Easy German chocolate cake recipe with cake mix, homemade with simple ingredients. Soft and moist chocolate cake layers are filled with coconut pecan frosting and topped with chocolate ganache.
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This is one of my family's favorite cakes! It is so moist and that special chunky frosting compliments the chocolate cake in the best way possible. This dessert is usually not a simple one but since I use a cake mix, everyone can make it and no one has to be intimidated any more. This Moist Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting and this Chocolate Cake Roll (With Cake Mix) are two other classic desserts you should definitely try.
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Key ingredients
- Eggs- These should be large and at room temperature.
- Butter- Make sure it's unsalted.
- Buttermilk- You can make a homemade substitute if you don't have this on hand or just use whole milk instead.
- Chocolate cake mix- Use the 15.25 oz. box.
- Cocoa powder- This is not the same as hot cocoa powder. You need unsweetened cocoa powder without any other ingredients.
- Frosting- The classic choice is the cooked coconut pecan icing and it's incredible!
- Ganache- I like to use semisweet chocolate to make this but you can use milk or dark chocolate, if you like.
Variations for old fashioned traditional German chocolate layer cake
- Turn these into cupcakes- To make serving easier, and less messy. Please note the baking time will be shorter.
- Add more layers to make a taller cake- You can even make a tiered cake, just double the cake batter recipe.
- Try other nuts in the frosting- Such as walnuts, pistachios or a mix of various nuts like pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts.
- Add coconut extract in the cake batter- This will add a subtle unique flavor.
- Ice the whole cake in chocolate buttercream frosting- Instead of keeping the cake exposed on the sides, coat it in this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cake- Add more to the presentation by piping swirls of frosting on top of the cake.
How to make easy homemade German chocolate cake recipe with cake mix?
- Mix together wet ingredients- This includes eggs, butter, buttermilk.
- Add dry ingredients- This includes cake mix, cocoa powder.
- Mix- Until just combined.
- Pour into pans- Lined with parchment paper.
- Bake- Until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Cool cakes- Until room temperature.
- Trim cakes- Do this for the sides and the top.
- Assemble- Place one cake on a serving dish. Spread coconut pecan frosting on top. Drizzle ganache. Place other cake on top. Spread more frosting. Drizzle more ganache.
Tips and techniques
- Buttermilk substitute- You can make homemade buttermilk by mixing 1 tablespoon lemon juice with 1 cup whole milk.
- Eggs and buttermilk should be at room temperature- Because this helps them to blend together smoothly and evenly.
- How to keep chocolate cake from sticking to pan? Make sure to line the pans with parchment paper along the bottom and then grease the sides.
- How do I know if the cake is done? It's ready when an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Don't over-mix- Because this causes the cake to become dense or possibly even collapse while baking.
- Cool cakes completely before frosting- Because icing a warm cake will cause the frosting to melt and slide right off the cake.
- Coconut pecan Icing must cool completely- This is a unique frosting that's cooked and thus, it has to cool down and thicken further before being used.
- Use unsalted butter- Because that prevents this dessert from becoming too salty.
Recipe FAQs
This super sweet, chunky frosting is made with Brown sugar, Coconut, Pecans, Butter, Evaporated milk and Eggs.
Devil's food cake has much stronger chocolate flavor than this cake. The quantity of unsweetened cocoa powder is much higher in that cake. It's also much darker in color. This cake, on the other hand, has a milder chocolate flavor and is paired with a very distinct coconut pecan icing.
This typically happens when the cake was over-baked, or baked at too high of a temperature.
This can happen for a few reasons. If too much baking powder or baking soda is added, it can cause a build-up of gas. This causes the center of the cake to rise too quickly before the rest of the cake finishes baking, then the center deflates. Another reason this happens is if you open the oven door halfway during baking. That causes the hot air to release, leading to a dramatic drop in oven temperature, which can also lead to collapsing.
Storage
- Make ahead- You can make and assemble this cake up to 2 days in advance. Just store it in an air-tight container in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
- Refrigerate- In a sealed container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze- Cake and frosting can be stored separately in sealed containers for up to 1 month. When you are ready to enjoy this dessert, thaw everything to room temperature and assemble as per instructions below.
More classic cake recipes
- Best Vanilla Cake Recipe {From Scratch}
- Angel Food Cake Recipe
- Moist Red Velvet Cake
- Easy Black Forest Cake {With Cake Mix}
Recipe
German Chocolate Cake (With Cake Mix)
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Ingredients
- 4 Eggs Large, Room temperature
- ½ cup Butter Unsalted, Melted
- 1 cup Buttermilk Or whole milk, Room temperature
- 1 box Chocolate cake mix 15.25 oz. box
- 1.5 tablespoon Cocoa powder
- 3 cups German chocolate cake frosting
- ½ cup Chocolate ganache
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, butter, buttermilk and mix for 1 minute until mixture is smooth and has some bubbles. If your eggs and buttermilk were not at room temperature, there could be some lumps in this mixture. That's why it's important to use room temperature ingredients.
