For our birthdays growing up, either my mom or grandma made each person a birthday cake from scratch of their choosing. It’s something we all looked forward to because anything either of them made always tasted amazing! My first choice was always German Chocolate Cake. Coincidentally, this is also my mom’s favorite cake. Now that I’m older, the tables have turned and this year I made my mom her favorite cake for her birthday and made a few minor adjustments to the recipe so it would be blog worthy – and huge!
I love German Chocolate Cake because the cake itself is not super dense. It’s made with egg whites which gives it a lighter texture. Then the icing is very decadent and loaded with two of my favorite things – pecans and coconut. All in all a winning combo that’s sure to impress anyone.
This cake can be a little tricky to make, but if you take your time and follow my tips, you will turn a perfect cake out every time. The very first thing I always do when making a layer cake is to line the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper then spray the edges with cooking spray. You CAN butter and flour the whole pan, but using parchment is my fool proof way of making sure that sucker comes out. There’s nothing worse than baking a cake and having it refuse to come out of the pan. Been there done that with guests over… tragic!
The next thing I do is prepare the batter. This has 3 steps – First I melt the chocolate and let it cool slightly to put in the batter. I use Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate that you can find in the baking aisle of any grocery store.
The second step is to prep the egg whites and set aside. I use the whisk attachment of my KitchenAid mixer to do this, then scrape them into a separate bowl and use the mixer for the final stage of putting everything together.
You carefully fold in the egg whites with a spatula as the last step of creating the batter. You want to be as careful as you can so you don’t knock the air out of the egg whites. Be patient and it will work! Then just pop them into your prepared pans!
When they come out of the oven, they should look like this:
Next up is making the frosting. Some people will tell you you need to use a double boiler for this. Not true! You can make it in a saucepan, just be careful and constantly stir the base mixture as it starts to thicken. As long as you don’t let the bottom burn, you’re fine! Here’s what it looks like finished:
Yep, that’s a ton of frosting! This is a huge cake and you don’t want to under-frost it. That’s the best part! Be generous when you frost the layers… you won’t have any frosting leftover if you do it right!
Finish frosting by getting the sides and top.
For additional decoration, I added chocolate buttercream piped at the bottom edge and in dollops on the top. This is totally optional, but if you choose to do so, I used a basic American buttercream recipe made of softened butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, a splash of vanilla, a few tbsp. of milk, and a pinch of salt.
Now sit back, admire your handiwork, and get ready to receive a boat load of compliments on this cake! It’s so delicious, I’m seriously craving it right now as I’m typing this up! This cake is definitely more work than your average cake, but it is 100% worth the effort. The frosting is so rich and the cake layers are so chocolaty, you’ll have trouble just eating one piece!
German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 4 oz Baker's German Sweet Chocolate
- 2 sticks butter (1 cup) softened
- 1/4 cup warm milk
- 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
For the Frosting:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 large egg yolks
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 20 oz sweetened coconut flakes
- 3 cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Line the bottoms only of 3 9" cake pans with circles of parchment paper, then spray the sides with cooking spray, or line with butter and flour. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Prepare the chocolate by melting it in the top of a double boiler, stirring until it is smooth. add 1/4 cup of the butter and stir until it is melted and blended. Add 1/4 cup of warm milk and stir until smooth. Set the chocolate aside to cool.
- Whip the egg whites until stiff using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Transfer the beaten whites to a separate bowl and set aside.
- In the mixer bowl, cream the remaining 1 1/2 sticks of butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg yoks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted, cooled chocolate and the vanilla. Mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients: Cake flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
- With the mixer on very low, stir in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Do this by adding about a third of the flour and slowly stirring it in completely. Then add about half the buttermilk and stir it inches Continue adding flour and buttermilk in this manner, ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir again. With a long handled spoon or spatula, fold and stir the beaten egg whites into the batter until the batter is smooth with no visible clumps of whites.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes. Bake on the middle rack of the oven, allowing at least 1/4" clearance between the pans and the oven walls. The cake will rise above the pan edges as it bakes but will not spill over and will settle back down as it continues to bake. The cake is done when it begins to pull away from the sides of the pans and springs back to a light touch. Cool layers in the pans for about 8 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edges of each pan and turn the layers out onto wire racks that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Cool layers completely before frosting.
- Combine the sugar, egg yolks, and evaporated milk in a large saucepan. Stir with a wire whisk until the yolks are fully incorporated. Add the butter. Cook over medium heat, constantly whisking. Simmer for 12-15 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Add the vanilla, coconut, and nuts. Completely cool the frosting to room temp before putting the cake together!
- Start assembling the cake with a layer of cake, then a layer of frosting until you have the third layer on top. Cover the sides first and be sure to fill the outer edges of the cake. Finally frost the top. Store in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.
