German Chocolate Cake always reminds me of my Oma. She was full German, so I grew up thinking that this was one of her “cakes from the old country,” but the German Chocolate Cake actually originated in America. Even still, that was the cake we always had for Oma’s birthday – her favorite. This cake is so nostalgic for me, and I’m so happy to have developed a recipe for it that reminds me so much of what it tasted like as a kid and brings back so many beautiful  memories of Oma. I absolutely love how this cake turned out: 

German Chocolate Cake is traditionally a light chocolate cake with Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting, sometimes coated with a layer of chocolate frosting on the outside. While other chocolate cakes are dense and decadent, this version is much fluffier and light, which really makes the frosting the star of the show. These flavors and textures work so well together that the whole thing just melts in your mouth. 

I will say, this recipe is a marathon to make. You’ll be boiling frosting, melting chocolate, toasting pecans and coconut, separating eggs, and folding whipped egg whites into the cake batter at the end. I recommend reading through the entire recipe before you dive right in. That said, it is entirely worth it! Don’t let the complexity intimidate you – it’s basically just a big sequence of easy steps to get to the end. Once you see your final cake, you’ll be so proud and your tasters will be amazed! 

I could not stop eating the Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting by the spoonful. It was so good. It’s made by boiling together a caramel frosting mixture and then folding in toasted pecans and shredded coconut. When you mix everything together, the frosting will look soupy, but it sets up to be perfectly spreadable once cooled to room temperature. 

You can certainly just frost the Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting between cake layers and leave the sides naked, but I chose to add a little semi-naked finish with Chocolate Buttercream. For this look, you’ll want to pipe a circle of the Chocolate Buttercream around the edges of each cake layer before filling in the circle with Coconut Pecan Caramel frosting. This way, the filling won’t bulge out between your cake layers (here are more details about my methods for filling and stacking cake layers). 

After refrigerating the semi-naked cake, I added more Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting to the top of the cake and piped more Chocolate Buttercream around the top edges with Wilton Tip 1M. Then, I sprinkled toasted coconut and pecans all over the top of the cake and pressed some onto the bottom edge as well. I frosted the thinnest layer of Chocolate Buttercream around the bottom edge to make the toasted coconut and pecans stick. 

Whether you’re already a huge German Chocolate Cake fan or you just like the idea of these flavors together, this cake is sure to satisfy. It’s decadent, has amazing texture from the coconut and pecans, and is just overall a delight to eat. Remember, this is a marathon of a recipe, but so so worth every step. Enjoy!

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German Chocolate Cake

Decadent layers of chocolate cake, coconut pecan caramel frosting, and chocolate buttercream to satisfy any German Chocolate Cake lover.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

German Chocolate Cake

• 3 oz Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 Cup (80ml) hot coffee or water coffee recommended
• 1 2/3 Cups (220g) all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 Cup (180ml) buttermilk, room temperature *DIY recipe in notes
• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups (300g) white granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, separated, room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting

• 1/2 Cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 Cup (100g) white granulated sugar
• 1/4 Cup (95g) packed brown sugar
• 6 Oz evaporated milk
• 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1/3 Cup (75g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 Cup sweetened shredded or flaked coconut
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream

• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 Cups (360g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 Cup (45g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Additional Toppings

• 1/4 Cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 1/4 Cup sweetened shredded or flaked coconut, toasted

Instructions

Make the German Chocolate Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottoms with a wax paper or parchment cake circle. 
• Add about an inch of water into a medium saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Place the chocolate and hot coffee, or water, into a heat safe bowl and place it on top of the simmering saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water in the saucepan. Whisk the chopped chocolate mixture constantly until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is homogenous. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), beat the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and creamy. Add 1 1/4 Cups of the sugar (set aside the remaining 1/4 Cup) and continue to mix on high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. 
• Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs yolks one at a time. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Turn the mixer back to low and add the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until the ingredients start to come together.
• In a separate bowl with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at high speed. Drizzle in the 1/4 cup of the reserved sugar and continue to beat on high for 2 minutes, until soft peaks form. Fold about one Cup of the whipped egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then carefully fold the remaining the egg whites into the batter.
• Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans (be sure to fill the pans no more than 2/3 full) and smooth the tops. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 5 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack or baking sheet to cool for a few more hours. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.

