German Chocolate Cake
Slice and serve this German chocolate cake. You will make a homemade German chocolate cake topped with coconut pecan frosting—a layered coconut chocolate cake that is sinfully delicious.
Who doesn’t love cake? You can slice and serve up for a family dinner or if you are hosting a party or celebration. Rich, decadent, and full of chocolate flavor.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Here, you have a made-from-scratch cake with chocolate cake and coconut frosting.
- It is a stunning layered cake.
- You can make this a day before when you want to serve this cake.
- This will taste just like grandma used to make—a total comfort dessert.
🛒Ingredients
This recipe uses essential ingredients in your kitchen and local grocery store. We’ve listed everything here, but you’ll find their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
For the Cake
- German baking chocolate
- water
- granulated sugar
- butter
- egg
- vanilla
- milk
- flour
- baking soda
- salt
For the Frosting
- butter
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- egg
- evaporated milk
- vanilla
- coconut flakes
- pecans
How to Make German Chocolate Cake
Step 1: Melt chocolate in pan
Melt the chocolate and water together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often to prevent the chocolate from burning.
Step 2: Cream Butter and Sugar
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Then, add the melted chocolate to the bowl.
Step 3: Mix Up Cake Batter
Next, work on the eggs, vanilla, and milk. Then, mix the dry ingredients until the cake batter is formed.
Step 4: Bake
Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake as the recipe card directs. Once done, let the cake cool.
Step 5: Frosting
Start by melting butter and then work on the ingredients as listed. You will heat on medium heat on the stovetop until it thickens and becomes bubbly.
When you remove the mixture from the heat, work in the coconut and nuts. Then, let the frosting cool for at least 30 minutes.
Step 6: Frost Cake
Next, you will work on frosting your layered chocolate cake. The complete steps are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
📝Variations
- You can use boxed chocolate cake mix instead of homemade chocolate cake mix.
- Bake a 9×13 cake instead of a layered cake. Just adjust the baking time.
- You can use store-bought frosting to replace homemade frosting if you prefer.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepan
- Round cake pans
🥫 Storage
Store your cake in a sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days. To extend its life, you can refrigerate it for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze the cake for 2-3 months.
💭 Tips
- Grease your baking pans so the cake doesn’t stick. You can also place parchment paper on the bottom of the pans.
- Do not overmix the cake batter. You will mix and combine, pour, and then bake.
- When making up the frosting make sure not to overcook and stir often or it will burn the frosting mixture.
- Allow the frosting to cool before you spread it on the cake.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
The frosting is what helps make this cake different. It has a custard-like texture made with butter, eggs, coconut, and pecans. The frosting is thick, creamy, and chewy from the nuts and coconut flakes.
Of course. You can go ahead and leave out the nuts if you prefer. You can also swap with a different type of nut.
German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 4 oz. German chocolate baking chocolate (use semi-sweet if you can't find German)
- ½ cup water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ cups milk I used 2 %
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
Coconut-Pecan Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 ½ cups coconut flakes
- 2 ½ cups pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Cake:1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.2. Melt chocolate with the water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until just melted.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix together.4. Next, mix in the eggs, vanilla and milk until well combined.
5. Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the mixing bowl and stir or mix into the batter until just combine
6. Spray 3 8-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. For extra coverage, line the bottom of the pans with an 8 inch circle of parchment paper.Pour batter evenly between the three pans and then bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.7. Cool and make frosting.After frosting has cooled, assemble the cake:a. Put the first layer rounded side down on a cake plate, topping with 1/3 of the frosting.b. Add the second layer also rounded side down, repeating with another layer of the frosting.Add the 3rd layer, rounded side up. c. Top with remaining frosting. Do not frost the sides.Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour prior to serving to make the cake easier to slice.d. Save any leftovers covered in the refrigerator.Coconut-Pecan Frosting:
1. Melt butter and then add in granulated sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. Mix in egg yolks.2. Cook over medium heat, frequently stirring, until mixture thickens and is bubbly. This should be 10-12 minutes.
3. Add in coconut and pecans and stir to combine.Remove from stovetop and cool for at least 30 minutes, stirring now and then.
Makes 12 servings.
Notes
Disclaimer
Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
Havent tried it yet but i am hoing to bake it for thanksgiving wish me luck
Good luck Shirley. It’s not a very hard cake to make I’m sure you’ll do fine and will have a delicious dessert!
I have used your recipe many times and it is ALWAYS a huge success!! Thank you!!
Jennifer thank you! We really appreciate the kind words and are so happy all the recipes have been a success for you!! 😊👌
Is it ok to use german chocolate instead of semi sweet? Or not a good idea
German chocolate is sweeter than semi sweet so it will change the flavor of the cake which in my opinion is sweet enough
Love this recipe! No egg whites to beat but always use German chocolate in a German chocolate cake
Thank you! We love this recipe also. German chocolate is listed. Semi sweet if you can’t find it.
Please clarify the water and chocolate. Do you physically mix the water with the chocolate or are you melting the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water?
In the instructions #2 it says to mix chocolate in water
Can this cake be made in a 9X13inch pan?
I’m sure it can be but we have never made it that way.