German Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
A cupcake version of the classic German Chocolate Cake. Moist chocolate cupcakes filled with dark chocolate ganache and topped with sweet coconut pecan frosting.
Servings: 18 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 cups All-purpose Flour 240g
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar 400g
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder 50g (dutch processed)
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Whole Milk 120g / 120ml (room temperature)
- 2 Large Eggs (room temperature)
- ½ cup Sour Cream 128g
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil 110g / 120ml
- 1 teaspoon Espresso Powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Hot Water 240g / 240ml
For the Chocolate Ganache
- 4 oz Dark Chocolate 114g
- 1 cup Heavy Cream 240g / 240ml
For the Coconut Pecan Frosting
- 1 can Evaporated Milk 12oz / 355ml
- 1 ½ sticks Unsalted Butter 170g
- 3 large Egg Yolks
- 1 ¼ cups Light Brown Sugar 275g
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 ⅔ cup Shredded Coconut 200g
- 2 cups Pecans 250g
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients, including the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (But not the espresso powder). Whisk everything together.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients, except the hot water, which includes the eggs, milk, sour cream, vegetable oil and, vanilla. Whisk together lightly until it makes a homogeneous mixture.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until everything is combined and there are no lumps.
- In a small bowl or a glass, combine the hot water with the espresso powder and mix until completely dissolved. Pour into the cake batter and mix until combined.
- Divide the chocolate batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about ⅔ full. The batter is very liquid, so it may be easiest to pour it in or use a batter dispenser.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the cupcakes are springy and a skewer inserted comes out with moist crumbs.
Make the Chocolate Ganache
- Finely chop your dark chocolate and place it into a bowl.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until scalding (tiny bubbles beginning to form on the surface).
- Step 3: Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for a minute. Stir together until you have completely melted the chocolate and a glossy ganache forms.
- Set aside to cool at room temperature.
Make the Coconut Pecan Frosting
- Put the pecans on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 8 minutes. Let them cool slightly and then chop roughly. Set aside.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and evaporated milk, then pour into a large saucepan and add the butter, brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Heat over medium heat, whisking slowly just to keep the mixture moving.
- Heat the mixture until it thickens and begins to boil. Once it starts boiling, keep mixing for about 30 seconds, then turn off the heat and add in the coconut and chopped pecans. Mix them in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until evenly dispersed.
- Let the German chocolate frosting cool completely before using it.
Assemble the Cupcakes
- Use a cupcake corer to core out the middle of the chocolate cupcakes.
- Spoon or pipe a teaspoon of chocolate ganache into the center of each cupcake.
- Scoop a big dollop of coconut pecan frosting on top of each cupcake. You can use a spoon, or for a nice rounded top, I like to use a large ice cream scoop.
Notes
I always recommend measuring your ingredients with a kitchen scale rather than with cup measures, as it's much more accurate this way. It's hard to measure accurately with cups, and this can massively impact the end result of your bakes.
Note: German chocolate cake traditionally contains German chocolate - a specific kind of chocolate with about 48% cocoa solids. This chocolate is often hard to find, so I have formulated this recipe without it. The recipe calls for Dutch-processed cocoa powder instead, but still has the classic flavor combination of chocolate cake and coconut pecan frosting.