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 Renee, I think traditionally this cake is filled and topped with the coconut pecan frosting, with the sides of the cake unfrosted. It is a matter of personal preference, frosting the entire cake with coconut pecan frosting will be fine. You will need to increase the amount by 1/2 or double the amount.
Hello, So if I use all purpose flour I add 2 tablespoons of flours to the 2 cups
Hi Shanay, you can use all purpose flour, but the cake will be a bit more tender if using cake flour. This is the method for making cake flour: for each cup of flour used, remove 2 Tablespoons of the flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. This recipe has 2 1/2 cups flour so measure out the 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour and remove 5 Tablespoons of the flour and replace with 5 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.....now you are ready proceed with the recipe
Hi I made this cake but I folded in the egg whites and they crusted on top I took it off and the cake is wonderful what did I do wrong please help I have to make another on. I love this and all vidieos so much. Thank you both.
Melissa i'm sorry how I explained I followed the recipe folded my egg whites looked great than after it cooled I had a crust on top of my cake after I took that off the cake tasted great. Do you have any idea what I did wrong, I will make another today and try again. love this site. and you both what a wonderful thing to be able to work with your mother wish I had mine still. You have such a wonderful and easy way of teaching.. I refer back all the time.
Hi Patricia, I am sorry you had a problem. I was not sure what would be causing a crust on the top of a cake layer for this recipe so I did some research. I found one possible cause......a meringue like crust is created by the egg whites when the cake batter is beaten too much after the yolks are added. To avoid this, with the mixer on medium speed blend in the yolks one at a time beating after each just until the yellow from the yolk is blended in. Also, don't over mix when folding in the egg whites. I hope this eliminates the problem. Thank you for your nice comments about the site. I am very happy that I get to work with Melissa every day, we have lots of fun together!!
I need high altitude instructions and I can't find anything on that kraft link you posted about high altitude modifications. I have failed this cake more than I xe
This is my first comment in this board. I need high altitude instructions and I can't find anything on that kraft link you posted about high altitude modifications. I have failed this cake more than once
Hi Alice, Here is the craftsy link,
Once on the site scroll down and you will see the headings: Baking Temperatures and Times also a chart on Adjusting ingredients according to how high the altitude, How to Adjust Leavening agents and others. It will be very helpful to you for high altitude baking. If you have any trouble opening the link, you can do a Google search for high altitude baking craftsy
Hello ladies,
Wonderful recipe, I am going to try this. What can be the best substitute(Brand) for chocolate in this recipe, as we dont have bakers brand here in Aus.
Any suggestion is highly appreciated.
sometimes I use Ghirardelli 100%cacao unsweetened. Hope this works for you
I am using this recipe for a groom’s cake to feed approx 200, so I have made 5 ten-inch round cakes that I will arrange on the table on different levels. I have never made German chocolate cake for a wedding and am getting conflicting information on whether I need to keep the cakes refrigerated prior to serving. The groom wants the cakes entirely frosted with the traditional coconut frosting. Can I frost the cakes the day before the wedding without refrigerating overnight? Thank you