German Chocolate Cheesecake Cake
German Chocolate Cheesecake Cake starts with a cake mix swirled with a cheesecake filling and topped with the most amazing homemade frosting!
AN EASY LAYERED GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
Y’all, this cake recipe is so amazingly wonderful. It’s what happens when German Chocolate Cake and Cheesecake decide to get together and do a little hanky panky. The base of this cake starts off with a boxed cake mix (yay!) but the cheesecake layer and the frosting are from scratch. And the frosting, oh the frosting. It is heaven. The cake weighs about 2 tons when all is said and done, but it is so worth it (kinda like pregnancy).
CAKE + CHEESECAKE
My co-workers actually renamed this cake. The actual name given to this cake is “German Chocolate Cheesecake.” However, when I told them what I was bringing to share, they were expecting cheesecake with a German chocolate topping. Noooo, it’s a German chocolate cake with cheesecake running through it, I told them. So they ask, “Well, why isn’t it called German Chocolate Cheesecake Cake?” I said, “I don’t know, this is just what they call it. Will you just eat it?” And they did. And they loved it. And they keep asking for more. They are a spoiled bunch.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- German chocolate cake mix
- ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil & water
- cream cheese – forgot to take the cream cheese out to soften? See my tips on How to Soften Cream Cheese Quickly.
- sugar
- eggs – if you have time, allow the eggs to come to room temperature. This will help them mix into the batter much easier.
- evaporated milk
- salted butter
- egg yolks
- vanilla extract
- sweetened flaked coconut
- chopped pecans
HOW TO MAKE GERMAN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE CAKE:
Prepare cake batter according to package directions; set aside. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour half of the cake batter into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Gently pour cream cheese mixture over batter. Gently spoon remaining cake batter over top; spread to edge of pan.
Bake at 325° for 70-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 1 hour. For the frosting, in a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, butter and egg yolks. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until thickened and a thermometer reads 160° or is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla; fold in coconut and pecans. Cool until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Frost cooled cake.
Refrigerate leftovers.
Makes about 16 servings.
CRAVING MORE DESSERTS?
- German Chocolate Chip Muffins
- German Chocolate Brownies
- German Chocolate Poke Cake
- Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake
- Cheesecake Stuffed Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Pie Magic Cake
- Oreo Better than Sex Cake
- Cinnamon Roll Cake
- Italian Love Cake
- Italian Cream Cake
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
Originally published: April 2011
Updated & Republished: June 2019
German Chocolate Cheesecake Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 box German chocolate cake mix
- ingredients needed per package directions: eggs, oil and water
For the cheesecake filling:
- 2 (8 ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
For the coconut pecan frosting:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- ½ cup salted butter, cubed
- 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-1/2 cups sweetened flaked or shredded coconut
- 1-1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9X13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Prepare German chocolate cake batter according to package directions; set aside.
For the cheesecake filling:
- In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.
To prepare cake:
- Pour half of the prepared German chocolate cake batter into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Gently pour cream cheese mixture over batter. Gently spoon remaining cake batter over top; spread to edge of pan.
- Bake at 325° for 70-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 1 hour.
For the coconut pecan frosting:
- In a saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, butter and egg yolks Cook and stir over medium-low heat until thickened and a thermometer reads 160° or is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
- Remove from the heat.
- Stir in vanilla; fold in coconut and pecans.
- Cool until frosting reaches spreading consistency.
- Frost cooled cake.
Notes
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
This is my second year making this cake for my husbands bday. He loves cheesecake and German chocolate cake is one of his favorites so when I found this last year I was excited to make it for him. It was perfect! Did I mention this is the second year I’m making it…well that’s because he loves it so much…it’s going to be an annual bday cake now. Thanks for a great easy recipe.
Oh my gracious – thank you so very much! I wasn’t sure anyone used this recipe anymore. I wasn’t getting any comments so this makes me so happy to hear – yay!!
I’ve been making this recipe for my husband for at least ten years if not more for his birthday! It is highly requested and very loved every single year! He refuses to share with anyone but me, lol! I have recommended it to so many!
Could you use a ready to use cheesecake filling ?
I haven’t tested that yet. They are usually no bake though & this recipe relies on having a baked cheesecake filling. If you decide to experiment, I’d love to know how it goes!
Been making this cake for a few years. This is awesome and where ever I take it the pan comes back empty.
This was delicious!! I like to make the cream cheese filling with half the eggs to have it taste more like cheesecake. When I used the 4 eggs, it had a much lighter consistency.
Every time I make this it disappears. I have also tried it in red velvet and making it in lemon today for Easter. Best recipe ever
I love hearing that Mary! It really is so versatile! Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment!!
Question could I put a layer of gram cracker crust before I put the cheese cake layer down?
I wouldn’t suggest it. This is a very dense cake and I don’t think it would cook properly with a layer of graham crackers on the bottom.
We have been making this recipe for the past 4 months for our friends and they have all enjoyed it. So easy to make and such a great dessert!!!!!!
I know this is fantastic – I’m going to make for my grandson’s birthday. Should this cake be stored in the fridge??
Could you use a Bundt pan instead? Reason is I love the look of Bundt cakes! Recipe sounds yummy!
Hi Dolly, I think it might be a little too heavy/weighted to do it in a Bundt pan. I would worry it would fall apart when you tried to remove it…
Can you make this using two round pans?
I wouldn’t advise it. It’s a very dense cake and may fall apart when you try to remove them.
Hi i used a carrot cake box cake mix. It was delicious but all the cream cheese mix went to the bottom. I was wondering did i not put enough cake mix on the bottom or was the cake mix too.light compared to the German chocolate mix. I didn’t put any icing on it also.
I never would have thought of carrot cake! How different! So, the carrot cake batter isn’t as dense as chocolate cake batter so that was probably the issue. Also, yes, perhaps a little bit more of the cake batter on the bottom would’ve helped. 🙂
no reason just think it would pretty and easier to serve
If you try it, please let me know!
I wonder how it would be to bake in spring form cake pan?
I think it would be tricky. Is there any reason specifically why you would want to do that?
Not a coconut fan everything else sounds great; what do you recommend? Just increase the pecans?
You could just leave it out I suppose. 🙂
My sister made it for mother’s day last year. I make cheesecake all the time, (my own recipe) and was super excited to do so myself. However, after I put it in the oven, I realized I didn’t add the eggs correctly to the cream cheese layer. Your instructions should be a little more clear as to how many eggs are used in that layer. I only added 1 bc 3 are called for in the cake. So, needless to say, I was very confused. Crossing my fingers it comes out ok.
Hi Lucy! Thanks so much for the feedback! I updated the recipe card and hopefully that will make things a bit more clear to anyone who had the same confusion as you. Thank you!
Thank you! Just so you know, it still came out great! Lol It was just more like a cream cheese filling! As you can see, I still gave this recipe 5stars! Everyone absolutely loved it!
This is a fantastic recipe in that it’s so versatile. You can use any chocolate cake mix or your favorite doctored cake mix. I had some leftover chocolate filling from a poke cake so I made a few holes and used that up also. The flavors of the cream cheese and topping are over the top, and the pieces are firm and easy to handle. I swear it was even better after it had been frozen. Thanks for a great recipe.
Love hearing that!! Yay! Thanks so much for the great ideas too!