German Chocolate Cake

single slice of cake with coconut frosting on plate

5 from 3 votes

German Chocolate Cake is a rich and indulgent dessert with layers of moist chocolate cake and a luscious coconut pecan frosting! The combination of sweet, gooey coconut pecan filling and decadent chocolate cake layers make this a gorgeous chocolate cake perfect for any special occasion.

Prep Time25

Cook Time30

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, German

Servings: servings

Author: Tiffany Azure

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake

1 ¾ cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tbsp baking powder
½ tbsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup oil
½ tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
¼ cup boiling water

For the Pecan Coconut Frosting

2 tbsp butter
2 egg yolks
1 cup 2% milk
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
½ tsp salt
½ tbsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut rum optional
2 cups shredded coconut
1 ½ cups toasted pecans chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F and prep two 8 inch cake tins with cooking spray and baking parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
In another bowl or a large jug, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and the eggs until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and whisk until you have a thick batter.
Add the boiling water and whisk into the cake batter before dividing it between the two tins - use a pair of kitchen scales if you have them to get even layers.
Gently lift each tin a few inches off the countertop and drop them back down a few times to knock out any air bubbles before baking for 30 minutes, or until the cakes are set and the tip of a sharp knife or a cocktail skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
While you are baking and cooling the cakes, make the frosting. First, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium high heat until it is nutty and brown. Remove from the heat to cool.
In another, much larger saucepan, add the egg yolks and gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Then whisk in the sugars, heavy cream, salt, and cooled brown butter.
Set the pan over a medium heat and cook, whisking almost constantly once the mixture has started to warm until it has thickened, and you’ve started to see a few bubbles. It is ready if it coats the back of a spoon, but whatever you do don’t let it boil!
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and coconut rum, if using. Switch to a spatula, and fold in the coconut and chopped pecans. Set aside - it will thicken once it has cooled.
Once the cakes have reached room temperature and the frosting has thickened, using a large bread knife or a cake leveller, split each layer in two, and sandwich each together with 1/4 of the frosting, leaving the remaining frosting to decorate the top of the cake.

Notes

This cake will keep in an air-tight container for up to 3 days, though the cake layers can be baked a day ahead or even frozen for up to 3 months before splitting.
For a less rustic finish, you can finish the sides of this cake with ganache. (Ganache on cakes makes them look nice and taste great! For an example check out my Cherry Chip Cake.) Make up a double quantity before assembling the cake, and allow it to cool enough to pipe. Pipe a boarder around each layer before adding the coconut pecan frosting as a filling, pipe stars around the top edge before adding the main frosting in the middle, and smooth the sides with the remaining ganache.

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