This variation of German’s chocolate cake has a gooey coconut and toasted pecan filling, a dark and super-moist chocolate cake, and deliciously creamy chocolate buttercream on top!
German’s chocolate cake, traditionally made with sweet baking chocolate and originated back in the 1850s by chocolate maker Samuel German, is known to be unapologetically decadent and indulgent.
Upgraded German Chocolate Cake
My variation of German chocolate cake is a bit different from the traditional. It’s still unapologetically decadent and indulgent, but it starts with my favorite super-moist darker chocolate cake. We’ll use a coconut pecan filling enhanced with toasted pecans and top her off with chocolate buttercream, coconut, and more toasted pecans.
German chocolate cake has been a highly requested cake recipe, so I’m thrilled to finally share this version. I decorated it naked cake style. I love seeing that coconut pecan filling peeking out!
How to Make German Chocolate Cake
There are 3 parts to German chocolate cake. Let’s discuss all 3 so you feel prepared and confident when you try it.
1. CAKE
If you’ve tried my tuxedo cake, black forest cake, chocolate raspberry cake, or regular chocolate cake then you are familiar with the cake itself. It’s simply my favorite chocolate cake recipe. Sour cream, oil, eggs, and buttermilk keep it extremely moist. Cocoa powder supplies all our chocolate flavor, which is enhanced with a little espresso powder. The espresso powder is optional if you don’t keep any. You’ll also need hot liquid to properly dissolve and bloom the cocoa power. You can use hot water or hot coffee. The cake won’t taste like coffee, I promise, but the chocolate flavor will certainly be deep and divine! An upgrade, if you will.
Speaking of cocoa, make sure you’re using natural unsweetened cocoa and not dutch-process. Remember the difference between dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder?
2. COCONUT PECAN FILLING
While the chocolate cake is fantastic, the coconut pecan filling is the star of the show. It’s thick, crunchy, gooey, chewy, and sweet all in one. It’s made from the best ingredients baking has to offer, so you know you’re in for a treat:
- butter
- brown sugar
- egg yolks
- vanilla
- pecans
- coconut
You also need evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk. The two are often mistaken. Evaporated milk is typically sold in a can in the baking aisle. Evaporated milk is unsweetened condensed milk. You need 1 cup or 8 ounces. You can also use half-and-half. Whole milk is too thin and heavy cream is too thick. Stick to evaporated milk or half-and-half.
Here’s how you prepare the coconut pecan filling: the butter, brown sugar, egg yolks, and evaporated milk are cooked together on the stove until thickened. The egg yolks are heated enough to safely consume, but you can always use a thermometer to be certain. To avoid scrambling the eggs, make sure you cook on medium heat and constantly whisk the mixture.
3. CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM
I used my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe to frost the top. The filling is pretty sweet, so I didn’t want to overdo it with frosting. (And naked cakes are pretty!) This chocolate buttercream is thick, creamy, and spreads beautifully. The chocolate buttercream recipe was more than enough for the top, but if you want to frost the top AND sides of the cake, use the ratios from this marble cake. They taste identical.
Will the cake dry out if the sides aren’t frosted? Overtime, yes. But this cake is so moist, especially with the gooey coconut pecan filling, that it’ll take awhile to taste even a smidge dry! If you’re still a little nervous about it drying out, give the sides a light swipe of frosting.
This is not technically “German chocolate cake” since it’s not made with sweet German chocolate. (Don’t be mad at me, cake police!) But it has an ooey gooey coconut + toasted pecan filling, a deep dark chocolate cake, and the perfect amount of creamy chocolate buttercream on top. Definitely an upgrade if you ask me!
Upgraded German Chocolate Cake
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 10-12; 2.5 cups filling
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This show stopping German chocolate cake has a gooey coconut and toasted pecan filling, a dark and super-moist chocolate cake, and deliciously creamy chocolate buttercream on top!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 3/4 cup (62g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) canola or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (180g) full fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) hot water or coffee*
Coconut Pecan Filling
- 1/2 cup (1 stick; 115g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 can (8 ounces; 240ml) evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup (125g) chopped pecans
Frosting
- use this chocolate buttercream for a naked-style cake
- use this chocolate buttercream for frosting the top and sides
- optional for garnish: extra toasted pecans and sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder (if using) together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you can use a whisk) mix the oil, eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot water or coffee, and whisk or beat it all until the batter is completely combined.
