Who’s up for some Earthquake Cake?
This cake is also called the Upside-down German Chocolate Cake.
But before we get to the recipe, did you know that this chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany?
The name of this sweet treat came from Sam German.
Sam invented the style of baking sweet chocolate cake in 1852 for Baker’s chocolate company. They did name it ever him; hence, “German’s Chocolate Cake.” However, it only became famous in 1957, which is more than a century later.
A home cook submitted this recipe to a newspaper in Dallas.
It became so popular that it got reprinted so many times. And somewhere along that reprinting process, they stopped using or forgot to add the apostrophe-s leaving the name of the recipe with its current “German Chocolate Cake.”
This cake became famous for its complex texture and taste.
It got the airy, fluffy texture of the cake but with the crunch of coconut and pecan frosting. Others add a salted caramel filling in between the cake to add some salty and bitter taste to complement the sweetness of the cake.
That is why home cook Tammy Nichols created an upside-down version of this famous cake. Ready to try this delicious recipe?
Here are the ingredients that you need:
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup cooking oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 German chocolate cake mix
- 1 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- ½ cup butter (or 1 stick)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cup flaked coconut
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat the oven for 10-15 minutes – just enough time for you to prepare and assemble the cake in the pan.
Time to make the cake batter.
Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl. Pour in the water, oil, and eggs and beat them for a while just until they are mixed.
Then, mix the German chocolate cake mix.
Combine all ingredients until all ingredients are properly mixed, and consistency is thick yet smooth. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine butter and cream cheese.
Blend well together. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Note that you can add as little or much sugar as you like depending on how sweet you want it to be. For this recipe, Tammy noted that she doesn’t want it too sweet to overpower the taste of cream cheese.
Now it’s time to assemble the cake layers.
Use a 13x9x2 inches cake pan and spray a baking spray, either made of grease or flour, all over the pan.
Sprinkle the coconut evenly at the bottom of the pan.
Next, sprinkle some pecans over the coconut as much as you like.
Pour the cake batter over the coconut and pecans.
Spread them evenly across the pan.
Lastly, put dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter. You can carefully run a spatula through it to create a marble cake.
Bake for an hour.
As the cake cooks and rises, you can see that it is also creating cracks on the surface, making it look like the ground after an earthquake.
Serve hot or chilled.
We think this is the only “earthquake” that you’ll enjoy.
Get the full tutorial in the video below!
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