A rich, from-scratch chocolate cake with nuts, coconut, and a ribbon of cream cheese frosting baked into it! Like an inside-out German Chocolate Cake. No cake mix required!
I usually start by prepping my mix-ins. Chop the walnuts and the shredded coconut. Sprinkle them in the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch pan. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Place cake batter ingredients EXCEPT boiling water in a large bowl. Using an electric or stand mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Scrape down the bottom and add the boiling water. (Just boiled but still hot is fine.) Mix on low until the batter is uniform. Scrape the bottom to be sure that there's no thicker batter hanging out down there.
Carefully pour the batter over the nuts and coconut in the pan, trying not to mix them in too much; the batter will be very thin. Scrape as much out of the bowl and off of the mixer as you can. Set the pan aside.
Place cream cheese and butter in the same bowl you used for the cake batter. (No need to wash it first, as long as you scraped it as clean as you could.) Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until creamy. You should have no lumps; scrape down the bowl to be sure.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix briefly on low so you don't make a mess, then turn the speed up to medium. Beat until everything is creamy and uniform, scraping down the bowl again.
Use a spoon to dollop small amounts of cream cheese frosting evenly all over the cake batter. Be sure to get it along the edges and in the corners of the pan.
Do not cover the cake batter entirely. You want some of the chocolate batter poking through.
Use a knife to gently swirl the cream cheese into the batter. Break up big clumps of cream cheese frosting, but don't mix it in too much or push the cream cheese to the bottom.
Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes. The cake will be shaky and jiggly in the middle and it won't look done, but trust me, it will set as it cools.
Cool about an hour if possible before cutting just to let the cake set. The cake keeps at room temperature for about a day, but store covered in the refrigerator after that.
Yes, you can use a cake mix if you'd rather. Follow the instructions on the box. This recipe replicates a Devil's Food cake, but you can use regular chocolate or German chocolate cake if you'd prefer.
Use pecans instead of walnuts if you prefer.
You can adjust the quantity of nuts or coconut, as long as the total amount of the two combined isn't more than 2 cups.
I used full-fat cream cheese, but lower fat Neufchatel cheese will likely be fine if you usually use it for baking anyway.
I use dairy milk (usually 1%) when I bake. I expect that non-dairy milk will work fine in this recipe.
This cake turns out fine if you put the nuts/coconut on top of the batter, instead of underneath.
If you don't like your desserts too gooey, bake it a few minutes longer.
I covered this cake entirely (to the edges) with the cream cheese layer before; it was a mistake. You're looking for a nice marble look before baking.
To make an extra decadent cake, sprinkle ½-1 cup mini chocolate chips over the cake when it comes out of the oven.
Cake layer adapted from Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake recipe.
Calorie count is an estimate only and was calculated in MyNetDiary.