If you’re interested in a VERY rich chocolatey cake with gooey coconut pecan frosting then you have come to the right place. I’ve been working on my vegan German chocolate cake recipe for quite some time and here it finally is!
Thankfully, no, that does not mean I ate chocolate cake every day for a year and a half. But my various iterations on this cake were fed to family and coworkers and frozen and… okay yeah it’s been a lot of cake. This final, pictured version of the German chocolate cake has been approved of by many omnivores, so I hope you believe me that it’s just a damn good cake in its own right.
Promises I am NOT making about this dairy-free German chocolate cake: (1) it is NOT healthy, raw or gluten-free; (2) it is NOT reduced sugar or refined sugar free (3) it is NOT a one bowl/30 minute recipe. It IS soy-free and you could make it nut-free by using all coconut in the frosting instead of using pecans. I have not tried making this gluten-free. I believe all-purpose gluten-free flour would work but I have not tested it.
It’s my belief that an easy vegan German chocolate cake could taste about 85% as good as this sliiightly more complicated one. Still good, but I believe the extra steps and ingredients do add something. I’ve tried a few different ways to pare down the recipe over time and I really do like it the way that it’s written here.
To create this recipe I started from the somewhat traditional Joy of Baking classic recipe and retooled it to be made without eggs and without milk. Eggless sponge cakes totally do have the potential to be awesome. They can easily be made just as light and fluffy by boosting the leavening agents a little bit.
In the original German chocolate cake, the frosting itself also contains egg yolks, but I found that the vegan frosting came out just fine without needing to explicitly replace the egg. One of my coworkers said “this is good but I better not be eating congealed coconut oil right now”. Sorry, but that’s basically what the frosting is! 😀 Delicious, delicious coconut oil with toasted coconut and pecans, thickened with a little bit of cornstarch.
I used cocoa powder to dust the top of my vegan German chocolate cake because I thought I was going to be fancy that day. Turns out I don’t really like how it looks, but I couldn’t really do anything to change it and I didn’t feel like making an entire new cake layer to hide it. This admission brought to you by “food bloggers are people too”.
This vegan German chocolate is rich enough that it’s practically fudge, and makes about a million servings, so gather a chocolate-and-coconut-loving crowd and dig in! I highly recommend using a kitchen scale and following the ingredient weights for best results. It’s a small investment you won’t regret. My newer baking recipes almost always include weights and I’m in the process of re-testing old recipes to add them too! (Snickerdoodles anyone?)
Vegan German Chocolate Cake
A gourmet vegan German chocolate cake, made eggless and dairy-free thanks to coconut oil, vegetable oil, and aquafaba. Fudgy and just a little dense, and slathered with a toasted pecan coconut custard frosting. This cake might not be much to look at but it's delightful to eat!
Ingredients
For melting:
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate (check ingredients for milk)
Dry ingredients:
- 270 grams cake flour (2 and 1/4 cups)
- 70 grams cocoa powder (3/4 cup)
- 1 and 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- 200 grams coconut oil (1 cup) room temperature
- 40 grams vegetable oil (1/4 cup) (I use grapeseed oil)
- 145 grams coconut sugar (1 cup)
- 250 grams cane sugar (1 and 1/4 cups)
- 3/4 cup aquafaba
- 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup lukewarm brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk (for best results, use soy milk) (or, use 3/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt)
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar)
For the coconut pecan frosting:
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 200 grams cane sugar (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
To prepare the vegan German chocolate cake base:
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
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Over indirect heat, or in 15-second bursts in the microwave, melt the chocolate and set aside.
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Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a second mixing bowl, add the oils and beat or mix until smooth and creamy. Add the sugars and continue to mix until fluffy. With an electric mixer this will take a couple of minutes; by hand it will take several. Add the aquafaba and vanilla and mix until combined. Then add the melted chocolate and also mix until combined.
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Stir together the coffee, non-dairy milk, and apple cider vinegar in a bowl or measuring vessel. Add about one-third of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl, mixing until just combined. Next add half of the coffee mixture, then another one-third of the dry ingredients, and mix. Finally, add the remaining coffee mixture and the remaining dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.
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Divide the prepared batter evenly into the three cake pans and smooth the tops if needed. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the pans after about 20 minutes. It's important not to open the oven door in the first half of baking if you can avoid it.
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Remove the cake pans from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. After that, the rack can be lightly greased and the cakes inverted onto the rack to cool completely.
