The ultimate healthy vegan gluten-free German chocolate cake that tastes like a traditional German Chocolate Cake. Vegan, gluten-free, and no added sugar, this dessert will be a hit with the whole family whether they’re vegan or not. It’s also oil-free and filled with nutty goodness!
It doesn’t happen often, but when you nail a new recipe on the first try you HAVE to share immediately. That’s precisely what’s going on today.
Usually, I am not much a cake person, but for some reason, I’ve had the urge to bake a cake 100% from scratch. No, not some boxed or store-bought mix. A delicious, homemade cake. And with my dad’s birthday this month, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that. He requested a German Chocolate Cake.
I realized I’ve never had (or made!) German chocolate cake before and didn’t even know what made it different from regular chocolate cake. It was time to do some research!
What is German Chocolate Cake?
I discovered that German chocolate cake isn’t German (from Germany)! It’s just called that because of the American chocolate maker and baker who invented it. It’s a standard chocolate layer cake topped with coconut pecan frosting. Coconut, pecans, and chocolate? Sign me up!
But as always, I had to put my spin on the traditional recipe. Instead of making the frosting coconut and pecan flavored, I put coconut and pecans right in the chocolate cake batter to enhance the flavor even more!
The result was more impressive than I had expected. A moist, soft, and fluffy cake studded with crunchy pecans and subtle coconut flavor throughout. Plus, the homemade chocolate frosting I made perfectly complements all the other delicious ingredients!
How to Make Vegan Gluten-Free German Chocolate Cake
Oh, did I forget to mention this cake is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, AND sweetened only with dates!? I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t made it myself! (the homemade frosting is also raw and vegan!)
All you need to make this cake are simple, whole-food ingredients, including:
- gluten-free oat flour (you can use all-purpose if that’s what you have on hand)
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- baking powder and baking soda
- sea salt
- medjool dates
- unsweetened plain vegan yogurt
- unsweetened chocolate almond milk
- raw pecans
- unsweetened coconut
Healthy ingredients that make for one AMAZING Vegan German Chocolate Cake!
Vegan Gluten-Free German Chocolate Cake
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
For cake:
1 ½ cup gluten-free oat flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp sea salt
1 container SoDelicious Unsweetened Plain Yogurt (5.3 oz) (or another plain vegan yogurt)
¾ cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cup of medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup warm water
½ cup raw pecans, chopped
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
For frosting:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours or overnight, then drained and gently patted dry
1 cup coconut milk, from a can
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 rounded tbsp coconut oil, solid
2 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ cup maple syrup
Optional: chopped pecans and chocolate chips for topping
Instructions
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two round 8×1.5 inch cake pans with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. In a food processor, blend dates and water until pureed and smooth. Place date paste in a bowl and add yogurt, vanilla, milk, and apple cider vinegar. Add wet ingredients to try ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in shredded coconut and pecans and mix until evenly distribute.
Divide cake batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack.
Remove cake from oven and allow both parts to fully cool on a wire rack before flipping them out of the pans and frosting them.
For the frosting:
While the cake is cooking, blend together all frosting ingredients in a food processor. The mixture will not be thick like frosting at first, so pour it into a bowl or container and place in the fridge for about an hour to thicken.
Once cake frosting has thickened and cake is fully cooled, begin frosting cake one layer at a time and then stack on top of one another. Frost the entire outside of the stacked cake and decorate with extra pecans and chocolate chips if desired.
Notes
Note: You can use pre-made chocolate frosting like this if you don’t feel like making your own.
The ULTIMATE VEGAN CAKE!
If you’re down with chocolate, if you like nuts, if you’re cuckoo for coconut…this cake is for you! I highly recommend making it for a friend with a birthday coming up, for Father’s Day, or frankly, anytime you want a delicious (good for you!) slice of chocolate cake.
What’s your favorite kind of cake?
Have you ever had German chocolate cake?
What’s your favorite dessert to make at home?
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28 responses to “Vegan Gluten-Free German Chocolate Cake [oil-free + no added sugar]”
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German Chocolate Cake is one of our favorites! Your vegan and gluten free version looks like a winner. Thanks for sharing your recipe on Merry Monday. Pinned.
Thanks Erlene!! I hope you try it! 🙂
I cannot get over how gorgeous it is!! My goodness you did a phenomenal job! ESPECIALLY since it’s VEGAN! THAT is no easy feat in the baked good department!!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much GiGi!! I wish this was GiGi approved, but I think Landon would really enjoy it!!
I am literally drooling while scrolling… this cake looks and sounds SO yum!
Thanks Nicci!! Enjoy!
I’ve never tried German cake before but this looks and sounds amazing! I am gluten & dairy free so I find a lot of shop bought cakes tend to still have dairy in them if they are GF so will need to try this to get my cake fix.
I hope you enjoy it!! 🙂
Oh my, this looks perfect for me and my family, I have an intolerance to dairy and eggs and my daughter is coeliac I can’t wait to make this, thank you for all your hard work, what a lovely blog xx #RecipeoftheWeek
★★★★★
Thanks Rebecca!! Hope you try it.
Loving the sound of this. And it looks so pretty too #BrilliantBlogPosts
Your German Chocolate Cake looks amazing! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Miz Helen
★★★★★
Thanks Helen!! Enjoy!!
Can you sub vanilla extract for vanilla powder?
Yes you can!
Hello,
This looks amazing! Could I use all purpose flour in place of the oat flour? I am keeping it vegan the no added sugar, just don’t need the gluten free part. Thank you! This my dad’s favorite cake, and I want to make if his 65th birthday!
Yes that should work! LMK how it turns out for you with that change. 🙂
This is my husband’s all-time favorite cake! Now that we are mostly vegan and oil-free, I didn’t think I would be able to find a way to make a German Chocolate cake for his birthday. It was so delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Stephanie! I am so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this cake. It’s truly one of my favorite dessert recipes!
this looks totally delish.. and I am drooling at the sight of it.. (did I mention I love sugar, in any form, and of course, LOVE German chocolate cake!!)
Ahhh great to hear!! Hope you try this and LOVE IT!!
Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party! Have a fantastic week!
I love how wholesome this recipe is, exactly what I was looking for. I’m wondering about the vegan yogurt though, as I live in a town that doesn’t sell vegan yogurt. Do you think this could be replaced with mashed banana perhaps? Maybe a little oil? And a bit of lemon juice in the plant milk Thanks? Thanks for any theories on the effect of that switch, I appreciate it.
Hey there! I have not tried this recipe with any subs so I can’t vouch for the results if you use different ingredients. So sorry.
I noticed that none of the 5-star ratings before me seemed to be from people who had actually MADE the recipe. I made it for a friend. I think it’s an excellent recipe. It doesn’t taste very much like “traditional” German chocolate cake, so if you are expecting that, you may be disappointed. If you like a dessert that is not super sugary, this recipe is a great alternative and has a nice chocolate coconut flavor. The icing is the best part but will come out quite light and thin (like whipped cream) even if you refrigerate for a few hours. Given that, I recommend baking in a single layer 9×11″ pan so that you don’t have two layers of cake and can just lather that icing on top in a single layer. Tastes very good the next day as well, served cold.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for giving this a try, Lisa! 🙂
It’s second year that this is my daughters birthday cake! Kids love it!!
★★★★★
YAY!! So happy to hear that!! 🙂