- Divide batter evenly between 3 pans. Bake for 21-25 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely in the pan.
- As the cakes cool, prepare the coconut pecan filling so it can cool and be ready at the same time. Combine butter, brown sugar, egg yolks, and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk occasionally as the mixture comes to a low boil. Once boiling, whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, toasted pecans, and coconut. Allow to cool completely before layering in cake. It will thicken even more as it cools.
- Assemble and frost: First, level the cakes if needed: using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with 1/2 of the coconut pecan filling (half is about 1 and 1/4 cups). Top with 2nd layer and evenly cover the top with remaining coconut pecan filling. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the chocolate buttercream into a thick layer on top. Garnish with extra toasted pecans and coconut, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before slicing or else the cake may gently fall apart as you cut.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare cake through step 4. Wrap the individual baked cake layers tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature, make the coconut pecan filling and frosting, assemble/frost, and serve. You can also prepare the coconut pecan filling and chocolate buttercream in advance. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring both to room temperature before using. Frosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature or serve cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-Inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Cake Stand or Cake Turntable | Icing Spatula
- Why Room Temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about the importance of room temperature ingredients. Instead of sour cream, try using plain yogurt. The cake won’t taste as rich, but it’s a fine substitution.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY version of buttermilk if needed. Add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1/2 cup. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Espresso Powder / Coffee: Espresso powder and coffee will not make the chocolate taste like coffee. Rather, they deepen the chocolate flavor. I highly recommend them both. If coffee isn’t your thing, you can leave out the espresso powder and use boiling hot water instead of the hot coffee.
- Pecans: Toasting the pecans is a major upgrade and I highly suggest it! Let them toast in the oven as you whisk together the filling on the stove (step 5). Simply toast for 8 minutes at 300°F (149°C). Then can be warm when stirred into the filling.
- Eggs: If you’re concerned about consuming any raw egg yolks, use a candy/oil thermometer and make sure the mixture is cooked to 160°F (71°C). If you notice any cooked egg bits, you can run it through a strainer.
- 9×13 Cake: You can bake this cake as a 9×13 sheet cake instead. Top with coconut pecan filling, no need for the chocolate buttercream! The cake will take 35-40 minutes at 350°F (177°C).
- Cupcakes: Use this coconut pecan filling to fill a batch of baked and cooled super moist chocolate cupcakes. Half of the filling should be plenty, so you can halve the filling recipe or make the full filling recipe and freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. You can frost with chocolate buttercream. For filling baked cupcakes, we usually cut a hole in the center and add the filling. If needed for a visual, you can watch me do this in the video for these sugar plum fairy cupcakes.
I have made this recipe about 7 times it is amazing but when I made it tonight I put the parchment paper in the bottom of pans and greased it like always but for some reason every layer fell apart when stacking it? Any idea what I may have done wrong? The only thing I think I done different was scooped the sour cream with the measuring cup instead of spooning and leveling not sure if it was just so moist? Please help I’m nervous to make again I dont want to mess it up
Hi Sally, What would you suggest doing if I only have two 9 inch round pans? I know I could make some cupcakes with the extra, but what would you think of cutting the recipe by 1/3? Do you think everything would be OK and it wouldn’t mess up with the rise or texture? So excited to make this, thanks!
Hi Meaghan! You can squeeze this batter into 2 9-inch pans (I do it with my triple chocolate cake). The bake time will be a little longer.
Holy sh this is the ultimate cake! I made this for my dads birthday as he is a die hard German chocolate cake lover and requests it every year on his special day. He said he has NEVER had a cake more delicious and the only problem was I’m going to have to make it for him every year!! The only adjustment I made to the recipe was making your delicious chocolate buttercream with only 3 cups of powdered sugar, and using espresso in place of coffee in the cake since I didn’t have granules. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Sally; I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. It will be enjoyed for many years to come!!
Dear Sally,
I’ve recently discovered your website and now don’t look anywhere else
I love the reviews this cake is getting and want to make it for my friend’s bday. Snag is she just does not like coconut. Will this work cake with any other filling? Maybe buttercream in between and ganache on top?
