German Chocolate Cake V 2.0

German Chocolate Cake is an annual tradition for Branden's birthday. I've slowly been making little tweaks to our previously posted recipe over the years, so it's time for an update!

Chocolate Crazy Cake

2 1/3 cups soymilk
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
12 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9" cake pans.

To make soy "buttermilk": whisk together soymilk and vinegar, let sit for a few minutes while you do the rest of the steps.

Mix the dry ingredients. Stir in all wet ingredients. Mix gently until smooth. 

Pour into the cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Coconut-pecan frosting

This is borrowed and adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (which you should all own a copy of!).

1/4 cup soymilk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3/4 cup coconut milk (the fatty kind in a can)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Whisk together soymilk, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside for now.

Add sugar, maple syrup, and coconut milk to a medium pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, on med-low heat until it comes to a slow boil. Turn heat down to low and cook for five more minutes.

Give that soymilk mixture another whisking for good measure, then slowly whisk it into the coconut mixture in the pot. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2-5 minutes until the mixture is very thick.

Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Cool to room temperature before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2-4 tablespoons soy milk (or coconut milk if you're in a really coconutty mood)
1 tablespoon vanilla
pinch of salt

Cream all the ingredients together, using only as much milk as is needed to make it spreadable.

Once the cakes and coconut frosting are cool, frost the top of the bottom cake layer with the chocolate frosting, then stack the second layer on top and cover its top with the coconut frosting.