- Add chocolate cake mix, cocoa powder and mix until just combined. There might be a few lumps and that's perfectly fine. Don't over-mix!
- Pour this batter into 2 greased and floured round cake pans (Dimensions: 8x2), lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool to room temperature.
- While the cakes are baking and cooling, prepare coconut pecan frosting and ganache.
- Trim sides of the cake (optional) and if there is a dome, trim the top so that the cake is flat (required).
- Place one cake on a serving dish.
- Use a spatula to spread frosting on top.
- Drizzle spoonfuls of chocolate ganache.
- Then, place the other cake on top and press gently to secure it into place.
- Use a spatula to spread frosting on top again.
- Drizzle spoonfuls of chocolate ganache again. Enjoy!
Notes
- Butter should be unsalted to prevent this cake from too salty.
- Eggs and buttermilk must be at room temperature because they blend better and more evenly and smoothly.
- You must use a 15.25 oz. cake mix box. If you have the smaller box, open up a new box of cake mix and measure out the remaining missing quantity with a weighing scale and add that to your cake mix for a total of 15.25 oz.
- Don't frost a warm cake because the warmth of the cake will cause the icing to melt and slide off the cake. Let it come to room temperature and then assemble.
- Read additional tips and variations above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Debra J Vaughn
Hi. I want to bake this in two 9 in pans, split layers and frost. can I use 1 1/2 ingredients instead of doubling. Thank you
Abeer Rizvi
I haven't tried that to know how the recipe would need to be adjusted. If you try it, I would love to hear how it goes.
Kim
Is the butter in the recipe melted or just softened?
Abeer Rizvi
It's melted butter. I had made a mistake in the recipe card earlier with softened butter but that mistake is now fixed.
Ashley Burnette Lane
Can you use gluten free cake mix and gluten free flour for pans?
Abeer Rizvi
I haven't used it in this recipe to know how that would affect the results. If you try it, I would love to hear your feedback.
Melinda Van Treese
I have been mixing the eggs, butter and butter milk for a while on medium to medium high the batter isn’t getting fluffy It’s liquidey and the butter milk is in clumps like curdled. What advice can you give me? Thanks. Melinda
Abeer Rizvi
Hi Melinda... I am so sorry but there was a mistake from my end. The butter should be melted and not at room temperature. Thats why your mixture is so lumpy. I have made the changes in the recipe card and updated the instructions.
Jackie
Can you use 9x13 pan?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, you can.
Carol Hoggle
I have two other recipes calling for two egg yolks in addition to three eggs so it can be moist. Is this cake moist or should I add egg yolk.
Abeer Rizvi
I use 4 large eggs and the cake is moist. If you make any modifications, your results might be different.
Stefanie
I bought some German Chocolate cake mixes and, unfortunately, they are not chocolatey enough for me. Can I add coco powder? If so, how much and when would I add it? If not, is there any other way to make a German Chocolate cake mix taste more like a Devil's food cake?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, you can add 2 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder to the cake mix.
Candace Prouty
Cake sounds easy. I'm trying to get the recipe for the frosting. It tells how to do it but not the portions of how much. Example, how much brown sugar?
Abeer Rizvi
Click on "German chocolate cake frosting" in the recipe card. It will take you to my detailed recipe with pictures.
Irene Lane
I made this cake yesterday for my husbands birthday and it was nice and moist and easy to make. I did not make your frosting recipe as I could not find it, just the ingredients list. I tried to print it but all I got was to download it and it didn't work so I just used another one I found on pinterest. I only use my copy machine I had no trouble printing your cake recipe and would like to try your frosting recipe next time. ( it was probably me as I'm not very good on a computer.)
Nikki
If you were making cupcakes, how long would the bake time be?
Abeer Rizvi
Cupcakes are usually done baking in 15-20 minutes. I recommend keeping a close eye after the 15 minute mark.
Not a happy reader
There are no quantities for the German Chocolate Icing recipe!??!!??!
Abeer Rizvi
YES, it is included. If you scroll up and look at the recipe card, that information is perfectly prominent. Click on the portion where it says: "3 cups German chocolate cake frosting." There is a whole post on that special frosting, its variations, tips and so much more. This is the link: https://cakewhiz.com/german-chocolate-cake-frosting-recipe/