The Story:
Last weekend, I baked 100 cupcakes at my family reunion for my father’s 60th birthday. Along with Cookies & Cream, Blueberry Lemon and Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, I made his all-time favorite: German Chocolate.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
3 eggs
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
German Chocolate Frosting:
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup chopped pecans
1 ½ cup flaked coconut
Chocolate Buttercream:
4 ounces cream cheese
½ cup butter
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk or cream (if needed)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two muffin tins with 20-24 cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, gently combine oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
3. Sift (for easy mixing) in about 1/3 of the cake mix and stir until combined.
4. Add Buttermilk and stir until combined.
5. Add another third of the cake mix (again, sifting for easy stirring).
6. Add sour cream, then final third of cake mix.
7. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
8. German Chocolate Frosting: On medium heat in a sauce pan, constantly stir evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks and butter until thickened. (Basically, until it boils and it will take approximately 15 minutes.) Stir in vanilla extract, pecans and coconut. Let cool.
9. Chocolate Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter for 4 minutes. Add cocoa, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Let beat for 3 minutes. If it is too thick, add milk. If it is too thin, add powdered sugar. Or if it is not dark enough, add more cocoa.
10. Pipe Chocolate Buttercream around the edge of the cupcakes tocreate a barrier, and scoop a small amount of cooled German Chocolate Frosting into the center.
Copyright © YourCupofCake
I asbolutely love your cupcakes, I think they are always so beautifully decorated! I remember reading one of your posts about a wedding that you made cupcakes for…my good friends have asked me to do the same and while I'm completely honored, I'm so nervous about it! Any tips for me?!
Plan ahead. When I made cupcakes for my best friends wedding I was able to made my decorations ahead of time.
Also do not!!! decorate until you get there. I would have been a nervous wreck if I had been trying to transport 300 frosted cupcakes.
Another thing, bring a helper but be very clear about what you need/want them to do. I piped all the cupcakes and she added the decorations, sprinkles and drizzle. (but not until I had showed her exactly how I wanted it).
Over prepare, what a bummer it would be if you didn’t have enough frosting.
How dedicated, making 100 cupcakes for his birthday! I guess we both have the same great tastes in cupcakes-my pick would have been the german chocolate also. These look simply delicious. Thanks for sharing.
These are absolutely gorgeous!
Is there any way to have a Tiramisu cup cake on the roster?
Such a pretty cupcake! My dad would go nuts over these!
These look so delicious with the scoop of german chocolate frosting on top and the border of chocolate frosting. I'm so making these, thanks
Hey my seven little kids went nuts after these. After making 8 pieces, they even want me to bake more! Especially my 4 year old son,he keeps on shouting "Hey mom I want more! Please!" I tasted it, and wow it's really yummy.!
Gorgeous, as usual! But the thing about your cupcakes is not only are they beautiful, they are also easy and best of all, delicious!!! You are a genius
Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!! Looks like a new favorite of mine! Beautiful!
Those look so beautiful. The coconut part is always my favorite – it looks so good. Mmmm
My goodness, post me some please?? haha
These look absolutely fabulous! Your father is one lucky man and im sure was absolutely elated. These are beautiful 
GORGEOUS!!!!! All of the flavors you baked sound wonderful, I would have a hard time choosing which one, so I'd just take one of each
yum, yum, yum! made these over the weekend. sooooo good. german chocolate is my hubby's fav! can these be frozen? or just the cupcake frozen and frosted later? can the frosting be frozen?
thanks and keep them coming!
Lorene
I'm curious. I'll be making 100 cupcakes for a teacher luncheon. Did you make in batches or mix dough in double or triple batches? Did you rotate your baking tins? Inquiring minds want to know how to pull this off. I'm thinking I will need to make the cupcakes this weekend, freeze them, then frost them the night before the event. Any thoughts on that?
I always bake the day of an event, even if it's 300 for a wedding. For this event, I made double batches and I usually have 4 pans, two in the oven at a time. 100 cupcakes really is not too stressful, you will do great! Email if you have more questions!
Hi Lizzy, found your blog through Pinterest. I know the feeling of baking for large groups. I make almost 100 cupcakes for my daughter's bridal shower last spring. It's too fun and the joy of seeing everyone eating the cupcakes and smiling, is the best!
