German Chocolate Cupcakes, makes just 4 cupcakes with creamy coconut and pecan frosting.
If there’s one cake that the world forgot about, it’s German Chocolate Cake! Why is this? We have to fix it!
It’s such a tragedy that the world has seen less chocolate cakes filled with creamy, sweet, coconutty frosting with pecans stirred in.
Personally, I can’t live without German chocolate cake, so I know your life must be lacking, too.
I made us a small batch of chocolate cupcakes; these are my go-to chocolate cupcakes that just so happen to be egg-free, so if you have egg allergies, you’re in luck! Instead, I rely on the reactions between baking soda and vinegar to provide the lift and fluff in these chocolate cupcakes.
Plus, I’ve always thought that the flavor of eggs competes with chocolate in cakes and cupcakes (but that’s just my ridiculous palate!)
The frosting on these German Chocolate Cupcakes is made with evaporated milk, an egg yolk (oops, stir in cornstarch if you have egg allergies), sugar, butter, coconut and chopped pecans. It’s creamy and perfect for piling on cupcakes!
I’ve also doubled this frosting recipe and stuck it between my mini chocolate cake recipe that I first sliced in half. I put a version of that cake in my cookbook Dessert for Two if you need more specifics!
I get asked a lot if you can double my recipes, and the truth is, I only test my recipes the way you see written here. However, there are lots of people who do double my recipes frequently (including my Mom), and they report back on their success. This cupcake recipe is reportedly easy to double, which would yield 8 cupcakes for you.
Please make these German chocolate cupcakes and make sure the world doesn’t forget about this delicious chocolate cake with creamy, nutty coconut frosting!
German Chocolate Cupcakes
German chocolate cake cupcakes!
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4teaspoon baking powder
- 4 teaspoons canola oil
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
For the frosting:
- 5 oz. evaporated milk (the small can)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 4 cups of a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Pour the milk into a small bowl. Add the vinegar and let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the canola oil, vanilla and brown sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the oil and brown sugar mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk mixture.
- Divide the batter between the 4 muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Next, make the frosting: in a small saucepan, add the evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolk and butter. Turn the heat to medium low and cook while stirring until mixture starts to simmer around the edges of the pan. Lower the heat slightly, then continue to cook while stirring another 1 minute. Turn off heat, and stir in the pecans and coconut flakes. Pour the mixture into a bowl, let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to serve the cupcakes.
- To serve, frost the cupcakes with the chilled frosting.
Notes
Yes, you can double this recipe to make more than 4 cupcakes.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 417Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 290mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 2gSugar: 36gProtein: 6g
Wow! Glad to get caught up on your news. I wondered why you were moving. I’m SOO excited you get to be closer to your family! That’s the best. Especially, once you and the Mr. DFT start having babies. hehe
These look divine! Yes, moving closer to family is always a good thing ;-)
German chocolate cake is my husband’s favorite and it was his birthday last weekend. Instead of making the cupcakes, I doubled the recipe and turned it into a six inch cake. It was perfect! I doubled the icing recipe too, but I probably could have left that as is, though I’m not complaining:-) My husband loved this version and we’ll definitely be making it again. Love your recipes, as always!
Thanks, Lindsay! It’s good to know this recipe can be doubled into a mini cake! I’ll keep that in mind! Thank you :) Tell the hubs Happy Birthday for me!
Made these for hubby’s birthday. His favorite cake is German Chocolate. He, my mother and I loved these! So very good. They are requesting more already. Thank you so much for sharing such a great recipe. We’ve been trying to reduce the quantities of sweets we eat and this fit the bill perfectly.
Thanks for writing, Ang, and thanks for the great review! :)
Thanks for the recipe. Do you know how many ounces I’d use if I wanted to use german chocolate baking bar instead of powder? Thank you so much!
Hi Kimberly!
Do you mean melting a German chocolate baking bar of chocolate and substituting that for cocoa powder? I haven’t tried that. I’m sorry. If you try it and have great results, let me know :)
~Happy baking
Christina
Came across your blog while searching for 2 serving chocolate cake, and now I can’t tell you how happy I am in finding ur blog. I like everything that is small and cute and ur blog is so perfect. I came in search of chocolate cake and now I can’t decide which one to try first. Thank you so much for ur recipes .
My husband wanted German Chocolate cake for his birthday. I’m dieting, he’s not, so thank you for the solution. The batter tastes good! Cupcakes are in the oven now!
Would this recipe work if butter was used instead of canola oil?
Mmmm, not sure. I think it would, but they wouldn’t be as soft at room temperature. Try it :)
Ummmmmmmmm..Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk for the frosting?
It’s evaporated milk, like the recipe states, and you cook it to make it thick. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hey Christina, I’ve made so many of your recipes and they’re all awesome. Thanks so much for your terrific blog! I wanted to ask about brown sugar. Packed, lightly packed, not packed? Seems we all measure it differently. Also, does light or dark brown make a difference for the purposes of this recipe? Thanks agin!
Sorry, it’s always packed! I don’t know how to measure it any other way. I also can’t resist eating it right out of the bag LOL :)