German Chocolate Cupcakes

Hello Cupcake!
Calories don’t count if they are connected to a celebration, right? Right. In that case, the decision as to what I should bake to cheer on the birthdays of a few of my German family members was easy: German chocolate cupcakes. Mind you, I have made German chocolate cake once in my life and it ended in the realization that my friend hated coconut and the oven in my dorm room did not work correctly. Half the cake was burnt and I ended up serving it in a plastic bowl with a spoon—something that became increasingly more hillarious once we had a few cocktails. Needless to say, German chocolate cake tends to be a touchy subject for me BUT while home at the family farm this weekend, I decided to give it another go. Four hours, two dozen eggs, and one snide comment from my mother later (your blog should be called Kitchen Failures of Bay the Wanna-Be Baker) and I am holding on to the hope that third time will be the charm. For now, I will leave you with the recipe and cross my fingers that it takes you only one baking effort to achieve the greatness encompassed in these small treats. I was baking for a large group, so this particular recipe yields about 36 cupcakes. Adjust it to suit your needs unless you (and your waistline) want leftover cupcakes for days!
Ingredients:

Cake Mix
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
2 1/3 cups flower
2 cups cocoa powder
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chocolate syrup (optional…but it gives the cake a malt-like flavor)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy. Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla, milk, and sour cream. In another bowl mix together the dry ingredients. On a low speed, add this mixture in thirds. Mix until blended. Pour into cupcake tins and cook for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter
24 ounces of evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups sugar
8 yolks, lightly beaten (DON’T FORGET to beat the eggs first, because I sure did! No one wants scrambled eggs in their frosting nor do they want to venture back out to the store once they are already baking to purchase more eggs)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups shredded coconut
2 cups chopped pecans
Directions:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Do not allow it to boil. Once off the heat, add the coconut and pecans. Allow it to cook about 1 hour before frosting the cupcakes.

Prost!
-Bay