on your own. You definitely deserve a pan of German chocolate brownies for all your hard work. ;)

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Hehe I was hopeless at German in high school! In fact my teacher taught me a phrase "Ich habe keine ahnung" which means "I have no idea" which is what I was supposed to answer if someone asked me a question :P

emt817ftw said...

My favorite type of chocolate is DARK. AND, it's good for you..go figure,

Gloria Baker said...

I love so much kuchen and this look awesome and maybe you dont believe but here we have a loong love story with kuchen when in 1800 arrived germanies in the south of Chile.until these days kuchen are a typical chilean treat here:))

scrambledhenfruit said...

I've never met a chocolate I didn't love. :) The brownies look yummy! :)

Jane said...

My favorite way to eat chocolate is straight up, and my favorite brand is Green & Back. You should try it :) Very delicious :)

Unknown said...

Lindt truffles!

Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies said...

Duolingo sounds great, but I do think that I would have problems staying focused enough. Maybe it would be a good winter program for me, when there is nothing else to do in Wisconsin! Oh, and chocolate? Must I pick? All depends on it's destiny!

I Wilkerson said...

My favorite is dark chocolate--and I think that Lindt is a great option for good flavor at a manageable price. I was watching the French news on TV to try to revive my college French until our cable went out briefly and got me out of the habit. If you can do the Duolingo, I guess I can go back to my French news--thanks for the motivation!

Joanne said...

The filling is definitely the best part of german chocolate cake and I love your huge layer of it on top of these pieces. I might just lick it off.

Barbara said...

I so agree with you about the frosting! I could eat it by the spoonful! Love this cake in bar form, Grace. And while I prefer bittersweet chocolate, I still have always loved this cake.

oconnorts said...

My favorite chocolate is Dark 72% Cacao chocolate all by itself but since chocolate is my sixth major food group.....

Pam said...

Drooling! Seriously, I have to wipe the drool off my keyboard now. Thanks a lot Grace! ;-)

Beth said...

My favourite kind of chocolate is semi-sweet. Fingers crossed!

Rosita Vargas said...

Esta receta se ve increíble con buen chocolate y muy bien hecho,abrazos.

CQUEK said...

These are FANTASTIC! I love them!

Anonymous said...

any chocolate will do. though now i really want the brownies topped w/ coconut from the recipe made from the baker's sweet chocolate wrapper.

fruitcrmble AT comcast DOT net

Ally said...

My favorite kind of chocolate is made by a company called Chuao. It's called a firecracker bar and has sea salt, chipotle and POP ROCKS in it! It's seriously amazing!

xenacat1 said...

Favorite chocolate? Good old Hershey's.
Cheryl
canewton42@yahoo.com

Caroline Taylor said...

Love that you're learning German! These look delicious. My favourite chocolate? Would have to be one with nuts in.

Anonymous said...

I love milk chocolate

Susan Christy said...

I like all kinds of chocolate - but milk is my favorite. Most of what I bake though is with dark cocoa - brownies are my thing.

Blond Duck said...

I'm going to make these for my FIL!

Katerina said...

This one would be devoured in my home especially that has the coconut!

Angie's Recipes said...

Der Kuchen sieht supertoll aus. Richtig lecker!

rachel said...

Hot fudge all the way :)

CQUEK said...

must try that

Unknown said...

German Choc. cake was my first "favorite" cake. Still in the top 10. Ganong's Chocolate, made here in New Brunswick has always been my favorite. Du bist der beste Koch uberhaupt!