Make the Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting

• Place the chopped pecans into a pan and toast them over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the sugars, evaporated milk, egg yolks, cubed butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to boil and thicken, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the toasted pecans, coconut, and vanilla extract. The frosting will look very soupy at first, but will thicken as it cools. Let cool for about an hour, until room temperature and spreadable.

Make the Chocolate Buttercream

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and turn the mixer to low, then add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Increase the speed to medium and beat for two full minutes.

Assembly

• Once the cakes are fully cooled, torte each layer to level the tops. Fill a piping bag with Chocolate Buttercream and snip off about 1/2 inch opening. Starting with the bottom layer, pipe a circle of Chocolate Buttercream around the edge of the top and fill the inside with Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting. Add the next cake layer on top and repeat the process of piping the Chocolate Buttercream circle and filling it in with Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting. Add the final cake layer, upside down, on top. If you need it, here's a tutorial on this method of filling and stacking cake layers.
• Frost a thin layer of Chocolate buttercream all over the cake, smoothing the sides and top to create a semi-naked finish. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to let the frosting firm up a bit.
• Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M and fill it with the remaining Chocolate Buttercream. Pipe swirls all around the top of the cake, then fill in the center with Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting. Generously sprinkle the top with toasted pecans and coconut flakes. Frost a very thin line of Chocolate Buttercream around the bottom edge of the cake and press more toasted pecans and coconut flakes onto it.

Notes

*DIY Buttermilk Recipe: For every Cup of buttermilk you need, add 1 Tbsp white vinegar to a measuring cup, top it off with whole milk to bring the measurement to 1 Cup. Stir and set aside for 15 minutes before using in a recipe. In the case of this recipe, you’ll need 3/4 Tbsp white vinegar topped off with whole milk to bring the total measurement to 3/4 Cup. 

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The German Chocolate Cake layers can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and stored at room temperature for up to two days ahead of decorating. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and frosting. 
2. The Coconut Pecan Caramel Frosting can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature so that it’s spreadable consistency. 
3. The Chocolate Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency. 
4. The fully assembled and decorated can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerated for 4-5 days. If you do choose to refrigerate your decorated cake, bring it back to room temperature before eating. 

 

Did you make this German Chocolate Cake recipe? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram and show me! I love to see what you create.

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One of my favorite things to do in Portland is go meet a friend for Pip’s Doughnuts and Chai. Their tasty mini doughnuts are hands down my favorite in the city and I’ve even topped some birthday cakes with them over the years. When the pandemic forced so many local businesses I love to close up shop, Pip’s did something extraordinary: they adapted by launching a new way to do business, all while keeping the community at the heart of what they do. Instead of serving up doughnuts these days, they’re hard at work bottling their chai concentrate and giving 10% of the profits back to other service businesses in Portland. Not only is their ability to launch Community Chai during these wild times inspiring, but their chai concentrate is incredible.

 It’s more important than ever to support small businesses both creatively and financially, and making #CakesForSmallBiz is one of my favorite ways to do it. So when I saw that Pip’s was bottling their chai concentrate to keep the lights on during this season of uncertainty, I was all in on placing an order. Not only is their chai tasty for drinking, I also thought it would make the perfect cake ingredient (it totally did!). Side note: if you’re looking for a creative way to support your fave small businesses right now, consider making a cake with local ingredients or designing a cake inspired by the businesses you love. They could use all the help right now! 

Let’s talk about this chai concentrate. There are five different blends to choose from and I am a firm believer that any of them would be perfect in this cake recipe (and most definitely tasty for making at-home lattes). I chose the Heart of Gold blend and the flavor profile is just so good. The description: “a smooth blend of toasted coconut, golden turmeric, ginger, grassy sencha green tea, and Assam tea. Brewed with whole coconut flakes, Heart of Gold has a naturally creamy body. The chai we’d drink in a hammock under a palm tree.” Not only did it work perfectly in this cake recipe, I enjoyed this blend in latte-form so much that upon first sip I was ready to place my order for a second bottle! I’m hooked. 

