German Chocolate Cake
All of the delicious gooeyness and flavor of German Chocolate Cake comes together easily with this recipe. A decadent chocolate sheet cake with an irresistible filling that leaves room to frost this cake without the mess of traditional German chocolate cake.
Servings 12
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup buttermilk or milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 eggs , beaten
German Filling
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup pecans , chopped - optional
Frosting
- 1/3 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
- 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350?F. Prepare a 13 x 9 inch sheet cake pan with foil and grease then lightly flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter, cocoa, and water to a boil, stirring frequently and pour over the sugar-flour mixture. Add the milk, baking soda, vanilla extract, cinnamon and eggs. Mix well and pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Allow cake to cool a bit. If cake is domed, lift foiled cake out of pan and slightly cut off top of cake to level it. If cake is level, move to next step.
- Mix sweetened condensed milk, coconut flakes and pecans together and evenly spread over cake. Turn oven on high broil and broil for 1-2 minutes; just until coconut is lightly toasted.
- To make the frosting, heat butter in microwave to melt. In a medium bowl fit with an electric mixer, combine butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Beat on low setting and slowly add milk. Beat on medium speed for a minute or two.
- Using a spatula, spread a thin layer of frosting over the cake to frost. To get a thicker frosting because this is very thin, double frosting recipe if desired. Allow frosting to harden slightly before removing/serving.
- Store tightly covered in refrigerator.
Notes
**For this recipe, I thinly sliced the top of the baked cake off so the German filling of sweetened condensed milk would moisten the cake.
**For a quick alternative, use boxed, pre-made German chocolate cake with the ingredients needed to make the cake. The filling and frosting will need to be prepared separate. Bake according to directions.
**For a quick alternative, use boxed, pre-made German chocolate cake with the ingredients needed to make the cake. The filling and frosting will need to be prepared separate. Bake according to directions.