How to Make Canned German Chocolate Frosting Taste Homemade?

Chocolate frosting can be amazingly delicious. But, if you want an atypic chocolate frosting, then German Chocolate Frosting can be a decent substitute for different cakes. However, it can be challenging to make frosting from scratch because it requires time and ingredients. So, a good option is to buy canned frosting and make it taste better. At this point, your question may be how to make canned German Chocolate Frosting taste homemade? 

I have explained all possible ingredients that make the canned German Chocolate Frosting taste original and homemade. You can use more than one ingredient simultaneously and try to combine them according to your diet and food preferences. 

By the way, if you are stuck with Coconut Pecan Frosting, don’t be confused because it is the same thing as German Chocolate Frosting.

How to Make Canned German Chocolate Frosting Better?

Some good ways to make canned German Chocolate Frosting is to add different types of milk, or even whipped cream. Alcohol can improve the taste of this type of frosting if used in the correct quantity. Alternatively, you can also use Nutella or peanut butter to add a more creamy texture or shiny appearance. 

But, let’s see instructions for these ideas.

Milk or Chocolate Milk

You can add some extra fresh whole milk to give some fresh taste to your canned German Chocolate Frosting. Whether cow or goat, depending on the quantity of the frosting, you can add some extra milk. 

For one can of German Chocolate Frosting, add half to one glass of milk at maximum. More than that, it risks thinning the consistency too much and losing the sticky cream texture, so it probably won’t stay on top of your desserts. 

I love to do that; instead of regular milk, I add chocolate milk. For me, the chocolate taste is never enough, so why not. 

It probably has some extra sugar if it is store-bought chocolate milk, but if you prepare it yourself, make sure to have unsugared cocoa so it does not have any more sugar in your final result. 

Nuts or Coconut Milk

Since German Chocolate Frosting is the same thing as Coconut Pecan Frosting, it is obvious that it contains nuts and coconut. Therefore, an excellent way to improve the frosting is to add some fresh taste to those two.

It is pretty challenging to incorporate the nuts taste in their initial form, so nuts milk can be a good choice too. 

In this way, you add some nutty flavor and, at the same time, improve the texture of the cream and make it thinner if needed. The same can work with coconut milk. You can choose only one of those milk to be added and not together simultaneously. These tricks will help your German Chocolate Frosting taste homemade, for sure.

Heavy Whipping Cream

Heavy cream is a real lifesaver when you need to fix or improve a frosting, no matter which type. Before starting, look at your current German Chocolate Frosting to see if it’s too thin or too thick. 

If the frosting is thin, whipping cream will help it be firm and increase the volume, sometimes even double. 

If you feel that the consistency is what you aim for, add just a little whipping cream or cream without whipping it. It will make it sweeter and will increase the fat content. 

Alcohol or Liquor

You will be amazed how a shot of alcohol can be a game-changer in a dessert or frosting. It does not matter what tricks you use to improve the canned German Chocolate Frosting. It can be plant-based milk or cow milk; you can add some alcohol in all scenarios. 

For a dessert like this, I would choose two types of alcohol: amaretto, Disaronno, or rum. You may ask why especially one of those two? 

Easy, due to their sweetness. Some alcohols are bitter or pungent, and some are sweet, and for dessert, we need the sweet ones. Amaretto is a good choice as in itself contains some nutty smells like almonds. 

Similar to the amaretto is the Disaronno as well. This beverage has a more cherry flavor, but again you can taste the nuts. Rum as well is sweet alcohol but with some more earthy compounds. 

Please, consider not to put more than one shot of alcohol, as it may be sensed too much.

Enrich It With Extracts 

Probably you can find one or some extracts in the list of ingredients of the canned frosting, but still, you can add some fresh or more high qualitative ones. 

The selection or quantity is a matter of choice, so you can start by tasting the German Chocolate Frosting and seeing if something is missing or what you prefer to be sensed more. For example, vanilla extract can work nicely. However, I would choose the liquid version as its easily absorbed by the frosting. 

Some extra cacao or coffee powder will make the cocoa taste more dense and strong. It’s up to you to choose whether cocoa will be unsugared or not, as some people like the cocoa bittered and others sweeter. 

Another option would be coconut or nuts flakes, so when you consume the frosting, you also feel the real chops of coconut and nuts in your mouth. 

And the last version can be to add some fruit flavors. Here you can start by thinking, which fruit suit you better with chocolate? I would say orange as the first option and berries as the second option. 

Of course, all the extracts will be in small quantities, enough to make the final taste more complex but not too much to destroy the balance of cocoa, coconut, and nuts.

