German Chocolate Cheesecake Cake starts with a cake mix swirled with a cheesecake filling and topped with the most amazing homemade frosting!
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE 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: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
for the cake:
German chocolate cake mix
(plus ingredients needed per package directions, usually eggs, oil & water)
cream cheese filling:
cream cheese
sugar
eggs
German Chocolate cake frosting:
sugar
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 13-in. x 9-in. 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
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German Chocolate Cheesecake Cake starts with a cake mix swirled with a cheesecake filling and topped with the most amazing homemade frosting!
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Servings: 12
Calories: 478kcal
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 box German chocolate cake mix
- ingredients needed per package directions eggs, oil & water
For the cheesecake filling:
- 2 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese, softened
- 1-½ cups granulated sugar
- 4 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
- 2-½ cups sweetened flaked or shredded coconut
- 1-½ 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 9x13-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
Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 171mg | Sodium: 429mg | Potassium: 280mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 490IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 137mg | Iron: 2.6mg
Nutritional Disclaimer
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Originally published: April 2011
Updated & Republished: June 2019
adele
I know this is fantastic - I'm going to make for my grandson's birthday. Should this cake be stored in the fridge??
Dolly
Could you use a Bundt pan instead? Reason is I love the look of Bundt cakes! Recipe sounds yummy!
Brandie @ The Country Cook
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...
Lorie johnson
Can you make this using two round pans?
Brandie @ The Country Cook
I wouldn't advise it. It's a very dense cake and may fall apart when you try to remove them.
Helen Haine
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.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
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. 🙂
Martha L Harmon
no reason just think it would pretty and easier to serve
Brandie @ The Country Cook
If you try it, please let me know!
Martha L
I wonder how it would be to bake in spring form cake pan?
Brandie @ The Country Cook
I think it would be tricky. Is there any reason specifically why you would want to do that?
Susan
Not a coconut fan everything else sounds great; what do you recommend? Just increase the pecans?
Brandie @ The Country Cook
You could just leave it out I suppose. 🙂
Lucy Wilson
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.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
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!
Lucy Wilson
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!
Cookies4kids
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.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Love hearing that!! Yay! Thanks so much for the great ideas too!
Medeja
Chocolate cake and cheesecake in one! Yummy!
Pat
This recipe was very easy to follow. The cake is delicious and so moist. I made this for a family dinner and it disappeared in no time. Great cake and will definitely be on my repeat recipe list. Strongly recommend this recipe.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Love hearing that Pat! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leaving a review!
gina
Hi Brandie!
This recipe looks wonderful. I wonder, have you tried to make a version of it as a "poke" cake? I am considering altering your recipe by using a no-bake cheesecake, poking holes in the baked German chocolate cake, pouring over that the no-bake cheesecake and after that cools, using your frosting recipe to top it off. Do you think this would be a grand disaster? I am not a great cook so I don't know if I am crazy to attempt this or not. My son's birthday is coming up and he loves German chocolate and loves cheesecake so...... Thanks for posting this and thanks for letting me bounce my plan off you for your thoughts!
Mary
This is a fabulous cake! Very easy to make too. I haven't made a German Chocolate cake in years! Great twist. This is a keeper. Thank you.
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Woo hoo!! Love hearing that Mary!
Donna
Just made this cake and it TOTALLY, TOTALLY Rocks!! So GOOD! My family loves it (with the exception of my youngest son, he doesn't like chocolate...crazy ain't it??)!! This is definitely a KEEPER! Thank you, Brandie!! 🙂
Brandie
So great to hear you loved it! Chocolate is life 🙂
Anonymous
I cannot eat gluten. Can I make the German Chocolate Cake from scratch using gluten free flour and the cook times would still be the same. The recipe looks wonderful and I love German Choco Cake. Thanks
JuliesCafeBakery
Absolutely love this recipe
Anonymous
I made this yesterday and everyone LOVED this cake. They are already asking me to make it again. Thank you!
Patty C.
Just wondering -- for the frosting, could you substitute sweetened condensed milk for the evaporated milk, and eliminate the sugar, or will that make the frosting too runny?
