When the final months of the year begin to approach, we always find ourselves craving nostalgic holiday flavors. Cinnamon, yes. Pumpkin spice…duh. Gingerbread, sure! Those are all great, but another flavor that has been a true favorite across our family is German chocolate. Yep. I’m sure we are in good company on that one. It’s so good, right?!

German chocolate brings together our love of all things chocolate, then folds in the perfect addition of Borden sugar, sweetened coconut and chopped pecans…we can already taste it just reading this! German chocolate desserts simply take things to a whole new level.

Today’s post has been quite the labor of love. ❤️ Over a few months time, we slowly perfected this recipe, and you are going to love it just as much as we do! Promise!

First, we took our classic chocolate cake ball recipe (after a while we couldn’t understand what took us so long to figure out this is hands down the perfect base for this recipe…you can’t beat it! It’s a friend and family favorite, always requested, always a winner!) Then, we added the most amazing coconut pecan filling that give these bite-sized treats a true taste of heaven. Like many other recipes, this cake is tried and true – a family recipe we have come to love for years. We simply adapted it for cake ball form. Feel free to bake this baby up into cakes, top with the glorious coconut pecan filling (yes…you can easily find us hovered over a bowl of coconut pecan filling each time with a spoon, it’s soooo good!) and skip the cake ball step. It’s a definite show stopper. Heck. Yesss!

We have already received rave reviews on these babies, so we know this recipe will win you some compliments as well. You simply CANNOT eat just one of these. But don’t worry. That’s why they are “bite-sized”. You are suppose to eat more than one! Trust us. Sorry, not sorry.

Grab your ingredients babes, and get bakin’, rollin’ and flakin’. Enjoy!

What You Need:

Our Classic Chocolate Cake
We always bake our own “OG” chocolate cake (it’s a family favorite always requested by not only family, but friends near and far) using our favorite homemade recipe.

Dry Ingredients

1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose Flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs (room temperature, lightly beaten)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee (or 1 instant coffee packet dissolved in 1 cup hot boiling water)

Coconut Pecan Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
3 egg yolks
8 oz. evaporated milk (usually 1 standard can)
2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate for Dipping/Topping

2 bags Girhadelli chocolate wafers (I used semi-sweet and white chocolate, but feel free to use whatever flavor you prefer)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
flaked coconut (toasted)
chopped pecans (chips)

Step by Step:

Bake The Cake:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray 2 9-inch Round Cake Pans with Baker’s Joy or your preferred pan release. Set aside.
3. Go ahead and remove your cream cheese from the fridge (for the frosting) and set aside on your counter so that it can begin to warm to room temperature.
4. Place eggs in a separate bowl, and beat them lightly. Set aside.
5. Measure out 1 cup of your hot coffee and set aside (or, dissolve one instant coffee packet in 1 cup of hot boiling water, and set aside)
6. In a large bowl, add all your dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and thoroughly combine.
7. Next, stir in your wet ingredients one at a time in the following order (thoroughly combining after each addition)…vegetable oil, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and lastly, your hot coffee. Please be aware that the hot coffee will make your batter very thin. This is exactly how it should be, so don’t panic!
8. Fill your cake pans equally with your cake batter. Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes, using a toothpick to test if the batter is ready (if the toothpick comes out clean, they are done baking). Allow your cakes to completely cool (I placed mine in the fridge to speed up this process).

Make your Coconut Pecan Filling: First, over medium heat on the stove in a medium sized sauce pan, combine your butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk and egg yolks. Whisk until combined and let it come to a low boil. Once it begins boiling, stir constantly for about 4-6 minutes until it has thickened. Once thickened, remove from heat and add in your vanilla, then mix in coconut and chopped pecans until combined. Let mixture cool completely to room temperature. You can easily make ahead and store in the refrigerator until cake is cool and ready to combine.
Make Your Cake Balls: Break your cakes up into chunks and place them into a large bowl. Add in your frosting and stir until incorporated. If you have a stand mixer, you could simple add the cake and frosting to your mixing bowl and mix on low for a minute to fully mix together in no time. Next, place your cake and frosting mixture in the fridge for at least 30 – 45 minutes (or you can leave it in the fridge overnight – our recommendation). This will help firm up your mixture in order to form the balls easier. Once firm, start forming 1 inch balls from your mixture and place each ball in a shallow baking pan lined with parchment paper. Cover and return your cake balls to the fridge to firm up for another 30-45 minutes (or, again, you can leave them overnight to chill and firm up).
Toast Your Coconut: In a pan on a stove on medium heat, toast your coconut flakes until lightly brown. Remove from heat and mix in with your chopped pecans. This will be used to sprinkle on top of your cake balls once you dip them.
Dip Cake Balls: Melt you Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers according to the package. The only note I have on this step is to not overheat. Start with 1 minute, stir, and then returned the chocolate to the microwave for additional 30 second intervals until the chocolate is melted all the way through and smooth. You don’t want to overheat because it will make the chocolate too thin (or it will create a thickness that does not coat the cake balls with a smooth surface). Once ready, use a fork or dipper to begin dipping each chilled cake ball into the chocolate. Let remaining chocolate run off back into the bowl and simply place each ball on the parchment paper to harden. We like to use a toothpick to slide each ball off the fork and onto our parchment paper. If you want to add sprinkles or any type of topping, add it right after you place each cake ball onto the parchment before it hardens. Continue until all cake balls are coated with chocolate.