This Easy German Chocolate Cake Recipe is a simple, yummy, and easy-to-make cake—just FIVE ingredients—but the results are spectacular! It is among one of my favorite cake recipes, and it just might become yours, too!
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Update: This Easy German Chocolate Cake recipe has been a family favorite for a long time, so I’ve updated it with a video and new photos and am sharing it again for new readers who may have missed it the first time around or haven’t made it yet.
So confession time—I’m a little bit picky about my chocolate cake. I love a good chocolate cake, as you can see by looking at all the cake recipes I have! It’s gotten to the point where each of my kids has a different favorite chocolate cake—my daughter prefers an old Hershey’s Chocolate Cake recipe that’s a little milder, while the boys prefer a rich Old-Fashioned Dark Chocolate Cake that really features the dark cocoa flavor.
And then there’s my husband who is crazy about this German Chocolate Cake. He always wants this cake for his birthday and he wants it to taste just like Mom used to make. My mother-in-law gave me her recipe for Coconut-Almond Frosting for German Chocolate Cake when we were first married, and I’ve been making it ever since!
We’ve tried several German Chocolate Cake recipes over the years. By far, the best and easiest we’ve found is Anne Byrn’s Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor, which has a recipe for German Chocolate Cake from a mix that is moist and delicious, even though it starts from a box. When combined with my mother-in-law’s Coconut-Almond Frosting, it is irresistible!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Minimal ingredients: This recipe only calls for 5 ingredients! You might already have a few of them in your pantry.
- Rich and decadent: This cake includes layers of moist chocolate cake topped with a gooey coconut-pecan frosting!
- Customizable: This recipe is easy to adapt with different nuts or chocolate types.
Recipe Ingredients
Cake:
- German chocolate cake mix
- Buttermilk
- Vegetable oil
- Large eggs
- Pure vanilla extract
Coconut-Almond Frosting
- Butter
- Sugar
- Evaporated milk
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Sweetened flaked coconut
- Sliced almonds
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make German Chocolate Cake
Recipe FAQs
I know some people prefer pecans in their German Chocolate frosting, and you can substitute pecans for the almonds in this recipe. However, if you’ve never tried German Chocolate Cake with an almond frosting, I strongly encourage you to give it a try!
If you prefer, you can make the cake in 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake the cake 38–42 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Add Chocolate drizzle on top! I just melt about ¼ cup of chocolate chips, put it in a Ziploc storage bag, snipped the corner, and drizzled a bit on top.
Expert Tips
- Baking layered cakes: If you’re making this cake for a special occasion, head on over to my Tips for Baking Layer Cakes post. It’s a handy guide I wrote up with all the tips and tricks I’ve picked over the years.
- For parties: You can also make German Chocolate Cupcakes, which makes the cake easier to serve.
- For easier mixing: You can also warm up the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk and temper the eggs before adding them to the saucepan.
- Don’t overmix: Don’t overmix the batter as it keeps the cake tender and prevents toughness.
More Cake Recipes To Consider
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Easy German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 15.25 ounce package German chocolate cake mix
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coconut-Almond Frosting
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 7 oz. package sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the cake mix, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl on low speed for one minute until combined. Beat at medium speed for two minutes more.
- Pour into two greased and floured 9 inch round pans. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and remove from pans. I like to line my round cake pans with parchment paper before adding batter for easy removal from the pan
- You can also baked the cake in a greased and floured 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake 38–42 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Coconut-Almond Frosting
- Combine butter, sugar, evaporated milk and eggs* in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 12 minutes or until thickened. Add vanilla, coconut and almonds. Cool to room temperature before frosting cake.
Video
Notes
- You can also warm up the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk and temper the eggs before adding them to the saucepan.
- Chocolate drizzle, optional – I just melted about ¼ cup of chocolate chips, put it in a Ziploc storage bag, snipped the corner, and drizzled a bit on top.
- Chill before serving: Firms up the frosting for neater slices.
- Use a serrated knife for clean, even cuts when serving.
