I recently made it to my first weight-loss milestone of ten pounds (see pics here). Then I made this cake for a friend’s birthday the next day. And ate 1/4 of it. By myself!!! Needless to say, I’m a bit leery of the scale right now but my mouth was certainly happy while I chomped down on it.
This cake is a bit involved, even more so than most scratch cakes because it has four different recipes for one end product, but it is well worth the time and effort. Make it for a special occasion. I wouldn’t, however, recommend making it as a reward for losing weight. Unless you lost the weight so that you could eat this cake. I didn’t, but I think the small relapse was worth it. If you can’t tell by the pictures, it is moist and rich and really, really delicious. (More pics after the recipe.)
German Chocolate Cake
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
For the cake:
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons water
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cup + ¼ cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 ounces butter, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted
For the syrup:
1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
For the chocolate icing:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 ½ ounces unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1. Butter two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Melt both chocolates together with the 6 tablespoons of water. Use either a double-boiler or a microwave. Stir until smooth, then set aside until room temperature.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and 1 ¼ cup of the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.
6. In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft, droopy peaks. Beat in the ¼ cup of sugar until stiff.
7. Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there’s no trace of egg white visible.
8. Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool cake layers completely.
While the cakes are baking and cooling, make the filling, syrup, and icing.
To make the filling:
1. Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the 3 ounces butter, salt, toasted coconut, and pecan pieces in a large bowl.
2. Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170°.)
3. Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature. (It will thicken.)
To make the syrup:
1. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum.
To make the icing:
1. Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and 1 ½ ounces of butter.
2. Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let sit until room temperature.
To assemble the cake:
Remove the cake layers from the pans and cut both cake layers in half horizontally, using a serrated bread knife.
Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush well with syrup. Spread ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top.
Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, then spreading ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.
Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping.
(It may seem like a lot of chocolate icing, but use it all. Trust me. You won’t be sorry.)
Veronica’s Notes: Since I only have one mixer, I pre-measured everything for the cake before starting, then whipped the egg whites to stiff peaks and scraped them into a separate bowl to wait until I needed them. It worked fine this way, so I’d recommend this method if you only have one mixer. The reason for pre-measuring is to cut down on the amount of time it takes to make the cake batter so the prepared egg whites aren’t sitting there so long they deflate. Also, I’d recommend making both the filling and the icing the night before, or at least 6 hours before you will need them. It takes both about that long to become as thick as you’ll want them to be before you start so save yourself some frustration by either doing it in advance, or in a pinch you can put them both in the fridge and stir every ten minutes until desired consistency. For the syrup, I put mine in a bottle previously designated for water only and squirted it onto each cake layer, which is an easy way to apply it. Otherwise, you can use a pastry brush to dab it on.
Recipe source: David Lebovitz
Veronica's Cornucopia 
I could look at these pictures all day. Thank you for killing my productivity today. :-P
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Holy cow this looks good! I just posted my poor mans version of the german chocolate cake with the amish bread. This looks 12,000 times better!! I LOVE the layers and the syrup that you brushed it with? Holy cow that sounds good! I would totally eat 1/4 of it too!
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That was a trip down memory lane Veronica – growing up that was my dad’s birthday cake every year – wish I had had this recipe way back then!
It looks amazing, and definitely insulin worthy! :D
I just reached my new low 30 day blood sugar average – considering I test my blood sugar 6 times a day, I think its good: 119! :D
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That looks fantastic!!! I love German Chocolate cake, my fav! Yours looks so perfect though. I would eat a 1/4 too, if it were in front of me ;) You make the best cakes :)
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OMG, this cake is making me gain weight just looking at it! It does look incredible though! I’m so making it and probably will be eating 1/4 of it myself as well, I mean, how can you not????
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So, yeah, I’m really in the mood to bake up something crazy and I am ABSOLUTELY making this tonight. That looks INCREDIBLE! I think the cake itself weighs as much weight as you lost! Congrats on that by the way!!! What a great accomplishment!
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i am defiently trying this one.. yummyyyyy!!
