Coconut Pecan Frosting

Today is Greg’s birthday and he always likes to have German chocolate cake with caramel pecan frosting as his birthday cake. Jess baked the cake this afternoon (from a mix) and I whipped up some homemade frosting tonight after supper. Many years ago my friend Cindy gave me her recipe for homemade coconut pecan frosting and I’ve used it since. The tub frosting is thicker, but the homemade tastes so much better.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 C evaporated milk*

1 C sugar

3 egg yolks

1/2 (1 stick) butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine and cook until thickened (about 12 minutes).**

1 1/3 C coconut

1 C chopped pecans

Beat until thick enough to spread.

*I had no cans of evaporated milk in my cupboard, but a quick Google search had me mixing up 2/3 C dry milk w/ 3/4 C water to equal 1 C evaporated milk.

**It’s thicker than it started, but not frosting thickness. After 12 minutes it wasn’t getting any thicker, so I went ahead and took it off the heat to add the coconut and pecans. I let that cool a bit before beating.

It was still a little thin when I poured it over the cake, but I’m letting it sit awhile to cool a little more. It should thicken some more as it cools.

I love the way it seeps down to cover the sides of the cake.

It’s rich and sweet and oh-so-easy to make from scratch. You’ll never want to buy your frosting again.