Bake
Extra Chocolatey German Chocolate Cake
Popular on Food52
40 Reviews
Smaug
January 19, 2021
If nothing else, this recipe inspired me to make the real thing. Surprisingly, I had to do some searching for the recipe- the current box just has the cupcake recipe, and the internet is full of "improved" versions- some kindly blogger posted the original (a xerox of an old Baker's chocolate box, actually). I very seldom make anything that sweet, but occasionally you have to have a pecan pie, or caramel or butterscotch, or German's chocolate cake. The rest of that sweetened coconut will likely die in captivity, and the toll in eggs and butter was not inconsiderable, but worth it- like most classic recipes, it really is much more than the sum of its parts.
Jessie S.
January 19, 2021
great to hear! glad you were able to track down the original recipe and that you enjoyed.
Mrs W.
December 30, 2020
My husband requested this cake for his birthday and I made it today after narrowing my selection to this recipe. We enjoyed making it together. I have only had German's chocolate cake once many years ago, made from a box I'm sure and only remember the coconut in the filling. He has had it several times and never with frosting. I am not a baker but found this recipe super easy to follow AND absolutely delicious. Due to my lack of experience, the cake layers were not consistent in size and it seemed to me that something like a spring form pan or no parchment might have made the layers smoother. Also, because of a nut allergy of someone we wanted to share it with, we left the pecans to add later. Thank you for this. We loved making it together and nearly ate it deconstructed, sooo luxe!
Jessie S.
December 30, 2020
Yay! So glad u found the cake easy and delicious. That makes my day!!!! XO
Cassandra B.
December 15, 2020
I personally think this recipe sounds like the bomb! I've always loved German Chocolate cake, but mostly for the coconut-pecan topping. You've added enough chocolate to make it a real chocolate cake :) My only issue is that I prefer smaller cakes...I might try to scale this one down for a single layer.
Smaug
December 15, 2020
Not really difficult; also, I believe the German's chocolate package gives a recipe for cupcakes.
Smaug
January 19, 2021
PS- if you have a couple of 7" pans, half the recipe will make a 7" two layer cake.
Rose F.
December 13, 2020
Question: is the cake recipe for one cake or for all three cakes?
Jessie S.
December 13, 2020
hmmm . . . did you read the recipe? forgive me if it was not clear, but the recipe calls for preparing three cake pans and then pouring batter into three pans . . . which means yes! the recipe makes all three layers!
Rose F.
December 23, 2020
Instead of asking if I read the recipe you could've just answered my question. You can't control peoples' reading experiences and I'm kind of astonished that you responded to my very simple question in that way. Clearly I did not read the recipe fully. No need to be rude. I only have two cake pans, so when I first looked at the recipe that was immediately on my mind. Try to understand where people are coming from. Thank you for eventually answering my question in your response. Your cake looks delicious.
Rose F.
December 23, 2020
My response was deleted! Thanks food52! Rude, middle-aged recipe writers get to continue their reign! Love that!
Jessie S.
December 23, 2020
gosh! i am so sorry. i did not mean to be rude at all - i was just asking - as a recipe writer you want to make sure your recipes are super clear and if what i had written that you had read was confusing, i wanted to change it!! am so sorry you were offended. not my intention at all. and thank you re: the cake looking delicious. that means a lot.
Jessie S.
December 23, 2020
i am so sorry about your response being deleted - but if i am the rude middle aged recipe writer, i want you to know it was not me!
Sinamen78
January 18, 2021
I didn’t have 3 pans either so I bought three 8 -8 1/2” foil pans and it worked out great.
Sinamen78
January 18, 2021
Cake was excellent. Could easily have halved the chocolate frosting recipe. Had a lot left but will use it for something else. Delicious!!
Jessie S.
January 18, 2021
yes - there is a lot of frosting (i'm kind of a frosting fanatic 🤷‍♀️
Paula F.
December 12, 2020
German chocolate cake made from scratch does not look like that
Jessie S.
December 12, 2020
Really? Hmmm . . . All of the components are homemade (ie:from scratch) - how is it supposed to look?
Jessie S.
December 13, 2020
I actually think the cake looks great! i did not style it, but i love what the food52 team did
Smaug
December 14, 2020
Looks unusual to me, too, because I've never seen a German's chocolate cake with chocolate frosting; generally the filling and frosting are the same coconut mixture. People will tinker, though- my mother couldn't stand coconut and used chopped pecans instead, and it was really good. German's chocolate (made by Baker's, which is no doubt now part of some huge conglomerate) is still available. As I recall it's pretty sweet- about 56%, I think.
Jessie S.
December 14, 2020
when developing the recipe, the research that i did revealed that a lot of folks actually DO lightly frost german chocolate cakes and so i decided to do that as well. as for the traditional, slightly gooey, german chocolate coconut pecan filling, the cake is filled with it and topped with it as well . . .
Prathima
December 14, 2020
I was scouring the web for a german chocolate cake recipe two weeks ago and found the same to be true. Some frost the sides with choc buttercream, and some don't. This filling seems to be universal -- and the evaporated milk improves the browning of the topping. Doesn't look like the cake I grew up with, because that one came from a Duncan Hines box, and we we only had a sheet pan. Seems strange to think there is one definitive recipe, as I'm sure no one wants to go back to what was actually printed on that box 100 years ago.
Jessie S.
December 14, 2020
agreed! i enjoy seeing how people have played with the recipe over the years and honestly love the addition of the frosting and the fact that i can add it to my recipe and yet still to be true to a beloved chocolate classic.
Smaug
December 14, 2020
No doubt- it's largely tilting at windmills (which can be more fun than you might think), but I do wish that when people come up with a new recipe they'd come up with a new name too. I understand that it's easier to market a familiar name, but it leads to a sort of semantic entropy that seems irreversible. At this point, "Beef Stroganoff" can be anything from a stew to a stir fry, "chili" can be pretty much anything red in a bowl, "pizza" can be anything flat, "Key Lime Pie" can be any sort of dessert with any kind of lime in it... This is not expanding or in any way improving the language, it's simply sending meanings to a vanishing point.
Jessie S.
December 23, 2020
when developing the recipe, the research that i did revealed that a lot of folks actually DO lightly frost german chocolate cakes and so i decided to do that as well. as for the traditional, slightly gooey, german chocolate coconut pecan filling, the cake is filled with it and topped with it as well . . .
Jessie S.
December 23, 2020
agreed Prathima! agreed! i enjoy seeing how people have played with the recipe over the years and honestly love the addition of the frosting and the fact that i can add it to my recipe and yet still to be true to a beloved chocolate classic.
Smaug
December 23, 2020
But it's not being true to a beloved chocolate classic. Unlike most well known dishes, German's chocolate cake is a very specific recipe from a very specific, known source. Pretty much everything in the arts, including cooking, is stolen from somewhere, and there's no reason why you can't steal the coconut frosting- which is pretty unique- and use it on a different cake. But different cake it is.
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