German Chocolate Cake and More!

Rich, very moist and chocolaty. The twist is that I made two cakes out of one.

1 3/4 cups White Flour, spooned and leveled
3/4 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder I used half 100% Hershey's cacao and half Hershey's dark cacao.
1 3/4 cups White granulated sugar
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Espresso Powder I used Fress Cafe Molida from the Dominican Republic.
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
2 lge. Eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup Greek style yogurt or full fat sour cream
1/2 cup Buttermilk If you don't have buttermilk, just add 1 tsp. of fresh lemon juice to 1/2 cup of milk.
2 tp. Vanilla
1/2 cup Strong coffee

1 1/4 cups Butter, that's 2 1/2 sticks, softened to room temp
3 1/2 cups Confectioners sugar, sifted
3/4 cup Unsweetened cocoa Again, I used half dark and half regular Hershey's cocoa.
3-5 Tbsp. Half and Half
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

This makes almost twice as much filling as needed, but having leftovers is not a problem!
Toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned. Stir the nuts as they brown so they don't get burned.
I made the filling first so it could cool to room temperature. Combine butter, brown sugar, egg yolks, and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk occasionally as the mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, whisk constantly until the mixture thickens--about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla, toasted pecans and coconut. Allow to cool completely before filling the cake. It will also thicken as it cools.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 9 inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment. cut around the edge of the cake pans so you have a flat round of parchment in the bottom of the pan.
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and espresso powder together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or you can just use a whisk) mix the oil, eggs, yogurt (or sour cream), buttermilk and vanilla together until combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot coffee, and whisk or beat it all until the batter is completely combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the 3 pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely in the pan.

Make the frosting while the cakes are cooling. Again, this will make more frosting then you need. With a hand held or stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until very creamy--about 2 minutes. Add confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, 3 Tbsp. cream, salt and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for a full minute. Do not over-whip.
Add 1/4 cup more of confectioners sugar if the frosting is too thin. Conversely add 1 to 2 more Tbsp. cream if it is too thick. Taste and add a pinch of salt if needed.

Remove the cooled cakes from the pans and also remove the parchment paper. Because I was making two cakes in one, stack the layers on top of each other and carefully cut right down the middle.
Start filling each layer either with the Coconut Pecan filling or the Chocolate Buttercream frosting.
I garnished the top of the cakes with chocolate chips for the Buttercream half and dollops of the Coconut Pecan filling for the German Chocolate half.
Chill the cake for 30 to 60 minutes which makes it easier to cut. If you try to cut it warm, it may fall apart.