Oooh yum, this vegan German chocolate cake is two layers of delicious vegan chocolate cake with a coconut pecan filling and a rich chocolate buttercream frosting on top!
Traditionally a German chocolate cake uses sweet German chocolate in the cake itself, and then the filling is made with egg yolks, so of course we are straying from the traditional here with our vegan adaptation but the result is so good I don’t think anyone would complain!
The 2-layer vegan chocolate cake is adapted from our vegan chocolate cake recipe, our original recipe is made in 7 inch cake pans whereas this cake is made in 8 inch cake pans.
In fact as you can see the cake layers are so nice and fat I actually ‘think’ it would be totally fine in 9 inch cake pans too (I have not tested this though I must admit!).
The cake recipe is super simple and straightforward, no fancy ingredients, but it results in pure chocolate cake perfection, moist and spongey and a total delight in taste and texture.
But the main attraction in a German chocolate cake is the coconut pecan filling! It’s really the stand out feature of this cake and what makes it unique and special.
It’s a mix of vegan butter, brown sugar, coconut milk, coconut flakes (or shredded coconut) and pecans! You can use roasted pecans or raw. I was planning to use roasted pecans but was only able to get raw pecans when making this cake, and I wasn’t in the mood to roast them first, so I just used them as they were and it was totally delicious. So use whichever version you prefer or is easier to get hold of.
Same thing for the coconut, I used coconut flakes, which are the quite large flakes of coconut you can see below, but you can also use shredded coconut, which is the slightly smaller version, just don’t use dessicated coconut because that won’t work well here.
The gorgeous coconut pecan mix goes in the middle of this vegan German chocolate cake, and a delicious chocolate buttercream frosting goes on the top. I made enough for a very thick layer of frosting on top, so I’m pretty sure if you want to frost the sides as well, you’ll have enough frosting to do so without increasing the recipe.
I was a fan of keeping the sides bare so you can show off that lovely coconut pecan layer.
I really hope you will love this vegan German chocolate cake, it has:
- 2-Layers of moist rich chocolate cake
- A coconut pecan filling
- A chocolate buttercream frosting
- All the chocolate flavor you can dream of combined with coconut/pecan filling! It’s too good!
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge where they will stay good for 5 days.
So let us know what you think of this vegan German chocolate cake in the comments and please rate the recipe too!
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Vegan German Chocolate Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12
Description
Moist and rich 2-layer vegan German chocolate cake with a coconut pecan filling and a chocolate buttercream frosting. Mega-chocolatey and ultimately delicious!
Ingredients
For the Vegan Chocolate Cake:
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) All Purpose Flour*
- 3/4 cup (63g) Cocoa Powder (Unsweetened)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) White Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) Soy Milk*
- 3 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Olive Oil*
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp White Vinegar*
- 1 and 1/2 Flax Eggs
For the Coconut Pecan Filling:
- 1/4 cup (56g) Vegan Butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Coconut Milk
- 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup (50g) Coconut Flakes*
- 1/2 cup (60g) Pecans (Chopped)*
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- 2 cups (240g) Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 cup (42g) Cocoa Powder (Unsweetened)
- 1/3 cup (75g) Vegan Butter
- 3 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp Coconut Milk*
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For Decoration (Optional):
- Coconut Flakes
- Chopped Pecans
- Vegan Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 8 inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and then add the sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Prepare your flax egg by adding 1 and 1/2 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding in 4 and 1/2 Tbsp hot water (this equals 1 and 1/2 flax eggs). Leave it to sit for a minute and become gloopy.
- Add in the soy milk, vanilla extract, oil, vinegar and flax eggs to your dry ingredients and mix in. Use a hand whisk to briefly mix it all together removing any lumps (tiny lumps are fine) but being careful not to overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and then place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before adding filling or frosting.
- While the cakes are baking, prepare your coconut pecan filling. Mix the cornstarch into the cold coconut milk and whisk so that it’s well mixed in. Then add the vegan butter to a saucepan and let it melt before you add the brown sugar and coconut milk/cornstarch mix. Stir constantly until the mixture boils and starts to thicken, then remove it from the heat and add in the vanilla, coconut flakes and chopped pecans. Set aside to cool completely before using.
- Prepare your chocolate buttercream frosting. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vegan butter, 3 Tbsp of coconut milk and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Start off at slow speed, gradually increasing speed until it’s very thick and smooth. If needed, add in around 1/2 tsp of extra coconut milk to get to the ideal consistency. I prefer to add this in last, only if needed, as you want this to be thick, but it still should be spreadable. If it’s still too thick, add in more coconut milk a drop at a time until you get the right consistency.
- When the cakes are completely cool and your coconut/pecan filling is completely cold, then you can finalize your cake. Add all the coconut/pecan filling to the middle layer and then all the chocolate buttercream to the top. If you want to frost the sides as well you can do that, there is enough frosting to allow for this.
- Decorate the cake with coconut flakes, chopped pecans and vegan chocolate chips (optional).
Notes
*Weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
*You can switch the soy milk in the cake for another non-dairy milk like almond milk if you prefer.
*I like using extra virgin olive oil in my baking, but if you prefer you can use a different vegetable oil.
*White vinegar is interchangeable with apple cider vinegar in this recipe.
