German Chocolate Pie Recipe with Coconut Pie Crust (2024)

FAQs

What makes German chocolate cake different? ›

German chocolate cake uses a particular kind of baking chocolate as its base, one which has a milder, sweeter profile thanks in part to lecithin, a fatty substance derived from egg yolks. In contrast, classic chocolate cake recipes often use cocoa powder or darker chocolate for a richer, more intense flavor.

German chocolate pie is made with many of the same staples as the cake: chocolate, eggs, pecans, and shredded coconut. Instead of making a separate chocolate cake and coconut frosting, the pie combines everything in the filling! There's some sweetened condensed milk and vanilla that help tie it all together.

This can happen for several reasons: if the cooking process was rushed, if the filling wasn't carefully watched and stirred frequently, the filling was overcooked, the stovetop heat was too high, or if the pie isn't given enough time to chill. Any ingredient substitutions could also result in a runny chocolate pie.

Cold Pie + Hot Oven

As a general rule of thumb, it's always best to chill a rolled pie crust either in the freezer for 10-20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour before you bake it. While this is an extra step, it makes all the difference in the world.

3. Make the German Chocolate Frosting: Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, egg yolks, and evaporated milk in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a low boil over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, nuts and coconut.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (known as Black Forest gâteau or Black Forest cake in other parts of the world) is something for which we can never thank the Germans enough.

German's sweet baking chocolate is just that, sweeter baking chocolate— at least, sweeter than both semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate. According to MyRecipes, to substitute semi-sweet chocolate for German's sweet baking chocolate you would need to add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of sugar per ounce of chocolate.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and confectioners' sugar (see "tips," below). Work the butter into the flour mixture, using a pastry blender or fork, your fingers, or a stand mixer. Don't mix the butter in completely; leave some of it in pea-sized lumps.

Hence the name German chocolate cake, right? However, the popular dessert isn't from Germany at all. Instead, it originated in the country that loves it the most: America.

Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven.

Why is my coconut cream pie runny? ›

Runny custard: You may have undercooked your custard. If it fails to thicken after bringing it to a low boil, it can be fixed by stirring in a slurry of equal parts cornstarch and water. Mix the two together and whisk it into the hot custard. Bring to a boil, stirring, until thickened.

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

Mistake to Avoid No.

Adding more flour is always an option, but add too much flour and your dough will end up like a cracker—not a pie crust. Remember: The more you mix your pie dough, the tougher it becomes. To keep the mixing to a minimum, try rolling out your dough between two pieces of parchment paper.

There are a few instances, actually. You need a par-baked or fully baked crust if you're making quiche, no-bake pie, custard pie, cream pie, pudding pie, or simply want an extra-crisp pie crust. If you're making a pie that doesn't require a baked filling, you still need a baked crust.

#2—Add cold water

Before you start making the dough, fill a glass with ice and water. Add the ice water gradually to the dough, about one tablespoon or so at a time, and stop when the dough is just moist enough to hold together when a handful is squeezed.

Created by Samuel German in 1852, and named after him, it's a sweetened, dark chocolate baking bar. It contains more sugar than its semisweet or bittersweet counterparts, and was developed as a shortcut for bakers that premixed chocolate with sugar.

The selection of premium ingredients combined with recipes which have been perfected in family-owned businesses for generations guarantee the extraordinary flavor of the baked goods. Compared to American cookies and cakes you will find that products from Germany are usually less sweet.

A devil's-food cake is richer and darker, and has a strong cocoa flavor. German chocolate (a favorite here in south Texas) usually is a lighter-colored cake with a flavor of mild chocolate. True German chocolate cake has delicious pecan-coconut frosting, while the devil's food usually has a dark fudge frosting.

In a classic red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting is paired but the cake can be really be frosted with anything. Although red velvet does contain a bit of cocoa powder in it, it is not considered to be a chocolate cake in the same way a German or Belgian cake would be.