German Carob Cake

I love this recipe!  Before you say gross - carob! you have to try this recipe, my husband looked at me and said "it didn't taste like carob" and he was surprised I used 100% wheat flour too.  Now, carob does not taste like chocolate, it tastes like carob and if you are expecting it to taste like chocolate, you will be disappointed.    I love carob as carob and I love chocolate as chocolate, now enough of the lecture - onto the recipe
This is my friend, Chrystal's recipe.  I usually make it as a peppermint carob cake, which is my favorite, but I needed a German Carob Cake, so I used my friend Kristi's recipe for the frosting.  I love it with regular buttercream too.

Cake - ingredients
1/2 cup carob powder
1/2 cup boiling water   (boil it in the teapot and make yourself a cup of tea also!)
2/3 cup butter
1 3/4 cup palm sugar  (go here for more info on palm sugar) or any sugar you wish
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups wheat flour (don't forget to sift!)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla (peppermint for a peppermint carob cake)

Directions
Pour boiling water into carob, whisking until smooth.  Set aside to cool.
Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl - combine flour, baking soda and salt - sifting together.
Add flour to mixture alternating with milk until combined.
Add carob and mix until just blended.  Do not over mix, this will make a dense cake, in fact I usually finish it up by hand mixing it.

Do not expect it to stick to the sides, but I thought it went pretty good with the theme.

Coconut Pecan Frosting originally from Betty Crocker
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 large egg yolks (I saw a recipe that called for 5 egg yolks, and I'll try that next time)
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

1.  Mix sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and egg yolks in 2 qt saucepan.  Cook over medium heat about 12-15 minutes, whisking occasionally, until thick.
2.  Stir in coconut and pecans.  Cool about 30 minutes, beating occasionally, until spreadable.

This covered half a sheet cake, but
I think I would want more frosting next time!

The birthday boy gets the biggest piece.  It was his 50th birthday.

I usually double the recipe for church, but after yesterday I realized that our church has grown and next time I will need to make three recipes!

FYI - the baker of the cake always has to serve the cake, so don't forget your apron and hair clip(you don't want hair in the cake!)

This is delicious, I hope you enjoy!
Missy