German chocolate cake

Rich, moist, chocolatey cake is covered with luscious coconut pecan frosting. No one will believe this is gluten-free and vegan. It was perfect to celebrate The Hubs’ birthday.

German chocolate cake, it turns out, is not from Germany. It’s a completely American dessert, named for the German chocolate brand of baking chocolate. I took the easy route, using a pre-packaged dark chocolate cake mix, doctoring it up a bit. And then I created this yummy frosting to replicate the coconut-pecan frosting. It was a big hit with everyone at the party.

German Chocolate Cake
Makes 12 servings

1 package gluten-free chocolate cake mix (I used Pure Pantry GF dark chocolate cake mix)
Ingredients to make the mix, see notes below

Coconut-Pecan Frosting
4 dates
1/2 C. (125 ml) coconut oil
1/2 C. (70 g) soy milk powder
1 T. (15 ml) vanilla
1 T. (15 ml) honey

1/2 C. (23 g) flaked unsweetened coconut
1/2 C. (60 g) raw or toasted pecans

Follow the package directions to make the cake batter with the following exception:
For one cup of water or milk, substitute 1 C. soy milk whisked with 1 t. apple cider vinegar and 1/2 t. salt. Let this sit about ten minutes to curdle before mixing it in. [This replicates the buttermilk found in German chocolate cake recipes.]

To prepare the mini-Bundt pan, grease each opening carefully with coconut oil, then dust it with cocoa powder. After baking, let it cool on a rack until all six cakes pull away from the sides. Loosen each cake with a rubber or plastic spatula, then put a wire rack on top of the pan, flipping the entire thing over and letting the cakes pop out. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, soak the dates for at least an hour in 1-1/2 C. of filtered water after removing the pits.

Toast the pecans in a dry skillet until fragrant. Roughly chop the pecans.

Using tongs, add the soaked dates to the blender.

To melt the coconut oil, heat water using a microwave or on the stove until pretty hot. Sit the glass jar of coconut oil in the hot water until it melts.

Add the melted coconut oil, soy powder, vanilla, and honey to the blender with the dates and blend on high until completely smooth and no flecks of dates are visible. Add enough date-soaking water as you blend to make a frosting that’s spreadable but still a little loose.

Pour into a bowl and stir in most of the pecans and the coconut. Frost each of the cakes with a generous dollop of frosting, allowing it to drip down the sides. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans and coconut.

Cut the cakes in half to serving 12.

Tagged as: coconut, coconut oil, honey, pecans, soy milk powder, vanilla