I do like German chocolate cake, but German chocolate brownie? This could be an improvement on something I thought was already pretty perfect. Changing the chocolate cake to a brownie sounds even richer and more chocolatey than the classic version. Topping that with pecans and gooey coconut frosting makes it sound even better. It isn’t the classic version I’m used to, but I have high hopes for this version.
An easy, from scratch, fudgy brownie is baked into a tart pan and topped with a classic coconut-pecan German frosting for a decadent dessert you won’t be able to resist!
The Ingredients
As usual, I had a few of the ingredients on hand, like flour, sugar, butter, instant espresso, and even leftover shredded coconut from the Coconut Cheesecake Bars I made a couple of weeks ago. What I did have to buy was easy to find and mostly inexpensive. The priciest item by far was the chopped pecans at $10.99 for a 2-cup package.
The Process
This recipe is divided into 2 sections, 1 for the brownie pie and 1 for the frosting. I made it over 2 days for a total time of 1 hour 25 minutes. Day 1 was the brownie pie. It took me 15 minutes to get it ready to go into the oven and 45 minutes to bake. As you can see below, the top cracked just like the author described in Step 5.
Day 2 was making the frosting. That took 20 minutes to cook on the stove. Unfortunately, I forgot to keep track of how long it took to cool, but I would say at least an hour. Actually frosting the pie took only 5 minutes. That includes sprinkling the frosted pie with some extra chopped pecans.
Although the frosting was cool, it was still very soft. Since it is layered so thickly, it collapsed when I made the first slice into the pie. I covered it with plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight to fix that. The frosting held its shape nicely for the next slice.
Another departure from the recipe was the pan I used. I don’t own a tart pan with a removable bottom, so I used my Pyrex pie plate with a circular piece of parchment paper in the bottom. The pie came right out after I ran a knife around the edge of the pan. A removable bottom would have been more convenient, but this was still easy.
