AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

I’m frustrated.

My 2 year old baby was throwing up all over place yesterday. Total madness. She’s feeling much better now, the house has been bleached and fumigated, so all is good. . . . i think.

My Christmas Tree is STILL up and decorated. Though, I haven’t been turning the lights on.
At the moment that I finally went to take it down (I kid you not) Phoebe started projectile vomiting and well. . . .my Christmas tree is still up, ornaments, star and all.

Good news.  I’m exercising on a regular basis. And I’m blogging.. . . .Yeah!!!
Bad news.  I’ve been unable to figure out when to shower and brush my hair.

And the worst news yet. . . . .
My Bella, my lovely child who asks for nothing who is always happy, generous, and wonderful, is going to be completely heart broken when she finds out that she wasn’t drafted by the softball team she wanted to play for. It’s a long story that ends with Bella being a first round draft pick for another coach, and he wasn’t willing to trade her.

Uuuggghhhh.

This totally sucks.

So let’s take a look back to this weekend when Bella was happy.  When she smiled brightly upon arriving at the American Girl Tea Party, dressed to the nines, completely matching her American Girl doll.

Look very closely.
We may not see that smile again for awhile.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Shit.

Can I say that? Should I say that?

My husband angel is sitting on my shoulder whisper yelling at me to watch my mouth. To stop cursing all over the Internet. To be more lady-like. I’m whisper yelling back. SHUT UP, you potty mouth hater. I like curse words.  But then, I like that he thinks I’m a lady, so I blush and regain my composure.

Shoot.  Gosh durn it.  This is really bad news. REALLY BAD. I’m really trying to figure out how to put a spin on it.

Gosh Bella, you’re such a good player that your old coach that never won any games drafted you.  Yipppeeee!!!!

Winning isn’t everything, it’s how you lose the game!

Look on the bright side. . . .your uniform might be pink again. Maybe we can convince them to add rhinestones.

I think I’ll make Mr. Woo give her the bad news.  And I’ll have this German Chocolate cake sitting in the dugout to ease her pain.

Because when life gets hard, and you don’t know what the hell to do, I say eat chocolate. Lots and Lots of chocolate.

With caramel, coconut icing.

It’s a must.

– — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

PS- You may be wondering why I don’t have any pictures of the enitre cake. It’s my families fault. They ate the cake up so fast, that I was unable to stage any whole cake shots. So I’m sorry. . . .you’ll just have to use your imagination . . . . but trust me. . .THIS . . .WILL. . . .KNOCK. . . .YOUR. . . .SOCKS. . . .OFF.

THE BEST GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE YOU HAVE EVER EATEN
ever so slightly adapted from David Lebovitz

*One more thing. That angel husband on my shoulder would like you to know that in his most humble opinion this is not a German Chocolate Cake.  That in fact this is a delicious, delectable cake, but to him it is not German Chocolate. It comes out darker and richer than the more traditional German Chocolate Cakes. Now he has said his piece, and he wishes to retreat back to my shoulder where he will forever whisper in my ear and make me second guess all my moves today. Thank you.

Makes one 9 inch cake. 16 servings.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 oz., unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 TB water
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 oz butter
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 1/3 cups grated coconut

For the syrup:

1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons rum (Lebovitz uses dark rum), optional

For the chocolate icing:

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 ½ oz. unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottoms with wax paper.

2. In  a small microwavable glass container, melt both chocolates with 6 TB of water. Stir until smooth. Let cool.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/4 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in cooled melted chocolate. Then one at a time, add egg yolks.

4.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix half of the dry ingredients  into the butter mixture, and then add the buttermilk, vanilla, and the rest of the dry ingredients.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and continue to beat until the peaks are stiff. Fold the stiff whites into the cake batter.

6. Pour batter evenly into the cake pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool.

To Make the filling:

1. In a bowl, mix together, the butter, salt, coconut and pecan pieces. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, mix together the cream, sugar, and egg yolks. Heat the cream mixture, and stir constantly until it begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.

3. Pour cream mixture into the coconut mixture, and stir until the butter has melted. Cool completely.

For the syrup:

1. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until all the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and add the liquor. Stir.

For the Icing:

1. In a medium sized bowl, place 8 oz. of chocolate with corn syrup and 1.5 oz of butter. Set aside.
2. Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Pour over the chocolate, corn syrup and butter. Let stand one minute, then stir to smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature.

To assemble:

1. Remove the cakes from the cake pans and cut them both in half horizontally using a serrated knife.
2. Place the first layer onto the cake plate, brush with syrup, and spread with 3/4 cup of coconut filling. Place another layer of cake on top, and repeat the process until you have used every layer of cake.
3. Ice the sides of the cake with chocolate icing. Use a thin layer at first to hold in the crumbs. Place in the refrigerator to cool, and then re-ice the sides and make a decorative piping edge if you like! Enjoy!(It may seem like a lot of chocolate icing, but use it all. Trust me. You won’t be sorry.)