For this cake, I used my Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake recipe as a base and subbed in a mixture of this Heart of Gold concentrate + whole milk (so, basically a latte) to infuse it with these lovely flavors. Spoiler alert: it worked! This Chai Cake is incredibly soft and moist, fragrant (my kitchen smelled amazing), and all of the added spices take the flavor to the next level. Since it’s brewed with whole coconut flakes, pairing this Heart of Gold-infused cake with Coconut Buttercream was only natural. The combination of spicy chai and refreshing coconut are a total match made in chai cake heaven! They truly complete each other.

For decorating this Coconut Chai Cake, I was really inspired by the look of when you pour milk into the chai concentrate and the two colors swirl together. To capture that moment, I tinted some of the Coconut Buttercream a deep brownish orange (using Americolor Chocolate Brown + Orange) to match the color of the chai concentrate, then mixed a few in-between shades and frosted them onto the cake in a messy ombrè design. I used Wilton Tip 4B to create the swirls around the top edge and sprinkled toasted coconut flakes on top (details on how to toast coconut flakes in the recipe notes below). 

You can decorate this cake however you’d like – keep the frosting one color, add toasted coconut to the sides, or create whatever you’re envisioning! One thing is for sure though, this cake is insanely tasty. I have not been able to stop enjoying it, and am quickly finding out that being quarantined with a whole cake while pregnant is a really silly situation to be in (send help!).  
If you’re wanting to make this cake but don’t have access to Community Chai concentrate (it’s only available in Portland), there are substitutions in the recipe notes so you can work with what you’ve got!

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Pip’s “Heart of Gold” Coconut Chai Cake

Layers of spiced Chai Cake infused with delicious golden chai concentrate, paired with refreshing Coconut Buttercream and toasted coconut flakes – a match made in chai cake heaven!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Chai Layer Cake

• 1/2 Cup (120ml) chai concentrate (I'm using Community Chai's Heart of Gold blend)*
• 3/4 Cups (180ml) whole milk
• 2 3/4 Cups (290g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 Cups (358g) granulated white sugar
• 3 whole eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup (112g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Coconut Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pure coconut extract
• 3 Tbsp coconut milk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Make the Chai Layer Cake

• Whisk together the chai concentrate and whole milk. Set aside until it's reached room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
• Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more. 
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the (room temperature!) chai milk mixture slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable. 
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before applying any frosting. 

Make the Coconut Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes. 
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one. 
• Add vanilla extract, coconut extract, coconut milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated. 

Assembly

• Once the Chai Layer Cakes have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Coconut Buttercream. To create the design pictured, tint one cup of buttercream a deep brown-orange with the food color gels of your choice (I used a mix of Americolor Chocolate Brown and Orange). Mix two in-between shades and create a messy ombrè by adding the darkest color on the bottom third of the cake, followed by the second darkest (and so on) until finally adding the uncolored buttercream to the top third and top of the cake. Keep adding and smoothing until you like what you see.
• Pipe swirls of the uncolored buttercream around the top edge of the cake using your favorite piping tip (I used Wilton Tip 4B), then sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes**

Notes

* You may substitute the chai concentrate in this recipe with any other brand, or by steeping one chai tea bag in 1 1/4 Cups (296ml) of boiled whole milk. Either way, make sure the mixture is room temperature before using it in this cake recipe. 

** To make toasted coconut flakes, preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add a single layer of sweetened (or unsweetened) coconut flakes and bake for 5 minutes, stir, then bake for an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown. 

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The Chai Cake layers can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
2. The Coconut Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency. 

Did you make this Coconut Chai Cake recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments below. And if you used Community Chai concentrate in the recipe, be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco and @communitychai on Instagram to show us! We’d love to see your chai cake creations.

The post Pip’s “Heart of Gold” Coconut Chai Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.