German Chocolate Cake Recipe
This moist German Chocolate Cake has amazing flavor from German chocolate, coconut, and pecans. It is no wonder that has been one of the most popular classic cakes for generations!
The cake layers have the mild, sweet flavor of German Chocolate, and are filled and topped with a decadent pecan and coconut filling. It is heavenly!
If you have never tried German Chocolate Cake, you absolutely must. We even have an easy German Chocolate Cake Mix Recipe!
Table of Contents
Why we Love it
German Chocolate Cake is an old fashioned favorite that feels extra special. It is a treasured classic cake, just as with our Carrot Cake, Italian Cream Cake, and Hummingbird Cake recipes!
- The decadent coconut pecan filling and the mild German Chocolate Cake layers balance each other perfectly.
- This classic cake recipe has been a staple at holiday dessert tables for generations.
- Coconut Pecan Filling and Topping- This is reason enough to make the cake! It is rich, thick, and SO delicious.
- Easy to Decorate- You can choose to frost the sides in chocolate buttercream as we did in today's post, or you can simply leave the sides "naked" as we did for our Easy German Chocolate Cake recipe.
How to Make German Chocolate Cake
One of our favorite things about this German Chocolate Cake recipe is that it actually incorporates melted German Chocolate. Some recipes use plain chocolate layers instead. We love the mild, sweet flavor that German chocolate brings to the recipe!
*See the Full Printable Recipe Card at the Bottom of this Post! Here is a quick look at our steps.
- First, break the German chocolate bar into pieces and place in a bowl.
- Melt the German chocolate by pouring ½ cup boiling water over the chocolate. Let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes to soften then stir until completely melted. Set Aside.
- Next, separate the 4 eggs and beat the egg whites in a small bowl on high speed until stiff peaks form (using the beaters of an electric mixer or a whisk attachment). Set Aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or hand mixer) beat the butter until smooth. Then, add the sugar and beat until fluffy (two to four minutes). Add egg the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Add the melted German chocolate and vanilla and blend.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, two additions of wet). Mix just until incorporated.
- Gently fold and stir in the whipped egg whites and pour into the prepared pans.
- Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then turn out. Cool layers completely and they are ready to fill and frost.
Coconut Pecan Filling
Every German Chocolate Cake needs an amazing coconut and pecan filling! It is thick, flavorful, and simple to make on the stovetop. Here is a quick look at our steps!
- Whisk egg yolks, milk and vanilla in a saucepan until blended. Add sugar and butter and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stir constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and nuts.
- Allow it to cool before spreading on the cake. To speed up the cooling, you can pour into a long casserole dish!
- This German Chocolate filling recipe makes enough to fill and frost three (8 or 9 inch) cake layers. It is very rich so it can be used as a filling and on the top layer, leaving the sides unfrosted.
- For today's cake we filled our cake with coconut pecan filling, frosted the sides with chocolate buttercream, and added additional coconut pecan frosting to the top.
Assembling the German Chocolate Cake
Traditionally, German Chocolate Cakes are filled with their signature coconut & pecan filling, and are unfrosted around the sides (as with our German Chocolate Cake Mix Recipe).
First, place a German Chocolate cake layer on the pedestal and spread it with a layer of the cooled coconut pecan filling. Repeat for the next layer, and top with the third cake layer.
Decorating the German Chocolate Cake
Today, we changed things up a bit & frosted the sides of our German Chocolate Cake with our delicious Chocolate Buttercream Recipe.
We first crumb coated the filled cake with a thin layer of chocolate buttercream, and piped horizontal rows of buttercream shells (piped with a 2D tip), working from the bottom up.
For more details on piping shells, check out our tutorial on the basics of piping with a star tip !
Recipe FAQs
We have many more old fashioned favorite cakes to share with you! You can find them in the Classic Cake Recipes section of our site, as well as in our roundup of favorite classic cakes!
Some of our most popular classic cakes are Italian Cream Cake, Hummingbird Cake, and our Carrot Cake recipe.
Here are just a few more favorites:
We hope that you enjoy this delicious cake recipe! Make sure to check out our full collection of cake recipes from scratch as well as our cake mix recipes!
If you are interested in cake decorating also, we have hundreds of cake decorating tutorials to share with you.
Enjoy the Cake
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
German Chocolate Cake Recipe! {Scratch}
Ingredients
FOR THE GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE LAYERS
- 4 oz (113g) Bakers German Sweet Chocolate Bar
- ½ cup (118g) boiling water
- 4 eggs, separated
- 2 sticks (226g total) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups (285g) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5g) salt
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla
- 1 cup (242g) buttermilk
COCONUT PECAN FILLING/FROSTING
- 1 ½ cups (171g) pecans, chopped
- 2 ⅔ cup (198g) flaked coconut
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter
Classic Chocolate Buttercream (Optional)
- 2 sticks (226g total) unsalted butter, softened 226g unsalted butter, softened (do not soften butter in the microwave)
- 6 cups (796g) confectioners sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder sifted (86 grams) measure then sift
- ⅓ cup (75g) milk
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla
Instructions
For the German Chocolate Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 3 (8 or 9 inch) pans
- Break the chocolate bar into pieces and place in a bowl.
- Melt the chocolate by pouring ½ cup boiling water over the chocolate. Let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes to soften then stir until completely melted. Set Aside.
- Separate the 4 eggs and beat the whites in a small bowl on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set Aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer or hand mixer, mix the butter until smooth then add the sugar and mix until fluffy and light ( 2 to 4 minutes).
- Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and blend.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of flour mixture, two additions of buttermilk mixture), mixing at low speed just until incorporated.
- Gently fold and stir in the egg whites and pour into the prepared pans.
- Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then turn out. Cool layers completely and they are ready to fill and frost. To freeze for later use, cover individually with plastic wrap while still warm to the touch and wrap in aluminum foil. Can be frozen for 2 months.
Coconut Pecan Filling
- Whisk egg yolks, evaporated milk and vanilla in a saucepan until blended.
- Add sugar and butter and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stir constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and nuts. Allow to cool before spreading on the cake.
Classic Chocolate Buttercream
- Add butter and mix on medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter.
- Add confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder. Add most of the milk.
- Begin mixing at low speed until incorporated and then increase to medium speed for about one minute.
- Reduce speed to low and beat an additional two to three minutes, adding remaining milk as needed. Makes approximately 4 cups of frosting.
Hi Sam, I am sorry but I do not remember if there was leftover coconut pecan frosting. Checking our quantity of ingredients with other recipes online that cover the whole cake could help you.
Hi. I tried this recently and it was great. Cake has a mild choc flavor and very moist. I doubled the pecan coconut icing bc I wanted it all over the cake including sides. The consistency was perfect the first day. It was really thick the next (I did refrigerate). If I only used 3 egg yolks (6 with double recipe) will that help it stay smoother longer?
I was curious if partial oil could be used for this cake? It is a great cake - but I do think oil makes it a little moister.
Hi Patty! We really like the recipe just as written, and find it to be very soft & moist. We do have several recipes that call for 1 1/2 sticks butter and 1/4 cup oil, you could likely do something similar here, we just haven't tried it- it would be an experiment ;0).
I made your carrot cake recipe and it is wonderful. I did have to use gluten free flour but still wonderful!! Thx for the great recipe.