She does like pecan nuts, so suggestions for any other pecan filling will be very welcome.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Hi JJ, I’m thrilled you recently found our site and have been enjoying our recipes! You could certainly make this cake without the coconut pecan filling and instead layer with chocolate buttercream and top ganache. She might also enjoy our dark chocolate mousse cake or our triple chocolate cake– one of the most popular cake recipes on our website. Let us know what you end up making!
I ended up making the chocolate cake with sour cream version. Layered it with a raspberry white chocolate ganache and topped with dark chocolate ganache.
Cake was decadent and moist.
Thanks again for all your recipes.
Delicious!
This recipe was AMAZINGGG. It came out so good. This is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had.
My husband and I have looked and researched many German Chocolate Cake recipes, and came across this one with consistently good reviews. So, we thought to give this a try as a Birthday cake. We prepared the cake (with coffee and espresso powder), frosting (the recommended chocolate buttercream for frosting the top and sides) and icing following the Make Ahead Instructions on a Sunday, and assembled the cake together the following Thursday. We couldn’t resist tasting a little bit of everything after it was prepared (as a good baker would do ;-)). I gotta say, this recipe not only created a cake that stayed moist – in the fridge – for four days, but it was hands-down the BEST German Chocolate Cake we’ve ever had (and we’ve had our share!). The recipe was easy to follow, and the cake came out beautifully inside and out. This is now our go-to German Chocolate Cake, and look forward to using this recipe (and enjoy eating the cake) again and again!
Curious why you suggest two different icing recipes if naked v. covered?
Hi Beth, The quantity/yield is different. You will want more frosting if covering the entire cake and less frosting if decorating it naked style.
Hi, I’m a little confused on the note about cupcakes. Do you recommend slicing them in half or cutting a hole in the middle to fill? (or am I completely missing what the instructions mean?)
Hi Lauren, For filling cupcakes we usually cut a hole in the center and add the filling. You can watch Sally do this in the video towards the end of the post for these cupcakes. If you are using this filling recipe to fill one batch of cupcakes instead of a whole cake, you can make only half of this recipe so that you don’t have leftovers. I hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it for my father-in-law’s 80th birthday. Made the naked chocolate butter cream version. It was a hit!! Perfect!
Hello,
I’d like to use unsweetened coconut. Will it make much of a difference?
Thank you!
Hi Isabella, Unsweetened coconut is ok – the filling is plenty sweet already!
Is there any reason you use AP flour for this instead of cake flour? I love your recipes so much!
Yes there is! 🙂 This cake already has cocoa powder— which is a VERY fine dry ingredient. The combination of cake flour and cocoa powder usually results in a flimsy cake. We typically use cake flour in vanilla cakes.
Ahhhh…….thank you very much! Makes perfect sense! And, this cake needs nothing to improve it. IT IS OUTSTANDING!!!!!
1 quick question…..what would whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks, and folding it into the cake batter do? Absolutely love the recipe, just curious what would happen.
Hi Kevin, I do this for my red velvet cake and yellow cake recipes. It creates a lighter crumb. But this chocolate cake doesn’t need it because cocoa powder keeps the crumb extra light and spongey. The cake would be very fragile using whipped egg whites.
I wish I could share a picture of my cake here. It’s so beautiful. I left it naked, put the coconut and pecans on top for decoration, piped some additional frosting around the edges on top and bottom. Only tweak I needed in the recipe was 2-3 additional tbsp heavy cream. Delicious!
I gave not made this yet but plan to in a couple of days. I only have 9 by 1.5” pans. Will the batter overflow? Should I put less batter in and use some for cupcakes?
Hi Sue, Fill your pans 2/3 full to give your cake room to rise (and if they are thinner layers the bake time will be less). If you have leftover batter then yes, you can make a couple of cupcakes with it!
Instead of sour cream, can I use full-fat plain Greek yogurt? German chocolate is my Dad’s favorite and I am planning on making it for him this weekend!!
Hi Melanie, Instead of sour cream, try using plain Greek yogurt. The cake won’t taste as rich, but it’s a fine substitution. Happy birthday to your dad, I hope he loves it!
