A decadent German Chocolate Cake Recipe, made an extra moist and fudgy chocolate cake, a rich caramel/coconut frosting, and iced with a sweet and simple chocolate frosting.
German Chocolate Cake
…Or, as I originally wanted to call it, “Not Your Mama’s German Chocolate Cake”.
I’m taking some liberties with the traditional German Chocolate Recipe today. After lots of testing, I wasn’t satisfied with many of the classic versions of this cake. Maybe you’ve tried them before: Chocolate cakes made with melted bars of German chocolate and whipped egg whites. They yield a lighter but more dry and not terribly chocolatey cake.
While I tried to love it, I kept going back to my classic chocolate cake instead. Maybe its my recent intense chocolate cravings (thank you, pregnancy), but I wanted a dense, fudgy cake that actually tasted like chocolate.
While our caramel/coconut layer stays (fairly) true to tradition, this German Chocolate Cake is honestly the most decadent, best version I’ve ever tried. Which, of course it is or I wouldn’t be sharing it with you here today 😉. Let’s get to it.
German Chocolate Cake Frosting
When most people think of German Chocolate Cake, they usually think about the frosting.
Traditional frosting is something of a cross between a frosting, a custard, and a caramel. The base is made primarily with egg yolks, evaporated milk, and brown sugar and cooked on the stovetop until thickened. Once cooked, we’ll stir in shredded (sweetened) coconut and toasted pecans.
When making this frosting, it’s so important that you don’t turn up your heat too high or you’ll end up cooking bits of your egg. Also, make sure you let your frosting cool completely before trying to decorate your cake or you’ll likely end up with a runny mess.
This caramel-esque frosting is the only frosting that some German Chocolate Cake recipes use, and if that’s how you want to make yours then go for it.
Personally I wanted a little bit more chocolate (shocking), so I made a simple chocolate frosting to frost the outside of the cake and decorate the top. I also used it as a dam on the first layer of the cake to help hold the coconut frosting inside, making it easier to frost the outside (see below).
Why is it Called German Chocolate Cake?
This cake actually does not come from Germany, it’s considered an American cake. The recipe was named because of the creator of German chocolate, a man named Samual German. However, these days German Chocolate Cake is now generally used to describe any chocolate layer cake frosted with this coconut/caramel frosting. And while I do feel a little guilty about cutting Mr. German’s chocolate out of our recipe today, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the results.
You can read here to find out more about the origins of this not-so-German cake.
Does German Chocolate Cake Need to be Refrigerated?
If you plan to enjoy your German Chocolate Cake within a day or two it will keep just fine at room temperature in an airtight container (so long as you aren’t in a particularly humid climate). You may refrigerate this cake, just be sure to keep in an airtight container (to help keep it from drying out, as refrigerators are notorious for drying out cake!).
This cake will keep for a week in the refrigerator.
Can You Freeze German Chocolate Cake?
Yes! this cake can be frozen. It will keep for several months in the freezer, granted it is properly sealed and stored (I would wrap it well with plastic wrap and foil).
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like:
- Coconut Cake
- Hummingbird Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Marble Cake
- Or check out more of my Cake Recipes
Let’s bake together! Follow me on my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 150 recipe videos that you can watch for free!
German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (215g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed (200g)
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- ¾ cup natural cocoa powder (75g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil (120ml)
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted (113g)
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk¹ (236ml)
- ½ cup very hot or boiling water (120ml)
Coconut Caramel Filling
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 cup evaporated milk (236ml)
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ½ cup light brown sugar firmly packed (100g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cups chopped pecans preferably toasted, (125g)
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (160g)
Chocolate Frosting²
- 1 cup salted butter softened (226g)
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar (440g)
- ½ cup natural cocoa powder (50g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons evaporated milk³
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 9" round cake pans by lightly greasing and flouring I also recommend lining the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, sugars, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) and use an electric mixer to stir until well-combined.
- Add oil and melted butter and stir well (mixture will be very thick), then stir in eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
- Gradually add buttermilk, stirring until completely combined.
- Slowly add hot water (be careful not to splash yourself!), stirring until ingredients are well-combined. Pause occasionally to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Evenly divide batter into prepared pans. Transfer to oven and bake on 350F (175C) for 25-30 minutes and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Allow cakes to cool for 15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.
Coconut Caramel Filling
- Once your cake is in the oven, begin preparing your coconut/caramel German Chocolate Cake Filling. In a medium-sized saucepan, combine egg yolks and evaporated milk and whisk until eggs are lightly beaten.
- Add butter, sugars, and salt and place saucepan over medium/low heat (keep heat low so you do not cook your eggs!). Stir constantly until mixture is a light golden brown and thickened (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, chopped pecans, and shredded coconut.
- Allow to cool completely before spreading over cake.
Chocolate Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer OR in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and cocoa powder until completely combined. Stir in vanilla extract and milk.
Assembly:
- Once your cake layers have cooled and your coconut/caramel filling is no longer warm to the touch, you can assemble your German Chocolate Cake!
- Place one cake round on serving tray or cake platter. Use your chocolate frosting to spread or pipe a border around the edge of the cake. Fill the border with half of your coconut/caramel filling.
- Top with second cake round. Frost top and sides of entire cake with remaining chocolate frosting.
- Top off cake with remaining half of coconut/caramel frosting.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
³I recommend evaporated milk because you will likely have some over from your coconut filling if you purchased a 12 oz can. However, regular milk will work just as well!