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4 layers??? OMG. This is absolutely sinful. (In a good way. ;) )
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Oh my goodness Veronica! This looks fantastic! Yummy, I don’t blame you I could not resist on this one. Yummy!!!
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Yes, this cake kicks butt!!!!!!! Enough said.
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I love German Chocolate Cake!!! How about coming up with a sugar free version? That would be great for those of that can’t have sugar but crave sweets.
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Hey so this prob sounds like a stupid Q, but when you prep this the night before do you store the filling and icing in the fridge or at room temp?
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Room temperature. If you store it in the fridge, just bring it to room temperature before using. For the icing, you might have to warm it a little b/c it will be quite thick after refrigerating and bringing to room temp.
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This is such a yummy recipe so far! I’m assembling my cake, and I have but one complaint… I just finished my second layer and I’m already out of filling. I spread it as thin as possible, and have used 9″ rounds just as you suggested. I’m not sure how much you used on each layer, but for future reference I will be doubling your filling recipe. I also had to cool and whip the ganache before I was able to ge t a adorable consistency. Thanks so much for sharing such a treat!
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spreadable, not adorable, lol.
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It’s been a while since I made it but I did have plenty for mine. As you can see I spread it pretty thin but did have enough to put a little on top for decoration. Since there are so many layers, you don’t need a lot between each layer or it will be overwhelming. I know that if ganache is left too long it will thicken too much so I must have used it just as it reached room temp instead of waiting overnight or something. Can’t remember! LOL @ the adorable consistency-tee hee! Hope your cake turned out delicious!
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I just read over the recipe again and found out there is an error. If there are four layers then you will use 1/4 of the filling to top each layer. If you use 3/4 of filling on the first layer, then there will only be 1/4 left over for the entire cake.
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I really DO want to make this incredible looking and yummy recipe. It’s my favorite cake. Looking so delish!!!
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Yes, that is correct! The directions are to use 3/4 cup, not 3/4 of the recipe. There should be 3 cups of filling total. I think you will like it!
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I made this cake for my son’s 24th Birthday this past weekend. It was amazing. So good I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s fantastic:)
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Awesome Mary! I really appreciate the feedback!
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Is it possible to omit the rum syrup?
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You can make the syrup without rum but if you omit the syrup completely it might not be as moist a cake.
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Can this be frozen?
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The cake can be frozen separately from the filling and frosting. Make sure it’s wrapped well and if you plan to frost it frozen, go ahead and cut the layers in half before freezing. I’ve tried to torte frozen cake and it’s a disaster!
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I froze this cake in slices put between wax paper and just thawed to eat. Worked great!
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Made this for my husbands 47 birthday. It was AWESOME. It was most definitely a labor of love….took me HOURS. (First cake I have ever made from scratch).
for sharing the recipe. As they say here in Hawaii…..it was ONO!!
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If you make the filling and icing the night before do you leave it on your counter or refrigerate it over night?
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It should be Ok at room temp since I stored the cake at room temp for several days and it was good to the last bite.
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What brand of chocolate do you recommend?
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Honestly I just use whatever – I don’t get very snobby about chocolate – about the best I buy is Ghirardelli from the grocery store. Usually I use that or Nestle chocolate chips, sometimes Baker’s.
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I am a baker always looking for delectable recipes to please my hungry Italian family. I made this cake last night for Christmas 2013 and EVERYONE, and i mean everyone, LOVED it! After the first bite all I heard was MM!! out of everyone’s mouth. So moist!!! Will make again :)
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I am going to bake the cake this evening. I guess I can completely finish it tonight. I have company tomorrow and thought it be better the second day.
I wanted to know, do you use semi chocolate and unsweetened chocolate?
I hope you can get me an answer before I start on it.
I will let you know how it turns out. The rum is what turned me on to bake the cake.:-)
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Yes, just like the recipe states. Hope you love it!
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Not gonna lie. Drooling over this picture. My favorite cake of all times, racheted up a notch!
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Will it taste just as good without the rum?