To prepare the coconut pecan frosting:
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If not already toasted, toast the pecans and coconut according to your preferred method: in the oven or on the stovetop.
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In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut oil, sugar, non-dairy milk, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts to bubble slightly at the edges. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
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Whisk together the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of cold water, and then add it to the saucepan and stir. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture becomes glossy and thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pecans and coconut. Set aside the mixture to cool.
To assemble the vegan German chocolate cake:
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Once the cake layers and frosting are both cooled, assemble the cake by placing the bottom layer on a cake stand, spreading 1/3 of the frosting onto it, then repeating with the remaining layers and frosting. Decorate the top of the cake as desired (I used cocoa powder, roasted pecans and chocolate chips). The cake is best enjoyed at room temperature. It can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or so, but I recommend letting it come to room temperature before eating for the best taste and texture.
Recipe Notes
Aquafaba is the cooking liquid from legumes. For recipes where I call for aquafaba, mine is drained from a can of chickpeas, white beans, or black beans.
Refined vs. virgin coconut oil doesn't make a big difference in this recipe since the cake is already topping with a coconut flavored frosting.
Feel free to use all coconut sugar or all cane sugar - please substitute by weight if possible.
Nutrition facts exclude the frosting. (And frankly, you might not wanna know)
Veganized from Joy of Baking.
More cakes from the site:
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Dr. J says
I made the frosting for my wife’s birthday cake yesterday. (She likes a dark chocolate cake rather than German chocolate, but LOVES the coconut pecan frosting!) I made it exactly as written but it needed to sit in the fridge overnight to thicken. Came out wonderful, though, and I will definitely use this recipe again.
Raelene Lowry says
Do you need to beat the Aquafaba first or just use the little as is drained from the can?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Just drained from the can and then follow the recipe.
Karen Mack says
Does the type of coconut oil make a difference? I got one that was liquid rather than one that looked solid… and I am having trouble with my cake. After beating the oils together, they did not look at all creamy, and I am using an electric mixer. I had beaten the oils for over 10 minutes and nothing happened, so I went ahead and added the sugars. It definitely did not get fluffy. It looks just like oil with sugar in it and it is decidedly runny. I am afraid to finish the recipe, but what else can I do?
Karen Mack says
Okay, so I went ahead and finished putting all the stuff together and it was runnier than I thought it should be, but I decided to bake it anyway. It came out looking great. I’m preparing to frost it as soon as the frosting cools down enough.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
The kind of coconut oil that is sold in liquid form is not generally the best choice for baking. Glad it still worked out though!
Amy says
I DID use this recipe with Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour and it was Delicious! The cake is soft, so be careful in taking it out of the pan. My friends swore I could sell it at a local coffee shop that features gluten and dairy free baking. Thank you for a great recipe!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’m very glad to know that your gluten-free version worked out well!!
Maddie says
I tried to make these into cupcakes and they toooottttally deflated 🙁 super yummy, just very dense and not quite what i was going for. My guess is that my baking soda is expired (actually, it definitely is). The topping and batter were so tasty though!!!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Haha, well it sounds like we know what the issue was for next time! I’m glad that you still found it tasty!!
Kelly Aldrich says
I have made 1 million cakes in my day. I used to be a baker. This is probably the best German chocolate cake or even the best chocolate cake I have ever made! It was so rich and moist but not too sweet. I love this recipe thank you!
lois says
If you haven’t done snicker doodles yet, i wanred you to know that old fashioned snicker doodles are not just sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar. They also have a higher cream of tarter to baking soda ratio. This makes the cookies taste eggier. Im going to subscribe to your blog to see what else you have revised.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Lois, I do have a recipe here for vegan snickerdoodles using cream of tartar.
Katrina says
I made this for my boyfriend’s birthday (German chocolate cake is his favorite). It took a pretty long time to make, as the recipe states. I think next time I would make a little bit more of the custard frosting (maybe 50% more) but overall I was really happy with the cake and he was REALLY happy with the cake. We both agreed it was yummy decadent and fudgy in a special occasion sort of way. Thanks!
Gulia Arno says
Wow, your photos are so professional! Do you use retouching? Tell me what you think about these tips and ideas for food photography retouching. I would like to hear your advice. Thanks in advance!
Jenna says
This looks SO good. I’m not sure I’m going to have time to make it during the Thanksgiving rush (LOL) but I’m definitely pinning it to make soon!!
Becky's Kitchenette says
This looks amazing!!