German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiling water
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature


Directions

Grease two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a small bowl, pour boiling water on chocolate and stir until smooth, then set aside until it reaches room temperature.

In the bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.

Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there's no trace of egg white visible.

Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cake layers completely. Then proceed to fill as desired.