Andrea
Made this today for my Mom's birthday and everyone loved it!! We have been taking turns trying your recipes and they have ALL been great. You have a such wonderful collection of family friendly recipes with accessible ingredients and easy to follow instructions. Thank you for sharing! :o)
msbooch10
German Chocolate AND cheesecake. Quite a treat. Big decision to start here or make the "cheesecake bars." For the 4th I probably will go with both. Thanks much.
msbooch10@live.com
syrupandbiscuits
Oh, for Pete's sake! This is awesome, Brandi! Thanks so much for sharing!
thepsychobabble
Too tempting! Thanks for sharing:)
The Mom Chef
Oh heaven's preserve us, that looks sinfully delicious. I think I could put away a good amount of that. I love anything with cheesecake. Wow.
Lindsey @ Gingerbread Bagels
I love german chocolate cake but german chocolate cheesecake cake sounds even better! I've never seen a cake like this before. I have to make it asap. Thanks so the recipe. 🙂
Katie Mar
mmmm this looks super decadent.
how creative!
Amy @ A Little Nosh
My husband love love loves german chocolate cake so I'm sure this would put him over the edge. Looks delicious!
(Found you on Made by You Monday)
carolinaheartstrings
This looks so fantastic. Cannot wait to make it.
Tiffany
What a great idea for a cheesecake!
Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead
Wow -- glad that has zero calories in it 🙂 Sounds delish! And now I must go check out your whoopie pies & the eclair cake which looks DIVINE!
A little bit of everything
i love german chocolate but never heard of german chocolate cheesecake but I love it already. I bet it tasted heavenly. Thanks for sharing Brandie
MaryBeth
Holy Hanky Panky...This is so darn delish looking!
A Busy Nest
This looks like the best German chocolate cake anyone could eat!
Rachel
Oh my goodness, you've got me drooling! That looks incredible! I'm your newest follower . . . can't wait to try out some of your recipes!
Elyse @The Cultural Dish
Wow... this looks so freakin good!
Jill@MadAboutMacarons
You are just TOO funny. Amazing cake, going to check out the guest post... 🙂
Evan @swEEts
I can only imagine how rich and delicious this little combo is! Sounds heavenly.
Martha (MM)
Looks great but bummer for me, coconut is one thing I just can't eat 🙁
Sandra
You are genius Brandy..this sounds fantastic and awesome and sooooo tasty!
Mama J
Can I just lick all the frosting off the top??? 😉
Yum!
Wilde in the Kitchen
This looks delicious! Love love love all that frosting!
Candace
I can't think of a better combination than German Chocolate Cake and Cheesecake. It's like the best of both worlds. You are awesome!
Mateja ^_^
Wonderful combination and as I'm lately all into cheesecakes off I go...............have a great weekend 🙂
SHUGARMAN FAMILY
Yum, that looks absolutely delish. THanks for sharing! I'm a new follower 🙂
MrsJenB
You. so. crazy.
Seriously, my jaw dropped at the title alone. THEN I saw the picture and lost control of my senses. I woke up on the floor.
Maybe not. But you know what I mean. 😉
Becky
What a combo, German chocolate cake and cheesecake. Off to check out the recipe.
carolinaheartstrings
This looks so wonderful. Great job!
Erin
This just sounds heavenly!!!
Carolyn
Ooo, looks great, off to check out your guest post!
RavieNomNoms
Wow that looks amazing! I think german chocolate cake is under rated and then to add the cheesecake into it? OH MAN, this is incredible!
The Country Cook
Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I really hope you enjoy this cake if you try it. Y'all are the best and your support continues to humble me!
Rosemary
I Love cheesecake . . . love German chocolate cake. I can imagine just how luscious the combo is! I'll be getting this recipe for sure! And I'll check out your guest post, too.
Melynda
Serious? I cannot wait to make this. I really like cheesecake where it is shared in another dessert, rather than just pure cheesecake. This looks perfect. thanks.
Tina
Oh my gosh! This looks like the perfect dessert to make me WANT to stay an extra half hour at the gym! I just added the ingredients to my shopping list! Thanks Brandie!!
PS..everywhere I wear my jewelry, I get compliments!
thecompletecookbook
I am going to put on too much weight will all those wonderful recipes.
🙂 Mandy
Bo
It sounds so good...I can see why it didn't last long...off to checkout the recipe.
spcookiequeen
Have to go see that cake, I think it's calling my name.
Hope you have a great weekend.
-Gina-
Treat and Trick
Looks tempting and yummy!
The Country Cook
Love ya Holly. I really hope your readers enjoy it as much as we did. Thank you SO much for asking me to be a part of your blog! Such an honor and you've become such a great friend - thank you!
Holly
Bran, you ROCK girl!! I could not have imagined a better recipe for you to share!! Thank you so much for being my guest!! I am honored : )