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.
I was wondering if I’ve done something wrong. The cake turned out very dry…the flavor is super great, just didn’t want to waste the topping ingredients on the cake with it being super dry. I was going to try and make the cake again to see if I made a mistake…
Hi Kristina, the most likely reason is using too much flour. If you don’t have a food scale to weigh it out on, then the best way to measure it is 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. All the best! 🙂
Hi! Would it be weird to do a vanilla buttercream frosting on top instead? I want to be able to use food coloring in my frosting but don’t want it to taste odd. Thanks!
I think it would be great!
Hello! I am making this recipe for a friends birthday. She’s a big German chocolate cake fan. Are the coconut flakes for the filling sweetened or unsweetened? Also what kind of coconut milk would you recommend? Thanks for the recipe! It’s beautiful, I can’t wait to make it. 🙂
The coconut flakes are unsweetened and we recommend canned unsweetened full fat coconut milk. All the best! 🙂
Hi. I am willing to give it a try only I do not have 2 8 inch pans . Should I bake one big sponge and then cut in half or better to have them baked one after another? You are the first website where I go when I am looking for special but simple vegan cakes . They turn out delicious and recipes are easy to follow . Thank you
Hi Madalina, do you just have the one 8-inch pan? It would be best to halve the recipe in that case. The issue is that the cake batter once mixed shouldn’t sit for too long before baking, or it affects the rise and texture. So it doesn’t work well to bake one layer and then the other one later. However, if you halve the recipe you could bake it and then mix the second batch and bake it as soon as it has been mixed.
Hi, was wondering if I might be able to bake the cake earlier and transport it, and then frost it the next day? I’d like to make this for my sister but she doesn’t have an oven, hence.
Yes definitely! I would keep it covered in the fridge, and then let it come to room temperature, frost it and serve.
Made this yesterday for a friend’s birthday. It was incredible. Perfect texture of cake and the filling is to die for! I will absolutely be making this again. Tagged my photo on Instagram since it seems I can’t post it here!
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks so much for the great review and I’ll look for it now on insta!
This cake was amazingly delicious! Just made it this week for a birthday and friends couldn’t stop raving about it! (Almost vegan, I had to use real butter for the filling as I couldn’t find vegan). I also used an almond/coconut milk blend in place of the soy milk. Made the cake and filling the night before, refrigerated it, and then finished the following day with the frosting. It’s still moist and delicious days later! Can’t wait to make it again!
So glad it was a success Jaclyn! Thanks for sharing!
Can I use almond flour in this recipe?
Hi Vern, no that won’t work at all in this recipe.
I expected this to be good, but it turned out to be amazing! I decided to double up the coconut filling and put it on top instead of the frosting. I’m sure both ways are excellent! Very chocolatey, perfect level of sweet. And vegan!!
Wonderful! Thanks so much Jennifer!
Made this for my family tonight and everyone loved it.
The only change I made was to reduce the sugar in cake slightly (by 1/4cup) and I used a mix of brown and white sugar because that’s what I had on hand. It was perfect.
Awesome Kaitlyn, thanks for sharing!
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!