1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the Cake

1. Prepare three 9″ round cake pans, by lining them with rounds of wax paper. Grease and the insides of the pans and the wax paper rounds and dust them with cocoa. You can also use parchment paper if you prefer. I’ve used waxed paper for 45 years to line my cake pans. It works perfect.
2. Place the water in a measuring cup and heat in a microwave until it’s very hot. Break up the chocolate bar and drop into the water. Stir it once or twice with a spoon and set it aside to cool.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, placing the yolks in a small bowl and the whites in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, or use a hand mixer. Set aside while you sift the cake flour. Egg whites whip up with more volume when they’re room temperature. 
4. Sift the cake flour into a bowl. Remeasure and place back into a sifter or wire mesh strainer. Add the salt and baking soda and sift again. Set aside.
5. Using the whisk attachment, mix the egg whites on high speed for a couple of minutes until they form stiff peaks. Transfer to a smaller bowl and refrigerate until ready to fold into the cake batter.
6. Add the butter and sugar to the same mixing bowl. Using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until they are light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and mix until they are fully incorporated.
7. Add the buttermilk and dry ingredients alternately in three additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients only until incorporated. Do not over mix.
8. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites with a spatula.  It’s okay if you see specks of egg white in the batter.
9. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer, comes out with only a moist crumb on it, about 222 to 25  minutes.
10. Transfer the cakes to a countertop. Let sit for five minutes. Run a sharp knife around the inside edges of each cake pan. Slightly shake each pan to ensure that the cake is not sticking to the pan. Invert each cake layer onto a wire cooling rack. Peel off the wax paper rounds and let the cake layers cool while making the frosting.

For the Frosting

1. Place the milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat while stirring slowly but constantly until the mixture has thickened. This usually takes about 12 minutes. If you double the recipe, it takes 3 to 4 minutes longer.
2. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the coconut and pecans. Mix to combine and frost the cake as desired.
3. Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.