German Chocolate Upside Down Cake

A bit sweet. I followed advice from other reviews to cut flour down to 2 cups, used semi-sweet, used walnuts, and mixed non sweet coconut flakes with toasted flakes. Next time I will use Rum instead of water, so I will be cutting the white sugar amount down next time. My dad likes frosting so I used frosting recipe from Willards German Chocolate cake recipe, but, no frosting is needed. Some reviews commented how unattractive this cake is, I actually thought it was because nice once you flip it (after sitting overnight!!) it glistened. One final note, I recommend using 2 8×8 pans and lined with parchment paper which kept it more moist. Enjoy!

This German chocolate cake recipe is great because it tastes and looks pretty authentic. The people I served it to didn’t have any clue that it was an upside-down cake and hadn’t required making a cake and then a separate complex frosting. As others suggested, I lined the top and sides of my pan with parchment paper, and I let it cool overnight before inverting it onto a large cutting board. Some of the liquid had seeped under the parchment paper, but that was easily drizzled over the cake. The only changes I made were using pecans instead of walnuts and using semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1/3C) instead of sweet German chocolate. My family liked that the cake wasn’t overly sweet, so it complemented the very sweet coconut/brown sugar mix.

This was a great cake it tasted very much like the German chocolate cake my mom makes with the awesome coconut frosting. I did think the frosting was to sweet and might decrease the marshmallow amount. I had no issues serving the cake and keeping it all in one piece with the frosting staying on top of the cake.

This was so sweet! I thought it would have turned out different! I might try again just to make sure I didn’t forget something, or do something wrong. Others said it was really good.

I made this just as the recipe says. German chocolate is my husband’s favorite cake. He absolutely loved it and wants me to make it again!

I have been looking for this recipe for many years. I lost mine and that was found in the Workbasket probably 50 years ago. Thanks to the person who submitted this. Carla

I definitely recommend this cake. SO easy to make and so tasty! Previous commenters are right, it’s not pretty but the taste is worth it. I used pecans instead of walnuts.

Amazing in cast iron skillet! I was a little leery of all that water but it turned out beautifully. I heated the butter and water in the bottom of a well seasoned 12″ cast iron skillet and added the ingredients in order per the recipe (I used a box mix instead, though.) Popped that baby into my gas oven and baked for about 40 minutes. Let it cool for about 30 minutes then turned it over onto a big plate. My husband said it was the best cake I ever made. That is saying a lot after 19 years of marriage!

This cake is delicious just the way the recipe is with just a few healthy changes. whole wheat white flour for all purpose flour, 0% plain Greek yogurt for sour cream, and unsweetened flake coconut for flake coconut. I don’t even take it out of the pan except when the piece is cut, I invert it so the icing is on top when it is served. If you leave it upside down in the pan it just gets better after it is refrigerated and the cake absorbs more of the icing. This is the second time I have made it, and it just doesn’t stay around very long at all! Thank you SunsetI for the wonderfully easy and fantastic tasting recipe.

Finally a cake recipe that’s truly homemade…how many times I’ve looked up a recipe & it’s got open a box of cake mix,WHAT?…and a can of this, 3 more cans, only(?)8,600 mgs of sodium, um OK! Cheers for that! As we slip into a coma,I love to cook & I know that a great many people like/need to cut corners because of time but at what cost? We have to draw the line somewhere, PLEASE WAKE UP…Thank you so much for this great fun recipe, SUNSET1

GREAT RECIPE Thanks for sharing

We made this for our taste testers and we had to put a sign out to say it was all gone!

I made this for my Father’s birthday with my mother. I lined the bottom of the pan with wax paper, used a bar of baker’s German’s sweet chocolate, and substituted pecans for walnuts. Let it cool completely before you flip! I let mine cool overnight and then loosened the edges and flipped it onto a foiled baking sheet and it maybe leaked a spoonful. Plus the frosting section didn’t stick much at all as long as I was careful peeling off the wax paper. It makes a fairly sweet and tender cake. If your looking for lots of deep rich chocolate, look elsewhere. But if your looking for balanced cocoa flavor and easy to make German Chocolate cake the night before an event, this cake is a keeper! Thanks for the lovely recipe.

AWESOME! Must admit I don’t know how this particular cake batter recipe is , because I used a German Chocolate cake mix, but was thrilled with the topping and the technique! My results were excellent! Heeded other advice and lined pan with parchment paper on the bottom and sides and had no problems with it sticking or with appearance. I totally recommend this, even if time is not an issue. This topping is way superior to canned coconut pecan frosting. By the way, I doubled the amount of coconut because I needed to use it, sprinkled chopped pecans and chocolate chips all over the topping before sprinkling the marshmallows. The only other change was used coconut milk for some of the water in the cake mix directions, I needed to use that up, too. Lastly, followed the time called for on the box, so baked it 30 minutes at 350*. I will definitely make this again and highly recommend it. Made it for a birthday party and was proud to serve it! Thank you so much for posting this, SUNSET1 !

Wasn’t sure if this would be good… Was Great!!!! My husband loves german chocolate cake, this was excellent, and it came out of pan easily. I let it cool went around edges with knife flipped it and pounded on pan, it came out perfect!! I added more nuts but that was the only change I made, moist tasty Thanks

THIS CAKE WAS AMAZING!! So moist and fluffy! I am big into baking and this is one of the best cakes i’ve come across!

Followed the recipe exactly as stated. It was a lot of work, but it was completely worth the effort!

Made exactly as directed, with two exceptions: I made only 1/3 of the recipe (8 servings) in a 9×5 bread loaf pan, and I used semi-sweet chocolate. Baked about 35 minutes. Waited about 30 minutes before flipping over. It flipped clean, except for some coconut that I scraped out and put on top of the cake. No sticking, no big mess. As for taste, it’s slightly less chocolatey than a german chocolate cake from the grocery store or a package mix – next time I will double the chocolate. The topping was nutty and coconutty, but a little bit watery tasting, hence the 4 stars. The texture was good, and it was plenty sweet, so over all a quick, easy, yummy frumpy homemade cake. NOTE: This looked just fine for a casual easy dessert. Ignore the complaints about appearance. (It is an upside down cake, after all.)

I have done this cake 3 times. Luv it!.

A trick to have it come out of the baking dish without sticking, is to line the dish with parchemint paper. This way, it comes out effortlessly without sticking! I topped half of the sauce with pecan and left out the other half without pecans. At the family dinner, I got mixed reviews. Some could NOT stop eating it, and kept going back for more. Others, thought the cake was not rich enough or was lacking flavour. They said it just doesn’t satisfy the sweet craving. I only tasted it a whole week later (stored in the fridge), after warming each slice a bit in the microwave. I loved it! I thought it just hits the spot! It was still moist and delicious! So here you go, some were addicted to it, and for some, it was too light. You be the judge!

Fantastic cake and easy. I made it with regular semi sweet chocolate and it was brilliant.