I just made these last night and they were a hug hit!!! I love baking all your cupcakes!! I was wondering where do you buy you cupcake liners? Mine always look greasy and lose color..
I usually use white (because they are cheeper), but when I want to get fancy I will get some off Etsy.com, Amazon, or head out to Michaels or another decorating store. There are grease proof liners you can look for, more expensive, but they look very professional.
I made these for an Oktoberfest type dinner last Saturday night. They were just wonderful and got great reviews! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
Those are so beautiful. What tip did you use for the Chocolate Buttercream? Thank you!
I made these and am so happy I tried this recipe. They are amazing!
how would you be able to make vanila frosting?i'm not that much of a sweet tooth.
Just omit the cocoa powder and add a little extra powdered sugar to keep the frosting thick enough. Good luck!
Found this after searching for best German Chocolate cakes. My sweetheart has loved this as his birthday cake for many many years. On his 51st, he said this was THE BEST homemade German Chocolate cake he’s ever eaten–Thank You! Next time I’m going for the cupcake style since they look soooo perfect and I know the taste is beyond amazing!
I am so glad he loved it!
Oh gosh! Thank you for posting this!
I unwittingly started a tradition of making homemade German Chocolate cakes for people on their last days of work, but I hated watching people being so messy cutting a layer cake. I just couldn’t figure out a way to include the classic frosting, but present it in a cupcake. But this is FANTASTIC! It looks as elegant as the full sized cake!
You’re an inspiration. I plan on using the recipe straight off the German chocolate bar, but I’ll be using that chocolate buttercream one from you!
Thank you so much, from someone who usually sticks to cookies.
Hello! I am actually making these beautiful creations as I type! I was wondering if you could tell me what you scooped your frosting with… I was thinking of using a cookie scooper… but I’m afraid that will be too big and I’m sure I will mess up the barrier… do you think those of us who are less professional should scoop first… then do the chocolate frosting? Hope to hear back soon… thanks!
Pipe the barrier, then use a spoon to place the coconut pecan frosting in the center. You won’t get a perfect round top, but it will keep you from making a mess. I used a mini cookie scoop.
hi lizzy, i wana try to cut this recipe in half coz it makes too much cupcakes. so should i use 1/2 box of the devils food cake mix????
Yes, just do that!
I made these for a co worker’s birthday. They all accused me of buying them and putting them in my own container and pretending I made them. lol. They were soooo awesome. Love the chocolate frosting.
Hey! These look AMAZING! I am going to make some in a couple of weeks and was wondering what decorating tip you used to pipe the chocolate frosting on the cupcakes with. Thanks!
The tip says… Magic tip 2C on it. It is a medium sized closed star tip.
I tried these today for one of my husband’s co-worker’s birthday and they turned out awesome! So cute and very delicious!
Do you recall what tip you used to pipe the frosting? I would like to copy these for a German festival coming up.
The tip says magic 2C. It is a medium size closed star tip with about 10 prongs. Just find something similar and it will look fabulous.
I made these for my Daddy for Father’s Day and they were AMAZING! I used a German Chocolate Cake mix instead and spruced it up, but the frosting was to die for.
I made these cupcakes yesterday, and I have to say these are the best cupcakes I’ve ever had in my life! The batter was like chocolate pudding lol, and the frosting was so amazing people said if I gave them a bowl of just the icing they would be happy. =D Amazing recipe! 5 Stars!
I made 6 dozen of these for an office birthday party, and they were a huge hit. Before finding this recipe, I was unsure how to translate a normal German Chocolate recipe into cupcakes without covering all of my coworkers in Butter Pecan Frosting. The Chocolate Buttercream served as a delicous barrier to keep all of gooey goodness in place. This recipe is totally worth the extra work. I was told by more than one person that it was the best German Chocolate cake they had ever tasted. Thanks for sharing, I now have one more staple recipe in my cupcake repertoire!
Made these today, but instead of piping buttercream frosting around the edge, I just traditionally frosted them with the German Chocolate frosting (and I had extra to boot!). They were delicious! The cupcake recipe was great because they came out of the oven looking perfectly round and tasted moist and fluffy.
I was wondering if I could use the German chocolate cake mix instead of the devils food?
Wow! They look so beautyful!!!