Kate
We really enjoyed this. I couldn’t find a German Chocolate Mix so I bought a regular chocolate mix. For those concerned about the 13 oz box, the Duncan Hines brand is 15.25 oz. But you should be fine with the smaller size. I have used it in another recipe that called for a 15.25 size and it turned out fine.
The directions on the box said to bake 24-29 minutes , not the 30-35 minutes listed here. I tested mine after 24 minutes and it was perfect. I made mine with pecans . Someday may try almonds
Noreen Zullo
It came just right. My company loved it.
Christie Waldrum
Can you use pecans instead of almonds?
Vin
Can I double cake recipe to make three layers ??
VInnie
Melissa Griffiths
That should work great!
Ruby
Should cake be stored in refrigerator?
pH
What is the asterisk for by the word “eggs”?
Sara
Made this recipe today – turned out amazing and my family loved it! Cake was moist and the frosting was perfect!
Nancy Johnson
Hello: I want to make this for my husband birthday (his favorite) however, I cannot find 15.25 oz cake mix any longer just the 13.25 oz. I did read in a previous question that you said yes to follow the same recipe. My question is should I use 8 inch cake pans instead or should they come out just as good in the 9 inch cake pan?
Thank you so much….. have a blessed day!
Melissa Griffiths
That size will work fine, still use the 9 inch pans.
Lydia
I am hoping to try this recipe but wanted to watch your video. However, it would not load for me. I am thinking there are so many ads on the page that it would never allow the video to load ):
Katie Carson
Looking to make this and I see the cake mix size has decreased from 15.25 oz to 13.25 oz. Should I still follow the recipe as written?
Melissa Griffiths
Yep, you can still follow the recipe!
Sel
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you use the egg whites too or just egg yolks for the frosting? Also, is there a way to make sure the eggs are cooked for the frosting? Thank you!
Cheryl
hi can this recipe be used for a sheet cake?
SarahO
If you didn’t like this frosting you didn’t make it right! Hand down best coconut pecan frosting I’ve ever had. Made it for my husbands birthday and everyone loved it!
Dan
The icing turned out more like candied almonds and coconut than a creamy German chocolate cake icing (which is what I was really going for), but otherwise pretty good.
Pam
I baked this cake last year for a birthday and it was so easy and absolutely delicious! The frosting seemed a little pale in color from what I am used to so I added a sprinkle of cocoa powder. It looked and tasted perfect. I am baking it again tomorrow for my 97 year old father-in-law’s birthday! Great recipe!
Christine Schott
I have a question about your easy German Chocolate Cake. You add Vanilla not almond extract to the icing? The almonds and coconut you add gives it the “almond” flavor?
Melissa Griffiths
Yep, feel free to add a little almond extract if you’d like though, no issue there.
Correne
So – I have been making the icing…shaping it into balls, cooling, and then dipping them in chocolate! Haha! They are AMAZING!! Haha! It’s like a gourmet almond joy! 🙂 🙂 Since I’m about to do it for the 3rd time, I figured I’d leave a comment! Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for sharing Correne! That does sound fabulous <3 I'll have to give it a try.
Diane
This recipe was delicious! Thank you!!!!! I used my own easy frosting recipe since there are family members that don’t like coconut. Do you have anything for a white cake mix? I plan on adding sprinkles to mix but wanted to use the buttermilk again “if” it would work with white cake?
Thanks so much!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Diane – glad you liked it. I haven’t tried it with white cake mix, but I think it would work great. Let me know how it goes.
Vplw1226
this is a German chocolate cake recipe. why make a German chocolate cake if people don’t like coconut? at that point you may as well just Google a white cake with sprinkles? i mean I definitely wouldn’t go to a white cake with cream cheese frosting recipe and alter that cake to be German chocolate.
Lauren
What kind of chocolate chips did you use? Milk, semi sweet? Etc? Thank you!!
Barbara Schieving
Hi Lauren – I used semi-sweet chocolate chips because that’s what I always have on hand. Enjoy!