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back a year later to visit this recipe because the hubby said he wants it to be his birthday staple…forever. SO. I did cheat last year and did the cake portion with cake mix because of time-everything else was this recipe. My only issue was I found I didn’t have enough filling as I would have liked-more particularly to make the top pretty. I think I might have messed something up and it was super thick (but perfect non the less) but hard to spread. So I’ll be doubling the filling recipe this year. Thank you so much, my fiancé said it was the best cake he’s ever had!
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You definitely have to spread it very thin to make this amount work, but I have a friend that also doubles the filling. As long as it’s not too sweet for you, go for it! I made this for my hubs’ birthday cake this year too. Our men have good taste!
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Would cake flour work for the flour? If I used cake flour would I have to change the baking powder and baking soda amounts?
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Delicious
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Just made this cake for my husband and my first Valantine being married. It is delicious! I’ve never made a cake before and this seemed a bit daunting, but it turned out really well. I’m not a fan of being in the kitchen, and this did take me longer than I like (i’m super slow at every cooking recipe I make), but it was totally worth it! The only differance I would do next time would be to make more filling. I wouldn’t double it, but just a tad more I feel would be good. It is a super rich cake! Thanks for sharing!
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Would it be okay to skip the syrup? If not, where can I buy dark rum in a small amount? Thanks
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Go to a liquor store, they sell small bottles of spirits behind the counter – ask them for their smallest bottle. You can skip it, but I wouldn’t.
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Best German chocolate cake I’ve ever had, and I made it which is weird! Definitely make the frostings ahead, I didn’t and ended up pouring the chocolate over the cake which eventually set. Didn’t effect flavor though, it was fantastic! I’m making 2 more over the holidays! Thanks for an amazing recipe!
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Can this recipe be adapted to make cupcakes? If so, any idea on cooking time? Half the recipe a dozen cupcakes?
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I recently made these into cupcakes. Yes I believe I did halve the recipe to make just a dozen. The batter is so much work though, that if you could possibly use another dozen it’s worth it just to do the whole recipe so you have more to show for your effort. lol! I can’t remember how long I baked them but I usually bake cupcakes 15-20 minutes dependign on how full I fill them and how dense the batter is. This is a light batter so I’d start checking around 15 min.
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This cake is INSANE! So good, stays moist for several days too! Next time I’m going to double the coconut filling because there’s no such thing as too much of that stuff! Awesome recipe!
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Me of my…. this is the best german chocolate cake I’ve ever had… I made it for me sister’s birthday and what a hit it was. The recipe is a little labor intense, but it was so worth it. My chocolate icing was not stiff enough, so I warmed it slightly and added more chocolate, cooled it in the fridge and it came out great. When I was assembling it, I forgot to spritz the layer with to rim syrup. So, I sprayed it on the edges before I put to chocolate frosting on. It was great….
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Wonderful
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I recently made this for my wifes birthday. German chocolate is her favorite. It turned out awesome. Moist and flavorful. I doubled the filling, it was a party in my mouth. I used all of it, glad I did. The only thing i would change is use the old butter and flour trick on your pans. It will release better.
Thanks for the recipe.
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Don’t follow this recipe. It will not turn out like the pics. Worst description of a recipe. Good cake, find another recipe to follow . 1/5 stars would not try again!!
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Joy, I’m not sure what you are talking about… I made this cake for my sons 4th birthday and it was amazing! It turned out exactly like the pictures! Getting ready to make it again for my sons now 6th birthday! I recommend you to try making it again! :-)
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I come back to this recipe every year for YEARS. It’s my husbands “tradition” cake. Every year it must be done! Just because you can’t follow instructions, doesn’t mean it isn’t right
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Hello, I have a quick question. How on earth do you get the chocolate for the cake to melt and not seize with the water?
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One of the most complicated cakes that I have attempted. It was absolutely one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. Try it! You won’t be disappointed! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
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Did you actually use all of the rum syrup? It seemed like it would have totally saturated every layer.
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I made this cake today, and it took most of the day. It is not my favorite German Chocolate Cake at all. The icing is too chocolately for the cake, and the syrup made each layer mushy. For the time, ingredients, and calories, I have other recipes that are much better.
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