Nutella

There is always a place for some Nutella if there is chocolate involved. Nutella will enforce the tastes of nuts and chocolate simultaneously but will increase the sugar level significantly. Another trick is that Nutella is very thick, so it requires an electronic blender to mix well with the rest of the frosting. 

Peanut Butter

An excellent option to replace Nutella’s presence can be peanut butter. More healthy and with some good fat, peanut butter will make the appearance of the frosting more creamy and shiny and add more natural sweetness to it. 

​​Whip the Frosting

However you treat the German Chocolate Frosting, don’t skip the step of whipping. Whether the consistency is thick or thin, a good blending will make it smoother and give a more shiny and silky mixture. 

With an electronic mixer, mix it patiently for two to four minutes. There is no rule about until what point you need to incorporate. However, you will know when it’s enough whipped and has reached the desired consistency. 

Extra Ingredients

In the last minutes of mixing, you can add more extra ingredients like crushed cookies, black or white chocolate chips, M&M’s, or whatever your heart wants. Be creative, and feel free to add whatever piece of dessert you think fits.

Which German Chocolate Frosting Is the Best?

Betty Crocker company offers excellent quality products when talking about frostings or powders. Even in this case, I think it can be a good option as the flavors are pretty natural. You can order it online. 

On the other hand, also Pilsburry has good reviews as a company for frosting products. It is more pricey than Betty Crocker, but I believe that price is also a significant element that dictates the quality.

You can also check for local companies that operate in your region and try to match the ingredients. If the list does not have a lot of additives, then it’s a good base you can use. If you don’t like the taste, you can always enrichen it with extra ingredients from the list above. 

What to Do With Leftover Coconut Pecan Frosting?

There are high chances that you got familiar with German Chocolate Frosting while making or tasting German chocolate cake. But, there are also some other excellent ideas on how to use Coconut Pecan Frosting. Considering that you just had a massive cake with this frosting, the pictures below will be more quick and fresh. 

Cupcake Frosting

One of the things that I crave most every time I am taking a coffee or cocoa is a cupcake on the side. This dessert’s real magic is the soft texture, solid from the outside but extraordinarily soft and gentle from the inside.

You can prepare in advance some chocolate and coconut muffins with a soft and almost melted heart and serve them with leftover Coconut Pecan Frosting on top. 

Cupcakes can last two to three days, so you warm them up in a microwave and then put the Coconut Pecan Frosting on top of it every time you want to serve them. 

Coconut Pecan Cookies

Another good option is to incorporate frosting in cookie recipes. For example, put a small quantity of it in your oatmeal cookies recipe to have a solid dough that can keep its shape. 

Or just put some German Chocolate Frosting on top of your cookies. After that, pour some melted dark chocolate, and you have a more special snack than usual. 

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

With this coconut and pecan frosting, you can prepare a not-that-usual cheesecake than can be nicely served. What I would suggest in this case is to cook the classic cheesecake, only in this case you mix the cream with some orange zest to give the cream some citrus aromas. 

After on top of the cheesecake, put a thin layer of pecan and coconut frosting, and let it rest for a couple of hours before you serve it. 

There are also recipes where instead of orange zest, use cocoa powder to make a chocolate cheesecake. I usually go for orange zest as I prefer to stay loyal to the classic recipe with some slight modifications. 

How to Store German Chocolate Frosting?

German Chocolate Frosting can be kept at room temperature for around three or four days, but you need to put it in an airtight container and a dark environment, so it does not stay in contact with air or light. 

I prefer consuming cakes with frosting within three days as those desserts always contain milk, eggs, and other products that can be a risk if they are not treated in the right way. 

After three days, it needed to be put in the fridge to prevent any spoilage. If you want the frosting to have a more solid texture, put it in the refrigerator from the first day, as the cold help the cream creates a more compact form. 

What Can You Use Instead of German Chocolate Cake Frosting?

If having German Chocolate Frosting is not possible, I would go for a Nutella buttermilk. It’s effortless to be prepared, and still, it contains cacao frosting and a lot of nuts.

You need some unsalted butter at room temperature, Nutella, cocoa powder, sugar, and whipped cream. All the ingredients need to be well combined until the frosting is in the desired consistency.

This recipe takes less time than a real homemade German Chocolate Frosting and contains mutual elements like chocolate and nuts. 

Another option is to go for a regular chocolate frosting. It won’t have as many nuts or coconut, but it still is the traditional way of chocolate frosting, so it can never be wrong.

Before diving into the nutritional details, please review our Nutritional Disclaimer page for important context and clarifications.