*Coconut Flakes or Shredded Coconut are basically the same thing, but shredded coconut pieces are generally smaller, but you can use either/or.
*Pecans can be raw or roasted.
*I used coconut milk in the frosting as I already had a can of coconut milk open for use in the coconut/pecan filling. However, if you want to use a different non-dairy milk such as soy or almond, you can also do that.
- Category: Baking, Dessert, Cakes
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 12)
- Calories: 562
- Sugar: 53.7g
- Sodium: 385mg
- Fat: 26.4g
- Saturated Fat: 9.4g
- Carbohydrates: 80.2g
- Fiber: 5.3g
- Protein: 6.2g
Keywords: vegan german chocolate cake
This was so good! I used apricot preserves for the middle and the coconut frosting on the top and skipped the chocolate frosting. It was amazing and while I meant to share it with others, it ended up being breakfast for a week 😉 I used coconut milk in the cake too, and chia instead of flax.
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it and a pretty great breakfast choice in my view. 😉 Thanks for sharing Brandy.
Can you use turbinado sugar instead of the white sugar?
Yes, I think that would be fine.
Hi,I want to bake this cake for my dad this Father’s Day. Can I make coconut flakes at home as I have desiccated coconut or fresh coconut??
Apparently you can make coconut flakes from fresh coconut, but that’s not something I’ve ever done. If you google it there are a few tutorials.
Hey there! For the coconut pecan filling can I use normal dairy butter?
Sure!
Sinfully good
★★★★★
Thanks Julie!
I did the chocolate cake part with another chocolate frosting for my sister’s birthday and it was a success! Everybody loved it, so rich and chocolaty!
★★★★★
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
I made this for my husband’s birthday and everyone loved it! It did come out a bit crumbly at first, but I put it in the fridge after under plastic wrap and it made it even more moist and stuck together so much better! Flavor was 10/10.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the great review Shelly!
Hi !! I can’t find vegan butter, what can I use instead?
You can use any dairy free margarine. Or you can make homemade vegan butter. 🙂
I just had to come back and tell you that this recipe was amazing. I mean fantastic! I made this for my hubbs last night as his first plant based birthday cake, and it was so freaking good! He could not believe it was vegan! I couldn’t either! And also having made a conventional version of the cake this one was so much easier! No tempering eggs or buying expensive baking chocolate! I loved it and just had to come by and thank you for the recipe! So, Thank you!!!
★★★★★
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks so much for the awesome review Jessie! 🙂
This is such a great recipe – I’ve tried so many and this will be the one I come back to time and time again! I made 1.5 times the buttercream and used that instead of the proper filling, as this was for a birthday cake for a party with non-vegans and I didn’t want to weird them out 😂 The amount of buttercream was perfect and everyone said how lovely it was so thank you!
I will definitely make the full recipe next time as the filling looks amazing and different.
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
This cake was amazing! I made this cake for my best friend’s birthday. She is vegan and I have never attempted to make a vegan cake before.
The only change that I made was that I doubled the coconut-pecan frosting and I did not make the butter cream frosting. She is a fan of a traditional cake. She absolutely LOVED it! It was moist and it wasn’t spongy like I have experienced with other vegan cakes. I can’t wait to make this again and not tell my family that it is vegan. My husband claims that he is allergic to anything remotely too healthy. 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad it was a hit! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
The cake was delicious, however I made 2 batches and they definitely were very thick, the batter was very thick the first time almost like brownie batter. I added more almond milk for a thinner batter, but it still came out very thick. The entire cake taste great though, but texture is definitely everything with a cake. The frosting was perfecting, better than dairy versions. I did use raw cane sugar for the cake.
★★★★
Hi Kayte, I would guess that maybe there was a bit too much flour. It’s good that you added extra almond milk though, good thinking. If you make it again, be sure to use either a food scale to weigh the flour or use the spoon and level method for measuring your flour in cups. The batter is definitely supposed to be much thinner than a brownie batter. 🙂
I made this cake for my father-in-law’s birthday today. He was very emotional and said it was incredibly close to the one his mom used to make. He really couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. This recipe is amazing and so simple to make. Thank you!!
★★★★★
That is wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂
Hi there, I don’t like soy products or white sugar but this cake looks amazing and I want to try it. Can I use almond milk or another nut milk and raw brown sugar? thanks! Lara Catherine
Sure! 🙂
Hi… Can i use chia seeds to replace flax seed. If its posible, how much i need to use it?
Hi Melissa, yes you can replace a flax egg with a chia egg, it is made the exact same way. 🙂
Thanks Alison. I’m making your chocolate gluten free cake. Just recently i knew he needs to do some diet for his allergies and his sister’s birthday is comming. I’m so happy to find your blog so i can make a birthday cake for my daughter which my son can eat too. 😊 So thank u very much for sharing.
Hi,
I am making this cake for my moms birthday, and I’m not going to tell her I’m making it and I’m not telling anyone it’s vegan. Would it keep in the fridge for 3 days okay? Or would it dry out?
Erin
Hi Erin, it would be fine in the fridge so long as it is covered. You could also frost the sides if you’re worried about the sides drying out, but as long as it’s covered in the fridge, either way would be fine. 🙂