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My mother made German chocolate cake for every birthday in our family for thirty years, and not one of us was German. Neither is the cake. The name comes from a man whose last name was German, who made a mild, sweet baking chocolate in the eighteen hundreds. A hundred years later a woman in Texas put that chocolate into a layer cake with a cooked coconut and pecan frosting and sent the recipe to a newspaper. The apostrophe fell off along the way, and the whole country started thinking of Bavaria.
The cake itself is gentle, three light layers with a soft crumb. The frosting is what separates a cook from somebody with a can. It is cooked in a saucepan: egg yolks, evaporated milk, butter and sugar, stirred without stopping until it thickens and turns the color of caramel, about 12 minutes. Then the coconut and pecans go in. Stop stirring and you have sweet scrambled eggs. It goes between the layers and on top, thick, and the sides stay bare. Frosting the sides, my mother said, was showing off.
Why this German chocolate cake works
- Sweet baking chocolate melted in boiling water. The mild chocolate gives the layers their light color and soft flavor. It was never meant to be a dark chocolate cake.
- Beaten egg whites folded in last. They lift the batter so the layers bake tender and airy under the weight of the frosting.
- A cooked yolk custard frosting. The yolks thicken the milk, butter and sugar into a caramel-colored custard that holds the coconut and pecans. Powdered sugar never comes near it.
- Sides left bare. One batch of frosting is exactly enough for three fillings and a top, and the bare sides show the stripes.
Ingredients
Makes one three-layer 9-inch cake, about 16 slices. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the cake
- One 4 ounce bar sweet baking chocolate (113g), chopped
- 1/2 cup boiling water (120ml)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, 226g), softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (280g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup buttermilk (240ml)
- Butter and flour for the pans
For the coconut pecan frosting
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (354ml, one 12 ounce can)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (170g), cut into pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut (200g)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (170g)
Sweet baking chocolate is sold in the baking aisle in a thin 4 ounce bar; semisweet chips make a different cake.
How to make German chocolate cake
The cake layers
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter three 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment, and butter and flour the paper and sides.
- Pour the boiling water over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla and the melted chocolate.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two, and mix just until smooth.
- Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl to stiff peaks and fold them into the batter in two additions, until no white streaks remain.
- Divide the batter among the three pans. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the layers spring back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans 15 minutes, turn out onto racks and cool completely.
The frosting
- In a medium heavy saucepan, whisk the egg yolks and evaporated milk until smooth. Add the sugar, butter and vanilla and set the pan over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, for about 12 minutes. The butter melts, the mixture bubbles gently at the edges, then it thickens and darkens to a golden caramel color. It is done when it coats the spoon thickly and a finger dragged through the coating leaves a clear trail. Do not stop stirring, or the yolks scramble on the bottom.
- Off the heat, stir in the coconut and pecans. Cool, stirring now and then, until thick enough to spread and hold its shape, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Putting it together
- Set one layer on a plate and spread a third of the frosting over it, right to the edge. Add the second layer and another third, then the third layer and the rest, thick. Leave the sides bare. That is the rule.
- Let the cake stand 1 hour so the frosting sets, then cut it with a long knife wiped clean between slices.
Tips that make the difference
- Set a timer for the frosting and keep the spoon moving. Every one of the twelve minutes counts.
- If the frosting is too thin after cooling, return it to low heat, stir 2 or 3 minutes more, and cool again.
- Toast the pecans for 8 minutes at 350°F before chopping. It is not in the old recipe, and it should be.
- Level domed layers with a serrated knife so the cake stands straight with no frosted sides to hide behind.
Variations
- Two layers. Bake in two 9-inch pans for 32 to 36 minutes. Frost the middle and the top the same way.
- Chocolate drizzle. Melt 2 ounces semisweet chocolate (57g) with 1 teaspoon butter and drizzle it over the top in thin lines.
- Sheet cake. Bake in a greased 9 by 13 inch pan for 35 to 40 minutes and spread all the frosting on top. Easier to carry to a potluck.
- Cupcakes. Fill 30 lined muffin cups two thirds full, bake 18 to 20 minutes, and spoon a heap of frosting on each.
Storage and make-ahead
The cake keeps under a dome at room temperature for 2 days, then in the refrigerator for up to 5. Bring slices back to room temperature, because the butter in the frosting firms up cold.
The layers can be baked a day ahead and wrapped overnight; the frosting too, kept covered in the refrigerator and brought back to room temperature before spreading.
The frosted cake freezes for up to 2 months, wrapped in plastic and foil once firm. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called German chocolate cake?
After a man named German, who developed a sweet baking chocolate in 1852. A Texas newspaper printed the cake made with it in 1957, the apostrophe in German’s chocolate was dropped along the way, and the name has misled people ever since.
How do I know when the frosting is cooked enough?
By color and by the spoon. It turns from pale cream to golden caramel, and it thickens until a finger drawn through the coating on the spoon leaves a clear line. That takes about 12 minutes over medium heat with constant stirring. Undercooked frosting slides off the cake.
Why leave the sides bare?
Because the original recipe did, and most families still do. One batch of frosting is exactly enough for three fillings and a top, and the bare sides show the layers.
Can I use semisweet or dark chocolate?
You will get a darker, stronger cake that is not German chocolate cake. If you cannot find sweet baking chocolate, use 3 ounces of semisweet (85g) and add 2 tablespoons more sugar to the batter.
Twelve minutes of stirring, three layers, frosting on top and in between and nowhere else. Not German, but ours.
German Chocolate Cake (With the Cooked Coconut Pecan Frosting)
The classic three-layer German chocolate cake with the coconut pecan frosting cooked in a saucepan from egg yolks, evaporated milk, butter and sugar, stirred about 12 minutes until thick and caramel colored, spread between the layers and on top only, with the sides bare.
Ingredients
- One 4 ounce bar sweet baking chocolate (113g), chopped
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, 226g), softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Butter and flour for the pans
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (170g), cut into pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter three 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment, and butter and flour the paper and sides.
- Pour the boiling water over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla and the melted chocolate.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two, and mix just until smooth.
- Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl to stiff peaks and fold them into the batter in two additions, until no white streaks remain.
- Divide the batter among the three pans. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the layers spring back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans 15 minutes, turn out onto racks and cool completely.
- In a medium heavy saucepan, whisk the egg yolks and evaporated milk until smooth. Add the sugar, butter and vanilla and set the pan over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, for about 12 minutes. The butter melts, the mixture bubbles gently at the edges, then it thickens and darkens to a golden caramel color. It is done when it coats the spoon thickly and a finger dragged through the coating leaves a clear trail. Do not stop stirring, or the yolks scramble on the bottom.
- Off the heat, stir in the coconut and pecans. Cool, stirring now and then, until thick enough to spread and hold its shape, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Set one layer on a plate and spread a third of the frosting over it, right to the edge. Add the second layer and another third, then the third layer and the rest, thick. Leave the sides bare. That is the rule.
- Let the cake stand 1 hour so the frosting sets, then cut it with a long knife wiped clean between slices.
