Grandmother Carol’s Way.
The ONLY way!
Right off the bat you need to gather all of your ingredients.
There’s nothing worse than figuring out in the middle of a recipe that you need something from the opposite end of the kitchen.
A look of confusion on Rachel’s face. Don’t you worry though, Grandmother is going to straighten her out in a second.
Chopping pecans the old fashion way. This chopper actually makes the most uniformly chopped pecans I’ve ever seen, not a like a food processor that turns half of the pecans to dust.
Separate you egg yolks and egg whites right off the bat and whip the whites until it forms peaks. This will save you time later.
Grandmother is instructing Rachel in the correct way to grease and flour a pan.
Always sift you dry ingredients, including the baking soda and salt.
There is even a science to melting chocolate, sweet german chocolate in this case.
Two peas in a pod right there.
Creaming together butter and sugar.
This is the part that astounded me. I never knew how long it actually took to cream the butter and sugar together, I always thought once it was mixed that was good enough.
Nope. I was wrong. If it’s still grainy…. you’re not done.
Make sure to scrap your bowl, otherwise you’ll have a bit on the bottom that isn’t incorporated.
Add your chocolate a little at a time, that way you don’t end up with it all down your front.
Only add egg yolks one at a time as well, this will help make sure that each one is incorporated fully as well as continuing to fluff up that butter and sugar.
Add the buttermilk and flour alternately in order to keep the batter from drying out.
Fold in the egg whites, NEVER stir.
This make a delightfully fluffy batter.
Try to get the batter spread as evenly as you can between your three cake pans.
Make sure and get it all, no sense in wasting any, this is an expensive cake to make.
Grandmother is making sure Rachel has even pans.
* Another great hint – drop your pans on the counter three times each to make sure you get all the air bubbles out of the batter.
Then put you pans in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Make sure all your pans are on the same rack, and don’t let them touch each other.
Now start your coconut pecan frosting, Milnot makes the best, but evaporated milk will do to.
*Save your leftover evaporated milk and put it in mash potatoes, it makes they creamiest potatoes you’ll ever have!
Add your butter and get to stirring. It’s gonna be awhile a hope your arms are up to the challenge.
We switched and I stirred for awhile.
Make sure you are pulling up the frosting from the bottom as it starts to get thick… it will burn if you’re not careful.
Continue to stir until the mixture is thickened, you’ll be able to tell because the mixture will bubble, and when the bubbles pop and leave a hole you know you’re about done.
Then set the frosting aside to cool.
When your timer goes off, check your cakes by touching the top, if it springs back they are done, if it leaves an indent they need a little longer.
After you frosting has cooled then add your vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Mix well.
* Never add vanilla to a hot mixture, it will evaporate off and you’ll lose the flavor, instead let the mixture cool and then add the vanilla.
All ready to go.
Cool your cakes on wire racks. Use a spatula to loosen the side of the cake so that they don’t stick when you are ready to pull them out.
Make sure they are ready to come out before you flop them over, otherwise you may end up with half your cake still stuck in the pan.
*Rub the crumbs off the sides of the cake, this will help keep the crumbs out of your frosting 
Put frosting in between each layer. Don’t get overzealous though! You want to make sure you have plenty for the sides and the top.
This frosting is a little tricky for the side of the cake. They key is to go SLOW.
I’d say we did a pretty good job!
And it tasted marvelous! This one turned out really moist… or so said our Aunt Kristi (who was the official cake taster).
{ I didn’t put the recipe in this post, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to give up this family secret. What I really wanted to share was the experience of Rachel and I learning from our Grandmother Carol. People don’t always take the time to learn from those who came before them.}
