Easy 5-Ingredient German Chocolate Cake
This Easy German Chocolate Cake is a simple, easy-to-make cake—just FIVE ingredients—but the results are spectacular!
Update: This Easy German Chocolate Cake recipe has been a family favorite for a long time, so I thought it was high time to make it again with some new photos and share it with new readers who may have missed it the first time around.
So confession time—I’m a little bit picky about my chocolate cake. I love a good chocolate cake, as you can see from the Cake section of this website. It’s gotten to the point where each of my kids has a different favorite chocolate cake—my daughter prefers an old Hershey’s Chocolate Cake recipe that’s a little more mild, while boys prefers a rich Old-Fashioned Dark Chocolate Cake that really features the dark cocoa flavor.
And then there’s my husband who is crazy about this German Chocolate Cake. He always wants this same cake for his birthday and he wants it to taste just like Mom used to make. My mother-in-law gave me her recipe for Coconut-Almond Frosting for German Chocolate Cake when we were first married, and I’ve been making it ever since.
We’ve tried several German Chocolate Cake recipes over the years. By far the best and easiest we’ve found is Anne Byrn’s Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor, which has a recipe for German Chocolate Cake from a mix that is moist and delicious, even though it starts from a box. When combined with my mother-in-law’s Coconut-Almond Frosting, it is irresistible!
I know some people prefer to make German Chocolate Cake with pecans in their frosting, and you can substitute pecans for the almonds in this recipe. However, if you’ve never tried German Chocolate Cake with an almond frosting, I strongly encourage you to give it a try! It’s fabulous this way!
Also, if you’re making this cake for a special occasion, head on over to my Tips for Baking Layer Cakes post. It’s a handy guide I wrote up with all the tips and tricks I’ve picked over the years.
Easy German Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coconut-Almond Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 (7 oz. package) sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup sliced almonds
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the cake mix, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl on low speed for one minute until combined. Beat at medium speed for two minutes more. Pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake 38–42 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Can also be baked in two 9 inch round pans for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and remove from pans. I like to line my round cake pans with parchment paper before adding batter for easy removal from the pan
Coconut-Almond Frosting
Combined butter, sugar, evaporated milk and eggs* in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 12 minutes or until thickened. Add vanilla, coconut and almonds. Cool to room temperature before frosting cake.
*You can also warm up the butter, sugar and evaporated milk and temper the eggs before adding them to the saucepan.
Other chocolate cake recipes from Barbara Bakes that you may love:
- Triple Chocolate Cake with a Coconut Cream Cheese Filling
- Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Maraschino Cherry Filling
- Triple Chocolate Layer Cake
- Chocolate Cake with an Oreo Cheesecake Filling
- Chocolate Cheesecake Cake
- Turtle Chocolate Poke Cake
- Black Forest Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake Cake
- Cherry Chocolate Cake for Two
- Chocolate Cake for Two with a Coconut-Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
- Peanut Butter Cheesecake Chocolate Cake
Pin It:
What did you use for the chocolate drizzle? And how much?
Just a little melted chocolate – just a handful.
I have scrambled eggs in my icing.
Hi Katie – if your eggs are not incorporated well into the milk, then you can get little bits of scrambled egg white. Next time try warming up the butter, sugar and evaporated milk and tempering the eggs (add a little of the warmed liquid to the eggs) before adding them to the saucepan. See the note at the bottom of the recipe for a link to more information about tempering eggs.
Do I make the cake mix per the box instructions?? Then add the buttermilk and stuff on top of it???
Hi Holly – no you don’t make the cake mix per the box instructions. Just add the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla instead of the ingredients listed on the box.
The frosting looks very blonde in color ?
If you use a darker colored nut, such as pecans, the frosting does get a little darker.
I tried the Easy German chocolate cake recipe with a few changes. I added a stick of butter, 2 tsp. of chocolate extract and 1 cup of chocolate chips. I also added a box of chocolate fudge pudding. I baked it in 2 9 inch layers. For the frosting, I used pecans instead of the almonds. Turned out great!
Did you use the butter in place of the oil or in addition to the oil?
In place of the oil. It tastes like like a cake from the bakery. I also added a 4 oz bar of bakers sweet German chocolate.
Can you make this “Easy German Chocolate Cake” in a bundt pan?
Hi Eileen – you could, but the nice thing about doing it as a layer cake is you have more surface area for the frosting. You could make it a 9×13 pan too.
Help! I’ve been stirring the frosting mixture for about 12 min and it’s not thickening! Any suggestions??
Hi Janna – try cooking it for a few minute longer should help. If cooking it longer doesn’t help, you can try adding another egg. Whisk some of the hot liquid into the egg to temper it and then add it to the mixture. Also, when you add in the coconut and almonds, that absorbs some of the liquid as well, so you don’t want it spreadable thick – the consistency of a thin pudding. It will also thicken as it cools. Hope that helps and that it worked out well for you!
What would you bake these at if you were making them into cupcakes?:)
Hi Danae – I also did a cupcake version http://www.barbarabakes.com/german-chocolate-cupcakes-with-coconut-almond-frosting/ Enjoy!
Thank you!!:)
Thanks for your help, I’m extremely grateful!
I left it over medium, mixing constantly as instructed, and I’m left with coagulation. Yes, I’ve tempered the eggs prior. I’m so disappointed.
Sorry Sandra that is disappointing. Perhaps your eggs need a bit more of the warm mixture when tempering.
I used the Easy German Chocolate Cake receipe & it was delicious, but when I sliced it, it fell apart.I live in CO. Could this be because of the altitude?
Hi Kitty – so glad you enjoyed it. I’m not sure why it would fall apart, but I don’t think it’s altitude since I bake at about 4,000 feet. Usually when you use a cake mix the additives the put in make the cake very forgiving. Perhaps you forgot an ingredient, or it wasn’t a typical cake mix?
Im interested in making this into a 3 layer cake because I think it looks pretty….(and doubling the icing recipe). For how long should I bake it?
Hi Michelle – I haven’t tried it, but your cook time should be about 25 minutes. I’m sure it will be spectacular. 🙂
Do you really mean 1 TABLESPOON of vanilla for the frosting? In the cake its 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract…is it 1 Tablespoon of pure vanilla extract for the frosting as well?
Hi Mary – yes the recipe is correct. The cake is chocolate so you really don’t need as much vanilla in it. It’s mainly just to boost the flavor of the cake mix a bit. If you’re concerned about putting that much in the frosting, just add a little at a time and taste it and see if you want to add more. It’s really just a preference thing.
Thank you, Barbara! This cake was exactly what I was looking for: easy (but a step above the overly simplified ones), with a 9×13 option (this cake had to travel). I used pecans in the frosting instead of almonds with confidence, as you had said in the comments section that the substitution could be made. Everything went just as you said it should, and I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thanks Lynn! I look forward to you trying more recipes too.
How many oz are in the box cake mix you use? Some brands are different.
Hi Megan – I used a traditional 18.25 oz. box, but others have had success using the recipe with a 15.25 oz box. I don’t know why they thought it was a good idea to reduce the size of a cake mix.
What type of butter should I use? Salted or unsalted?
Hi Danielle – it doesn’t make a big difference in this recipe. I just use whatever I have on hand. Probably salted would be better since there’s no salt in the recipe.
Looks amazeballs!! Have you ever made this recipe into cupcakes? If so, what is the baking time??
Thanks! Yes I have and they’re just as amazing. 20 – 25 minutes http://www.barbarabakes.com/2010/10/german-chocolate-cupcakes-with-coconut-almond-frosting/
very nice