This vegan German chocolate cake is so delicious! It’s moist and rich with a coconut pecan filling and a chocolate buttercream frosting.
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.
We made this cake in 8-inch cake pans but the layers are so nice and fat it would be totally great in 9 inch cake pans too.
The cake recipe is super simple and straightforward, no fancy ingredients, but it results in pure chocolate cake perfection, moist and rich and a total delight in taste and texture.
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.
And if you love all things chocolate cake, then you’ll LOVE our most amazing vegan chocolate cake recipe as well.
How To Make Vegan German Chocolate Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Add wet ingredients and mix it into a cake batter. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Divide the batter between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper on the bottom).
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
- When the cakes are baked, let them cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- While the cakes are baking, prepare your coconut pecan filling.
- And your chocolate buttercream frosting.
- When your cakes are cooled completely, add all the coconut pecan filling to the middle layer and then all the chocolate buttercream frosting to the top.
- Decorate the cake with coconut flakes, chopped pecans and vegan chocolate chips.
Ingredient Notes
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 whatever is easier to get hold of.
Coconut. I used coconut flakes, which are the quite large flakes of coconut, 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 Frosting
The coconut pecan mix goes in the middle of this vegan German chocolate cake, and a delicious chocolate buttercream frosting goes on the top.
We 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.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge where they will stay good for 5 days. You can also freeze the frosted cake for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature on the counter before serving.
More Delicious Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan White Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Vegan Coconut Cake
- Vegan Pound Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the Vegan Chocolate Cake:
- 2 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour (281g)
- ¾ cup Cocoa Powder (63g) Unsweetened
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 ½ Flax Eggs (1 and ½ Tbsp Ground Flaxseeds + 4 and ½ Tbsp Hot Water)
For the Coconut Pecan Filling:
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter (56g)
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar (100g)
- ½ cup Canned Coconut Milk (120ml) Full Fat, Unsweetened
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Coconut Flakes (50g)
- ½ cup Pecans (60g) Chopped
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar (240g)
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder (42g) Unsweetened
- ⅓ cup Vegan Butter (75g)
- 3 ½ Tablespoons Coconut Milk
- 1 teaspoon 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 ½ Tbsp ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding in 4 and ½ Tbsp hot water (this equals 1 and ½ 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 extra coconut milk a tiny bit at a time to get to the ideal 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 or use the ‘spoon and level’ method: spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
- 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.
- You can also make this cake in two 9-inch cake pans.
- Keep the cake stored in the fridge (covered) for 5 days.
Shelly W. says
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.
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the great review Shelly!
Dana says
Hi !! I can’t find vegan butter, what can I use instead?
Alison Andrews says
You can use any dairy free margarine. Or you can make homemade vegan butter. 🙂
Jessie R says
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!!!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks so much for the awesome review Jessie! 🙂
Sue Lovell says
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.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Natasha says
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. 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So glad it was a hit! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Kayte Anderson says
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.
Alison Andrews says
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. 🙂
Amy says
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!!
Alison Andrews says
That is wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂
Lara Catherine says
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
Alison Andrews says
Sure! 🙂
Melissa says
Hi… Can i use chia seeds to replace flax seed. If its posible, how much i need to use it?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Melissa, yes you can replace a flax egg with a chia egg, it is made the exact same way. 🙂
Melissa says
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.
Erin says
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
Alison Andrews says
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. 🙂
JClark says
Hi! What alternatives would you recommend if you don’t have flax seed eggs or vegan butter? I’m overseas and they don’t have these in the country I’m in right now. I really want to make this cake!
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, you can replace the flax eggs with applesauce, I would use 5 Tbsp applesauce to replace the flax eggs. And then look for a dairy free margarine, you can usually find one. All the best! 🙂
Hamilton says
I made this recipe with a double batch of frosting to hide the kind of cake it was for a birthday celebration. It was outrageously delicious. The cake was lush. The filling was so decadent. The frosting was rich and and so nice to apply. It was a complete success with all happy eaters very complimentary! Vegan world is the best world and having these kind of recipes makes the baking part so much fun!!!
Love your tips, comments and helps.
This is cake #2 and I look forward to the next one!
S.Ham
Alison Andrews says
This is so awesome to hear! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful rating! 🙂
Marie says
Could I replace 1/2 cup of the soy milk with strong coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Marie, yes this should work fine! 🙂
Maura Fay says
This cake sounds wonderful. What is flax egg? Can I use ordinary hens eggs instead!
Maura XXX
Alison Andrews says
Hi Maura, flax egg is ground flaxseed meal mixed with water, all the instructions are in the recipe card. Flax eggs can be replaced with chicken eggs if you want to.
Jess says
I made this for my mom (because it’s her favorite cake) and it was so good! I doubled the pecan/coconut filling and put it in the middle and on top and put the chocolate buttercream on the sides of the cake. The cake itself was excellent and will definitely be saving the recipe for future chocolate cake needs! 🙂 I am vegan and my mom is far from it and here is what she said “Thank you for making the very best German chocolate cake ever!” and thank you, Alison, for helping me to do it!
Alison Andrews says
That is so awesome Jess! Thanks so much for the fantastic review! xo