Storing
German Chocolate Cake will keep at room temperature (granted you are not in a particularly hot/humid climate) in an airtight container for up to three days. It may also be refrigerated (in an airtight container) for up to a week. German Chocolate Cake may be frozen, wrap well and freeze for up to several months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Ann
Excellent!
Zoie Penick
My sister and I made this cake today. My family loved it! Thanks for the recipe Sam! We followed everything exactly 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Zoie! Baking with family is the best. 🙂
Ali
Can I use instant flavored coffee like caramel if I do not have regular instant coffee?
Sam
Hi Ali! The flavored instant coffee should work. Just keep in mind it’s going to change the final flavor of the cake. 🙂
Taylor
Hi Sam!
I plan on making this for my Nan’s 65th birthday next week, but I’d like to do 3 layers instead of 2. How much would you recommend increasing the ingredients? Thanks 🙂
Sam
Hi Taylor! I would increase all of the ingredients by 50%. 🙂
Iman
Hi Sam! I plan on trying this delicious recipe soon. I wanted to ask if there is a reason for using sweetened coconut over unsweetened? I have some unsweetened coconut and wondered if the sugar in recipe will make up for it.
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Iman! I use it because it’s a little more moist and a little more flavorful but you can use the unsweetened if that’s what you have on hand. 🙂
Iman Khan
Thank you!
Melissa
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it yesterday and it turned out great. I just have one question, my German chocolate filling was still a bit runny. It never quite thickened up. I put some on the top and it started running down the sides after a while. Any suggestions to prevent this? I cooked on low heat for like 8-10 minutes. It just never got really thick. What did I do wrong?
Sam
Hi Melissa! I’m glad you enjoyed it overall. Your filling may have just needed a little bit longer to cook to thicken up a bit. 🙂
Andres
Can I make this in 8 inch pans since the cake is basically your chocolate cake?
Sam
Hi Andres! That will work just be careful not to overfill the pan. The bake time may be slightly different as well. 🙂
Sandy
I’ve been looking a lot at your site in the last several months. I’ve actually made several of your recipes and they were awesome! With this one for the German chocolate cake, can this be made in a 9 x 13 pan instead of 2 round pans? I can’t wait to try this!
Sam
Hi Sandy! That should work just fine. 🙂
Tonya R
For the coconut caramel filling, you say be careful not to cook the eggs. So are the eggs raw in this filling?? How is that safe?
Sam
Hi Tonya! You will be heating the eggs so they are “cooked” to be safe to consume (if you’re concerned, use an instant read thermometer and make sure they reach 165F), but you want to make sure that you aren’t over-heating them and that you don’t end up with bits of cooked/scrambled egg in your filling. I hope that helps!
Marie
Hi!
I love your recipes! I make them all the time and all my friends raveeee about how good they are. I have a friend who lovesssss German cake, so I wanted to give this one a shot for her, but she’s allergic to eggs…do you have a good suggestion for an egg substitute? Thanks! And keep baking and sharing your recipes – they’re AWESOME!
Sam
Hi Marie! Unfortunately I don’t really have a good substitute for the egg here. 🙁
Brian
I got to try this!!!
Diane
Definitely I will try this cake and I’ll let you know how it turn out THANK YOU CHEF 👩🍳 …..BUT IT LOOKS AMAZING
Sam
I hope you love it Diane! 🙂
Karen
Hi Sam.
I tried posting not sure it it worked but I’m curious if I could half this recipe to make a 6 inch cake since it would pretty much be for me and my husband. Or what do you recommend? Thanks
Sam
Hi Karen! Cutting the recipe in half should work for a 6 inch cake. 🙂
Karen
Thank you Sam I’ll definitely be trying it out!!
Leota
Hi Sam
I am going to try this recipe is there a substitute for coffee or can I leave out coffee entirely? Thanks
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Leota! You can just leave it out entirely. Keep in mind it won’t make your cake taste like coffee; it just enhances the chocolate flavor. Enjoy!
Karen
Hi Sam.
I was curious if I can half this recipe to make a 6 inch cake or what do you recommend?Thanks
Sam
Hi Karen! Would this be a 2-layer 6 inch cake? That would work, you might have a little bit of extra batter but just discard it (don’t fill the cake pans more than 2/3-3/4 full).
Allison
Can the filling be made in advance and frozen? I have so many egg yolks left over after making Swiss merengue buttercream and want to get a head start on my moms birthday cake.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Allison! I have not tried it myself, but I think that it should be fine frozen. 🙂
PovertyLaneBaker
This was a delicious recipe and the end product was a finger licking delight. But, as a huge fan of Sugar Spun Run, I questioned a few changes. Why not the “Best Chocolate Cake” recipe? The chocolate frosting recipe was just a buttercream and your outer chocolate frosting is far superior (salted butter?). Anyway, still a huge fan, but I’ll use your other recipes with this messy delish in the future. Keep up the good work.
Sam
Glad you enjoyed! I talk a bit about why I made the cake the way I did in the post if you want to check that out. I am glad you have been enjoying the recipes! 🙂
kate
This looks Amazing! How would you do these as cupcakes? I have a request for some and just want to get them right
Thank you so much for the help!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kate! I have never used this recipe to create cupcakes before so you will have to experiment some. I would fill the mufifn tin with 1/4 cake batter, then I’d add 1-2 tablespoons of the coconut caramel filling, then apply more cake batter on top until the cupcake is 2/3 of the way full. I would then bake them until done and allow them to cool completely before icing them. Again, I have not tried it so you will have to keep me posted on how they turn out. 🙂