Hi Sally-
I’d like to make a 6″ version of this cake. I read in another post that using any of your cupcake recipes yields the perfect amount of batter for a 6″ cake. Should I use the batter from your “super moist chocolate cupcakes” recipe?
Hi Sairey, Yes, you can use my chocolate cupcakes and chocolate buttercream recipes. That batter fits perfectly into three 6-inch pans. Follow that chocolate cupcake batter recipe and my instructions here.
You will have leftover coconut pecan filling.
I loved this cale and the German chocolate cake was so good!! My cakes actually fell in the middle but it was still good and we cover it with frosting and coconut and pecan. Yum!! Sally, could you tell me a reason why they fell? I did only use two pans and I split the cake batter evenly. I used all room temp. Ingredients… have no idea why it fell…
Hi Rhea! Since this batter is so thin, the cakes may sink a little– that’s completely normal. However, they also could have been under-baked. A couple extra minutes in the oven will be helpful if you ever try it again!
This is the best German chocolate cake ever! My family can’t get enough of it so I’m constantly making it! You have to try it!
Hi Sally,
This recipe is AMAZING!! I noticed in the comment section you mention using the pecan filling to make cupcakes with your super moist chocolate cake recipe. Have you ever made cupcakes with the Upgraded German Chocolate Cake ingredients, including the coffee and sour cream? If so, would the batter measurements be the same?
Thanks Jen! Yes, I have! You can use this cake batter for cupcakes– you’ll get closer to 2-3 dozen. I recall having quite a bit of coconut pecan filling leftover.
Hi! I noticed the recipe says 1 can (8 oz) of evaporated milk. I can only find 12 oz or 5 oz cans. Should it be 1 full can in 1 of those sizes, or should I just use 8 oz?
Hi Barbara, If you purchase a different size can, you can simply measure out 8 oz.
Hello, if I only have two 6 inch round pan, how should I adjust the ingredients and baking time for two layers 6 inch cake?? Thank you for sharing your recipe and looking forward to try it!
Hi Amelia, You can use my post Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions to help you with your calculations.
I have loved German chocolate cake since I was a child, and this chocolate cake is the absolute best cake I have ever tasted! Even my husband, who isn’t a fan of cake in general, raved about it! I make it for the kids’ birthdays, anniversary and whenever I feel like celebrating!!
My daughter wanted a German Chocolate cake for her birthday so I used this one and it was very delicious. It’s a moist and tasty cake. Most of my baking pans are in storage and the only oven we have at the moment is a toaster oven so I bake my cakes in a cast iron frying pan and it turned out great. The filling is easy to make and since I made everything the day before, I just popped it into the microwave the next day to soften it up for spread-ability. I used the accompanied chocolate buttercream recipe, adding slightly more icing sugar but a great recipe too.
Highly recommend this one and it will go into my files as I have found my go-to chocolate cake. Thanks!
I made this and people loved it! I will definitely keep this one for the books. The perfect cake.
Not too sweet, the filling was great, and the cake was moist.
I made this for husband’s birthday. It was AMAZING. The chocolate cake was so moist and rich, and the filling was just the right sweetness. Definitely will be making this again. FYI that filling, warmed, is amazing over ice cream and I’m sure it will be great over oatmeal too.
Hi Sally!
I want to make this for my husband’s birthday, his favorite nuts are hazelnuts and almonds. Do you think it’s ok to replace the pecan with one of them? Which one do you think might work better with the rest of the ingredients? (Maybe both? :D)
Hope you and your family are safe during these times!
Definitely! As long as you chop either up, they’d be great. Use the same amount, a 1:1 replacement of the pecans. I think hazelnuts would be especially tasty here.
I just made this cake and it came out moist and the filling was great too. I wanted to frost the sides and top so it resembles a German chocolate cake. So I try the your recommended chocolate butter cream only because it was suppose to be fluffy. However, your frosting was way too thick and sweet. I had to add a lot more cream just to thin it out a bit a more salt to cut the sweetness. I normally do not use butter cream frostings because they to thick and too sweet. Next time, I will double the filling recipe and adjust sweetness with salt.
Hi I want to try this recipe but I’m allergic to pecans. Is it ok to substitute with walnuts?
I can’t see why not.