This German Chocolate Cake Recipe is a total showstopper! Featuring three moist chocolate cake layers, coconut pecan frosting inside the cake, and rich chocolate frosting on the sides of the cake. This is the perfect celebration chocolate cake recipe for special occasions!
We Love German this Chocolate Cake Recipe
It’s no secret that I love German’s chocolate desserts! German Chocolate brownies… German chocolate cheesecake… and German Chocolate pie all have a home in my heart, and on this website. Now it’s time to share my favorite German Chocolate Cake recipe. It has super moist chocolate cake layers and the best coconut pecan frosting… and looks wise it’s a total stunner!
This German chocolate cake recipe is perfect for birthday parties or holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or for any day you’re craving chocolate, coconut, and pecans and want to bake a giant cake!
What is German Chocolate Cake?
- German chocolate cake is NOT a German dessert! Read more about this in my “where was German chocolate cake invented?” section below.
- German chocolate cake traditionally uses German’s sweet chocolate, creating a mild and sweet chocolate flavor profile. This cake is an ode to the traditional recipe, but has my own unique spin on it.
- My version of has coconut pecan frosting inside and on top of the cake. This makes it a sweet cake! If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll love this cake.
- This cake also features German chocolate frosting on the sides of the cake. Leave it plain or press chopped pecans around the side of the cake.
- For an extra fancy cake, pipe some of the frosting around the top of the cake, then press whole pecans on top. I do this if I’m making the cake for a special celebration like Father’s Day or my husbands birthday.
Where was German Chocolate Cake Invented?
- Spoiler alert: German chocolate cake was NOT invented in Germany! That’s right. German chocolate cake isn’t a German dessert.
- German chocolate dates back to the 1850s. A baker named Samuel German created this sweet baking chocolate. They named the chocolate in his honor.
- Close to a century later, German Chocolate cake was created! In 1957, a Dallas resident, named Mrs. George Clay, submitted her recipe to a newspaper, and the rest they say, is history. The newspaper published her recipe and it’s been growing in popularity ever since!
German Chocolate Cake Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar: You’ll need granulated sugar and light brown sugar. This recipe contain a lot of sugar, but makes a huge cake!
- Flour: All-purpose is the only flour I recommend. 1 for 1 GF flour sub may work, but experiment at your own risk.
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened natural cocoa works best for this recipe. I don’t suggest using Dutch-process cocoa powder. Sift the cocoa powder before use!
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Our leaving agents. You need both for the perfect balance!
- Salt: Balances flavors and sweetness; don’t worry, it won’t make your cake taste salty.
- Eggs: This recipe uses whole eggs and egg yolks. Make sure eggs and yolks are at room temperature before baking.
- Coconut Milk: Use the thick Thai-style coconut milk found in a can. Whisk it well before use.
- Sour Cream: Use full-fat and bring to room temperature. If you can’t find sour cream, full-fat plain Greek yogurt is a good substitute.
- Coconut Oil: Using unrefined coconut oil adds a delightful coconut flavor to the chocolate cake. In a pinch, an equal amount of canola oil or vegetable oil will work.
- Vanilla: As always, pure vanilla extract will give you the best flavor. Avoid artificial or imitation vanilla extract.
- Coffee: Hot coffee adds great flavor, but an equal amount of freshly boiled water will work.
- Evaporated Milk: I do not suggest using regular milk as a substitute! In a pinch, half and half will work. But for best results, stick to the recipe.
- Coconut: You’ll want the sweetened shredded coconut variety! If you use flaked coconut or finely shredded, it’ll dramatically change the texture of the coconut pecan frosting.
- Pecans: Nuts easily go stale or worse… rancid, so make sure your nuts are fresh before use. You’ll want to have enough chopped pecans to make the frosting, and decorate the cake.
- Chocolate: German’s sweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate give our frosting rich chocolate flavor, without making it overwhelmingly sweet. Make sure you cool the melted chocolate until it’s tepid!
- Butter: Unsalted butter works best, but salted will work in a pinch. Soften it to room temperature before using! But don’t use melted butter.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Aka powdered sugar. Use the amount called for, but don’t be scared to add a bit more if needed to reach the desired frosting consistency.
How to Make German Chocolate Cake
- Oven Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 at least 30 minutes before you plan on baking.
- Prep Cake Pans: Use parchment paper rounds to line your cake pans! Be sure to spray each pan generously with nonstick baking spray.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the sugars, all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking power, baking soda, and salt. Use an extra large bowl here!
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate large bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients. Add coffee and chocolate and mix unti combined.
- Bake Cake Layers: They’ll take about 26 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven. Pull the cake pans when a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake layer comes out clean.
- Cool Cake Layers: Cool in the cake pans for 10 minutes. Then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Don’t attempt to trim the cake layers or frost until the cakes have cooled completely.
Coconut Pecan Filling and Chocolate Frosting
- Make the filling first. It needs to cool completely, which takes about an hour.
- You need to stir the coconut pecan frosting constantly! This takes patience and elbow grease, but is 100% worth it.
