German Chocolate Cake

Line three greased 9-inch round baking pans with waxed paper. Grease the waxed paper, and set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate with water over low heat; set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes.

If you haven't separated the eggs yet, do so now. Then add the four egg yolks to the batter, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set the whites aside for now.

Gently beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Mix about one-third of the dry mixture into the batter, and beat well. Then stir about one-third of the buttermilk into the batter, and beat well. Repeat until the dry mixture and buttermilk are fully incorporated.

In a small bowl—and, crucially, with clean beaters—beat the four egg whites until stiff peaks form. Editor's Tip: If the beaters you use here are even a bit are dirty, the egg whites won't whip to their full potential.

Fold one-fourth of the egg whites into the creamed batter mixture. Work gently, using a large spatula or spoon. Repeat with the remaining egg whites, folding in roughly the same amount each time. Fold until the egg whites are incorporated into the batter, with no large pockets of egg remaining. Make sure to reach the spatula to the very bottom of the bowl. Editor's Tip: The whipped egg whites add volume to the cake, so it's important not to crush the air out. Here's a guide to folding ingredients into batter, if you'd like visual images.

Gently pour the batter into prepared pans. Bake for 24 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For the icing, in a small saucepan, heat the sugar, milk, butter and egg yolks over medium-low heat until mixture is thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Stir in the coconut, pecans and vanilla. Allow to cool until thick enough to spread.

Spread one-third of the frosting over each cake layer, smoothing with a spatula. Stack the layers. Editor's Tip: We like to leave the sides unfrosted to show off the layers.

In a microwave, melt the chocolate and shortening. Stir until smooth. Editor's Tip: If your microwave is powerful, you might want to heat in short bursts so the chocolate doesn't overheat.

Drizzle the glaze over the cake, letting it pour down the sides.