German Chocolate Cake – Incredibly Decadent and Dense

This German Chocolate Cake recipe is no joke. Perfectly dense, moist and rich. It’ll make your knees weak and have you asking for seconds. I’ve included some unusual tips to getting this cake perfectly dense.

You’re better than boxed cake mix

I was never really a fan of German Chocolate Cake until recently. It’s my husbands favorite kind of cake, and every year on his birthday he asks for it. Originally I just bought the box mix and frosting and called it a day. It was always “meh”. Then one year, after being less than thrilled with the idea of making and eating yet another sub-par cake, I decided I could do better. Although my first homemade attempt was better than the box version, it still needed plenty of help.

Achieving maximum density

My husbands requirements for cake is that it is delicious and DENSE. The man wants his slice of cake so heavy that you need to work out just to hold the plate up. The only problem is, no matter how many alterations I made to various recipes, I could not get it anywhere close to dense enough. So this year I made four different variations of the same cake to see which one would work. Turns out I needed to do ALL the things together to achieve my (his) desired result. So stick with me on this one I know it’s quite a few steps but its not difficult, just takes some time.   I modified this recipe from Through Her Looking Glass. The original recipe is for a Bundt cake but I split it up and put it into 4 9-inch cake pans. Feel free to half the recipe to make a simple double layer cake but I think if I’m going to all the trouble to make a cake I want to have extra.  

Also feel free to make any frosting that tickles your fancy, but don’t skip the glaze, that is what sets this cake apart from any other version and gives it the fudgy denseness that will make your knees weak.

Loving this German Chocolate Cake? Need more decadent desserts? Try these!

Chewy Rocky Road Brownies – Um yeah, classic flavor combo and so rich!
Pound Cake Churros – Includes your calories for a week, but SO worth it!
Flourless Chocolate Cake – uses healthier ingredients, but still very rich.

Print Recipe

Dense German Chocolate Cake

Fluffy cake is for the birds. Indulge in a decadently dense cake. Be sure to read the whole recipe before starting. 

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, German

Servings: 8 large slices

Author: Amy

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 C sugar
• 1 C unsalted butter room temp
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 6 eggs room temperature
• 2 1/2 C cake flour
• 1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 pkg chocolate pudding mix
• 2 1/4 C buttermilk
• 1 C chocolate chips

Glaze

• 1 C sugar
• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1/2 C butter
• 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

Frosting

• 2 C evaporated milk room temp
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 2 C sugar
• 6 egg yolks (beaten) room temp
• 1 C butter room temp
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 C chopped pecans lightly toasted
• 2 C toasted coconut

Instructions

Frosting

• Start with the frosting, so it has time to cool. 
• Preheat oven to 350°. Place chopped pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant. About 5-7 minutes. If you’re coconut did not come toasted, place it on the same sheet and allow to toast for the same time. 
• Combine all other frosting ingredients (not nuts and coconut) in a large pot and bring to a slow boil. Once boiling, stir continuously for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add nuts and coconut. Frosting will thicken as it cools. 

Cake

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 4 cake pans. (Coconut oil or butter work best – just don’t use non-stick spray, it doesn’t work.) 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine sugar, butter and vanilla. Add eggs, mixing after each one. 
• In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Alternating between dry ingredients and buttermilk, add to the wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition. 
• Add chocolate chips and mix. Bake for 25-30 minutes until center bounces back when touched lightly.

Glaze

• Make glaze while cakes are baking.
• Bring all ingredients, except vanilla, to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, stir for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. 
• Pour glaze over cakes in the pan right out of the oven. Allow cakes to rest and soak up the glaze for 10 minutes. 
• When you pop the cakes out of the pan, place between layers of wax paper. Place a cutting board (or other heavy, flat object) on top of cakes and smush them for 1 hour. This keeps the cakes extra dense!
• Assemble the cake with frosting between each layer and all over top and sides. OR wrap each layer in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use.

Notes

This is I bit time consuming so I made this 2 days ahead of time and stored the cake and frosting in the fridge. On the day of my husband’s birthday, I took the frosting out in the morning so it could come to room temp. Then at party time I took the cake layers out of the fridge and frosted 3 layers for the perfect cake to frosting ratio. You can do a 4 layer cake and go a little lighter on the frosting or just keep it as a bonus cake. Enjoy!

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