Day 54: German Chocolate for a Good Friend on his 61st Birthday

  Having grown up southern, there are some flavors I cannot live without.  One of these flavors is traditional German chocolate cake frosting.  Could do without the cake and just eat frosting.  Happily, a friend asked for German chocolate birthday cake.  Use any chocolate cake recipe you like, but I began with Michele's recipe from Chocolate Cake.  By the time this one was adapted for altitude, made less sweet to suite my friend's preferences, and darkened with an extra 4 ounces of 100% Cacao Ghirardelli because I just couldn't stop myself; Michele might not recognize it!  This is truly about the frosting, though, and here's my mom's recipe, the one I of course use, and I double it.

Mother's Icing for German Chocolate Cake

5 oz. can of Carnation evaporated milk (NOT sweetened)
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 cage- free eggs
1/2 stick butter 
2 tsp Mexican vanilla
1 1/3 cups Angleflake sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped pecans toasted


Combine milk, yolks, and butter.  Add sugar.  Cook to thick over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 20 minutes (even longer @ 8,000 feet). Add vanilla and nuts.  Beat, apply and indulge.