My Dad’s 65 birthday is this weekend. I asked him if he would like me to make him some German Chocolate cupcakes, he said YES. He loves German Chocolate. I can’t wait to make these for him.
I don’t even LIKE german chocolate cake, but I had an order for birthday cuppies and tried out several recipes that looked promising. I used a german cake mix, but otherwise stuck fafithfully to your recipe, and HOLY HECK! woman, these are amazing! Thank you for posting – these will become a new addition to my repertoire.
I made these for my husband’s birthday. They were beautiful, and absolutely wonderful. I’ll definitely be making these again. Thanks for sharing.
I have watched ur website for over a year now. Last night I finally baked my first batch of ur cupcakes. Omg! Absolutely delicious! I’m on a search for my wedding cupcakes, and I found my first winning recipe. Thank u!
I would make the German chocolate cupcakes first. Then I wouldn’t be able to decide what to do next! I am so glad I found your website. Thanks so much!
I was just curious, i love the cupcakes, but want to make it in an actual cake version, any degree differences? cook time differences?
Is it necessary to use devil cake mix.? Can we use other chocolate cake recipe? Or else pls suggest the recipe for the devil cake mix
I made these for Christmas they were a big hit,I don’t like german chocolate
But these were the best Thanks!!!!!
Thanks for the recipe, will try it one day. Been looking for the German chocolate cake ‘recipe for so long, now I got it, so nice of you,
Hey Lizzie, Do you have a recipe for your Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes that you mention in the story? I couldn’t find them on here sorry!
*Lizzy. So rude sorry! I hate it when people spell my name wrong & it’s right in front of them haha
Use this cake recipe
http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2012/03/chocolate-lemon-cupcakes.html
With this buttercream (if you can find freezedried strawberries from Trader Joes or a Whole Foods, they are the BEST)
http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2012/06/strawberry-pop-tart-cupcakes.html
Thanks heaps!!
can’t wait to try!
Not going to lie, I get very excited when I see that you have posted a new recipe!
You have a wonderful site and I can’t wait to try some of your recipes. All of them look simply delicious Thank you for sharing with everyone. I found you via Pinterest.
Happy you found me!!! Love Pinterest!
Can you use the same recipe and make it into a two-layer cake? I made these last year for my mom’s birthday as cupcakes and I’m thinking this year we’ll go for a cake. She LOVED it – it tastes amazing!
Yes you can!!!
This recipe is delicious and I just pinned it to Pinterest. The batter is moist and fluffy. I loved the buttercream. And the topping is rich and delicious; I toasted the coconut and pecans as well. Thank you for this excellent recipe!
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I made them for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day and he loved them. Now I am making them for my friend’s birthday. The cake turns out so moist and fluffy. The buttercream is delicious and the topping is perfect.
I LOVE these cupcakes! I have made these before and want to make them again but I can’t remember what size box of devils food cake mix I used! What size does this call for?? And I am pinning to my pinterest so I can find it easily next time
The new 15 oz boxes are totally fine!
lizzy. You cupcake looks very good. I would love to make these cupcakes for my daughter graduation party. I have a question and Please I hope you can answer it. Can I keep the cupcakes with the chocolate buttercream frosting at the room temperature? I am always concerned of making some frosting that has cream cheese because once I red Martha Stewart saying that the cupcakes should be kept in the refrigerated. For how long can I keep them outside a fridge? Thanks and you have great talent and I loved your site. All the best. Maria.
I am aking these right now! Do these need to be refrigerated ? The frosting ingredients tell me yes?
If you use it within 24 hours you are totally fine! But more than that… I would freeze in a container. Refrigerating dries out cake…
Lizzy! I was looking for some info on German chocolate frosting and came across your blog. I’m so excited that you’ve turned it into something so successful. You’re so adorable. And Sophie still talks about you when she talks about Free for All. Clay was great last summer but it just wasn’t the same without you
Well I hope it wasn’t the same without me!
So great to hear from you Emma!
Can I make the german chocolate frosting without the coconut? My husband loves german chocolate cske but not the coconut.
Yes, you may want to increase the nuts or decrease the liquid a little to make up for the lost coconut. Don’t want it to be too drippy!
So happy at last I got this recipe (German chocolate cake) will try one day, thanks . It looks tempting.