German Chocolate Cake is a classic layered chocolate cake with a rich coconut-pecan frosting (that’s actually what makes it special—not the chocolate cake itself).
🍫 German Chocolate Cake
🧾 Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk (or milk + 1 tbsp vinegar)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot water or coffee
Coconut-Pecan Frosting:
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
- 1 cup chopped pecans
👨🍳 Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F. Grease and line cake pans.
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix well.
- Slowly add hot water/coffee (batter will be thin).
- Pour into pans and bake 30–35 minutes.
- Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- Cook evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, and butter over medium heat.
- Stir until thickened (about 10–12 minutes).
- Remove from heat, add vanilla, coconut, and pecans.
- Let cool until spreadable.
⭐ Tips
- Coffee deepens chocolate flavor (doesn’t taste like coffee)
- Frosting thickens as it cools
- Traditionally, sides are left unfrosted
🧠 Bottom line
Despite the name, German Chocolate Cake is actually American in origin, named after “German’s Sweet Chocolate,” not Germany. The real signature is the sweet coconut-pecan frosting, not the cake itself.
If you want, I can also give you a simplified 30-minute version or a super moist bakery-style version.
