The Most Chocolatey German Chocolate Cake
This is the Most Chocolatey German Chocolate Cake! A rich, chocolatey chocolate cake smothered in a gooey coconut, pecan caramel frosting. A showstopper dessert!
Oh my, this cake. It’s a dream. German Chocolate Cake has to be one of my most favourite cakes of all time. I have such nice memories of when my mom would sometimes make this cake for my birthday as a kid. That delicious coconut pecan caramel frosting with chocolate cake…it’s stuck with me forever.
The most chocolatey cake!
You may remember a while back that I shared a recipe for a more subtle German Chocolate Cake, as part of my review of the Bundt Cake Bliss cookbook. While I liked that cake, I didn’t love that it wasn’t more rich in chocolate flavour. I have come to learn since then, that German Chocolate Cakes are supposed to have a lightly flavoured chocolate cake as the base. BUT, I need more chocolate. Rich. Delicious. Chocolate. So I made my own version…this one with my favourite chocolate cake recipe. I’ve been wanting to make this cake forever.
Rich and SO delicious!
The rich chocolate flavour in this cake is a dream with the coconut pecan caramel frosting, especially with the frosting layered inside the cake and smothered all over the top. Yum.
Bundt Pans make the most pretty cakes!
I made this cake as a Bundt cake because I love Bundt cakes so much. I love the pretty pans, the shape the cakes come out, and that they just look and feel special. Even though you can’t see the pretty definition of this particular chocolate cake because you’re smothering it in frosting…it’s still a nice shape for a German Chocolate Cake. But as you can see without the frosting it really is a gorgeous cake.
Beautiful, right? And yummy.
A showstopper cake that’s easy to make!
This cake really is a showstopper. And so good served with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh, and I should also tell you that this cake is even better served the day after you make it…the chocolate cake seems to get more moist and rich in chocolate flavour. For real.
Delicious! I hope you try this recipe and love it as much as we do!
Bundt Cake Baking Tips
If you want more tips on how to make the perfect Bundt cake, including pan preparation, how to get the cake out, and more, make sure to read my Bundt Cake Baking Tips post here.
The Most Chocolatey German Chocolate Cake
This is the Most Chocolatey German Chocolate Cake! A rich, chocolatey chocolate cake smothered in a gooey coconut, pecan caramel frosting. A showstopper dessert!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
Ingredients
Chocolate Bundt Cake:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup Balkan style yogurt (6%, or sour cream)
- 1/4 cup milk (2% or whole)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup strong coffee (warm or cool, NOT hot)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Coconut Pecan Frosting:
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks (slightly beaten)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Prepare a Bundt pan by spraying the inside of the pan with a baking spray containing flour (you can find this spray in the baking aisle at your grocery store). This step is so important if you want your cake to slide out of the pan! Set aside.
- In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the yogurt, milk, eggs, vanilla, coffee and vegetable oil.
- Add the egg mixture to dry ingredients, and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Gently tap the pan on the countertop a few times to remove air bubbles.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- When done, let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing the cake.
- Once your cake has cooled, place a serving plate over the top of the cake, then holding the plate tightly to the pan, invert the cake over and the cake should slide out onto the plate. Gently remove the pan.
Coconut Pecan Frosting:
- To prepare the frosting, whisk together the evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla until creamy and smooth.
- Then in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk until the mixture is thickened. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture should have the consistency of softly thickened caramel…it shouldn’t be too thick. **Make sure to whisk the mixture constantly so the eggs don’t scramble. It’s very important that you do this! Constant whisking until thickened!**
- Once the mixture is thickened, stir in the coconut and chopped pecans.
- Cool until the frosting is thick enough to spread.
Putting the cake together:
- When the cake is cool, slice it horizontally with a serrated knife. Aim a little higher than half way up. See the pictures above for guidance.
- Using 2 hands (you can even get someone to help you), place the top half of the cake onto a plate.
- Spread 1/3 (or more if you want a lot of frosting in the middle) of the frosting on the bottom half and place the top half back on the frosted cake.
- Spread the remaining 2/3 of the frosting on top.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
The frosting recipe is from the cookbook, Bundt Cake Bliss by Susanna Short
Keywords: German chocolate cake, pecan frosting, chocolate cake
Shop for Bundt Pans
Here are some great options for Bundt Pans! Just click on the individual pictures to see them.
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More Bundt Cake Recipes
Chocolate bar marzipan jujubes jelly-o carrot cake caramels. Tootsie roll cookie jujubes powder icing lemon drops. Pastry brownie topping oat cake chocolate cake jelly candy gingerbread tart.
Have a delicious day!
Just finished making this cake and icing. Cake is cooling…looking forward to icing and eating 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe. SUPER easy
D.
★★★★
You are so welcome Dei! I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Jo!
Thanks for this lovely recipe, I found it very easy and delicious! The only comment would be that for me the cake is a bit sweet, but can be fixed with a glass of milk. Amazingly soft, chocolatey and wet texture, I just want to eat the cake for breakfast too!! And the frosting… i could eat this by the spoon! Thanks again for the recipe, will try more of your recipes! 🙂
Andrea
★★★★★
Hi Andrea! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe…a glass of milk definitely goes well with it! 🙂 And I agree with you on the frosting…SO good!
I tried doubling the icing recipe however as the icing is cooking it’s not getting it. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix it?
Hi Melanie! I’m not sure why the icing wouldn’t come together…the only thing I can suggest is to add in some confectioners sugar (in small amounts). The extra sugar should thicken it. You could also add a bit more coconut.
Delicious! I baked this recipe as cupcakes (portion control you know!!) and was a little concerned how thin the batter was. But they turned out great. The icing took longer than I thought but well worth all the whisking. Thanks for this recipe and I look forward to trying it as a bundt cake.
★★★★★
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe Sheryl! I love your idea of making cupcakes…I think I need to try that!
DELICIOUS> I followed on of the suggestions and made cupcakes. Also toasted about half the coconut. Also, used almonds vs pecans, because that’s what I had. I think next time I would also toast the nuts.
★★★★★
Great idea to make cupcakes!
Hello there! I am looking forward to making this recipe! I was curious what kind of coffee you used? When you say strong coffee, should I use espresso?
Hi Maddy! I just use regular coffee!
I am really looking forward to trying this recipe. I can’t tell you how much I love German chocolate cake–the icing is always to die for!
I hope you enjoy it!