- To make the filling, combine the brown sugar, butter, egg yolks, and evaporated milk. Cook until the mixture thickens, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, coconut and pecans. COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE USE!
- I suggest making the frosting while the cake layers cool. But you can make it three hours before use. Do not refrigerate the filling or frosting.
- You’ll need a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, so have one on hand.
- If you can’t find German chocolate for the frosting, use semi-sweet chocolate instead.
Assemble the Cake Layers
- Use a long serrated knife to level each cake layer. Flat cakes are not only easier to stack, but easier to decorate. If you don’t level, your cake will be lopsided and may collapse.
- You’ll be stuffing the cake layers with the coconut pecan frosting ONLY. The chocolate frosting goes on the outside. So you’ll place one cake layer on a serving plate, spread some of the coconut pecan frosting on top, then top it with another cake layer. Then repeat.
- For the frosting, you’ll need a large piping bag with an open star tip. You’ll scrape about 1 cup of the chocolate fudge frosting into the bag, which you’ll use for piping.
- You’ll want to use an angled cake spatula to spread the remaining chocolate frosting around the sides of the cake.
- Finally, you’ll pipe stars of the reserved frosting around the edge of the top of cake. Have about a 1/2 cup of pecans handy here, so you can use them to decorate the piped stars.
Triple Layer German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (298 g) granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (319 g) light brown sugar packed
- 2 and 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 and 3/4 cups (149 g) unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340 ml) Thai-style coconut milk well combined
- 1/3 cup (76 g) full-fat sour cream room temperature
- 3/4 cup (170 ml) unrefined coconut oil melted and slightly cooled
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340 ml) freshly made hot coffee
- 2 ounces (57 g) German's sweet chocolate finely chopped
For the Coconut Pecan Filling:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340 ml) evaporated milk well shaken
- 1 and 1/2 cups (319 g) light brown sugar packed
- 6 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter cut into tablespoons
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (215 g) sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 and 1/2 cups (171 g) pecans toasted and roughly chopped
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- 6 ounces (171 g) German's sweet chocolate roughly chopped
- 4 ounces (113 g) unsweetened chocolate roughly chopped
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 and 3/4 cups (426 g) confectioners' sugar sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pecans for decorating
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°(F). Cut out three 9-inch round segments of parchment paper to line your cake pans with. Spray each pan generously – sides and bottom – with nonstick baking spray, then place the parchment paper cut out in the bottom of the pans and spray again. It's important to make sure every bit of pan and paper are sprayed so your cakes don't get stuck. Set pans aside.
- In a large bowl, combine both sugars, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; mix until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- In a separate large bowl combine the eggs, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla extract; mix until completely combined. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- In a large spouted measuring cup, combine the hot coffee and German chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Pour the hot water mixture into the batter and mix until completely combined; about 1 minute. The batter will be quite thin.
- Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 28 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
- Cool cakes for 10 minutes in the pan before removing from pans and transferring to a cooling rack. Cool cakes completely before frosting.
For the Coconut Pecan Filling:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, and butter.
- Cook over medium-heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until mixture is bubbling and very thick. Reduce to heat and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the coconut and pecans. Cool completely before use.
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- Place both chocolates in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave, on low power, in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment, until the chocolate is completely smooth and melted. You may also do this in a double-boiler. Set aside and cool until tepid.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter until completely smooth.
- On low speed, add in the confectioners' sugar, a little bit at a time, beating until each addition has been completely incorporated into the butter before adding more. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes.
- Decrease the speed back to low and beat in the vanilla extract. Then slowly pour in the cooled melted chocolate and continue mixing until well combined, tuning the mixer off and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Once all of the chocolate has been added, increase the speed back to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes. Set aside for 30 minutes to firm up, or up to 3 hours. Do not refrigerate (the chocolate will seize and render the frosting impossible to spread).
Assembly:
- Using a long serrated knife, slice off the domed top on each cake layer, so that the cakes are flat.
- Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Spread 1/3 of the coconut pecan filling on top, spreading it into a thin layer. Top with the second cake layer. Top with another 1/3 of the coconut pecan filling, spreading it into a thin layer. Top with the final layer, repeating with the final 1/3 of coconut pecan filling.
- Fit a large piping bag with an open star tip. Scrape 1 cup of the chocolate fudge frosting into the bag.
- Spread the remaining frosting around the sides of the cake. Pipe stars of the fudge frosting around the edge of the cake. Top each piped star with a toasted pecan.
Michelle says
100% the best German chocolate cake I’ve made! It’s a huge cake and took me a full day. But it was worth it.
Reigna says
I made this for my dad’s birthday and he loved it. In fact he said it’s my “best cake yet” and I bake a lot of cakes.
Dell says
Fantastic cake! Made it over two days which made the work a lot easier.
Donna KL says
Worth the effort! I really enjoyed the cake and thought the flavors and sweetness were perfectly balanced.
JL says
How do you store this cake?
Ashlee Purdie says
hi there! we love this recipe, and I was wondering if we could use white chocolate in the frosting instead of German and unsweet?
Melissa says
Just like a German chocolate cake should taste! So moist and flavorful. Just perfect!