Coconut Pecan Frosting
This is the best coconut pecan frosting recipe! This iconic German chocolate cake frosting is creamy, gooey and has a delicious buttery/caramel flavor with an amazing chewy texture from the toasted pecans and toasted coconut.
I make German chocolate cake for my birthday every year — mostly for this German chocolate frosting! But not to worry, you don’t need to make a cake just to enjoy this frosting. You can eat it sandwiched between two double chocolate chip cookies, or on vanilla ice cream. This coconut pecan frosting is used to make my famous 7 Layer Bar Cake, German Chocolate cupcakes and German Chocolate brownies.
Why This Recipe Works
- We toast the coconut and the pecans. Doing so accentuates the flavor of the coconut and the pecans and provides better texture (especially regarding the coconut).
- The pecans are finely chopped to ensure even distribution throughout the frosting.
- You can use heavy cream or evaporated milk to make this frosting.
- This recipe uses a fool-proof technique that guarantees success.
Ingredients
- Heavy cream: This gives us the creamy base to the frosting. (Added with the sugar and egg yolks is how that gooey texture is created.)
- Unsalted butter: Butter is an important ingredient because with the sugar, cream and vanilla we’re essentially using the building blocks of caramel. (If using salted butter, reduce the amount of salt you add to the recipe.)
- Vanilla extract: Cream, butter, sugar + vanilla: We’re essentially creating a caramel-like frosting.
- Toasted pecans: I recommend toasting the pecans a bit in a saute pan or on a sheet pan in the oven, just to bring out a bit of their nutty flavor.
- Toasted coconut: Yes, you definitely must toast the coconut. Follow my easy instructions on how to toast coconut.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the cream, sugar, egg yolks, and salt. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally.
- Bring to a low simmer and cook until slightly thickened.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter, vanilla, toasted coconut and pecans. Mix to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature. The frosting will thicken as it cools.
Recipe Tips
Toast the coconut!! If you don’t, the frosting’s texture and consistency will not be the same.
You don’t have to toast the pecans, but I usually do and I recommend doing it to accentuate their nutty flavor.
This coconut pecan frosting recipe makes enough frosting to frost in between each layer of a three layer 8-inch cake. It doesn’t have enough to put on the outside of the cake, but traditionally, German chocolate cakes don’t have the coconut pecan frosting on the outside. However, I like to add a chocolate buttercream frosting to the outside of my cakes every so often.
This recipe makes enough to frost 28 German chocolate cupcakes.
Storing
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week. Remove from the fridge an hour prior to frosting your baked goods to allow it to come to room temperature and be more spreadable.
Steps to Assemble a German Chocolate Cake
If you’re making this frosting for a German chocolate cake — in 3 layers — here’s how I’d assemble the cake: Cake, coconut pecan frosting, cake, coconut pecan frosting, cake, coconut pecan frosting.
If you’re using a chocolate buttercream frosting, you can frost around the sides of the cake and then use a piping bag to pipe around the edges of the top layer. You can also do a naked cake with just the German chocolate cake frosting without the chocolate buttercream — honestly, it’s that good!
FAQs
I recommend storing coconut pecan frosting in the fridge for 1 week. See my list of ways to use coconut pecan frosting above to find more creative ways to eat this delicious frosting!
Yes. Do to the cream in the mixture, the frosting will need to be stored in the fridge until using it all the same day as making it.
The frosting will thicken when the sugar is added. This is because the building blocks of this recipe are the same as in caramel, so it will create a thick caramel-like texture.
Related Recipes
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a rating and review, or scroll below the recipe card and do so there.
Coconut Pecan Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream - or evaporated milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter - cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans - toasted and finely chopped
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut - toasted
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan whisk the cream, sugar, egg yolks, and salt. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally.
- Bring to a low simmer and cook until slightly thickened.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter, vanilla, toasted coconut and pecans. Mix to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
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14 Comments on “Coconut Pecan Frosting”
Oh my just like grandma’s!!! It was perfect thank you for the helpful tips
Always nice to hear when recipes bring back those sweet memories. And glad you found the tips helpful. Thanks for your review Mary!
No measurement amounts posted
Hi Kathleen, all of the measurements are in the recipe card!
I would like to make this recipe but as individual 4-or 5-inch cakes. How long and at what temperature would I bake this as a jelly roll size cake? I will then use a large biscuit cutter to cut approximately 4- or 5-inch rounds to assemble as mini-layer cakes. This recipe looks wonderful!
Hi Jeanne, are you asking about making the Traditional German Chocolate Cake? I don’t think the batter would fit in a jelly roll pan and I can’t be sure about the cooking time. However, you can make this recipe in a 9×13 pan. The cook time will need to increase 5-10 minutes, so start checking for doneness around 35 minutes. Of course this will make your rounds taller, but it should be easy to cut them in half or thirds so you can stack them. Please let me know how they turn out!
I’m going to try this but the only reference to how many eggs in cake was the photo, it just says add eggs one at a time, there are 4 eggs in photo
Julie, I’m sorry for the confusion. I’m not sure about the cause. The recipe card states the recipe contains 3 egg yolks, not whole eggs, and there are three egg yolks pictured in the ingredients photo. Also, the first step in the instructions says to whisk all the egg yolks together at once. I hope you are successful!
This is BY FAR the best coconut pecan frosting I’ve ever had. So good, and so easy!
Couldn’t agree more! Thanks for coming back to leave a star rating and review, Jessica!
I made my first German Chocolate Cake tonight, and used this frosting recipe. Because I was using fresh eggs that weren’t quite large, I used 4. Because…just because…the pecans and coconut did not get toasted. The heavy cream worked beautifully and the end result was perfection! I may or may not have eaten too much with a spoon. It’s that good! Thank you for a simple recipe that gives the expected results. It’s definitely a keeper.
I have never been a fan of this kind of icing….. until I made this recipe. My dad loves a German Chocolate cake and I wanted to make him one from scratch. I found this recipe and I will never use another, it is the best!
Best recipe I’ve tried for this frosting! Definitely toast the coconut, it’s amazing! Thank you for sharing!
This recipe is a perfect base. I personally added 2 tbsp pure maple and depending on the family member I bake for, adding extra coconut or pecans thickens and cools just the same.