162 german cake recipes

Traditional German sand tarts rolled paper-thin, cut into diamonds, brushed with egg white, and topped with cinnamon sugar and a pecan half. Crispy, buttery holiday cookies.

The Pennsylvania Dutch settlers made these at Thanksgiving and stored them in a stoneware crock until Christmas. The cookies can be made at any time, but allowed to age for 4-6 weeks.

Herman coffee cake puts the famous sweet starter to work in a quick raisin-and-nut bake. A friendship cake classic with subtle tang, crackly topping, and tender crumb.

Quick drop biscuits made with Herman sourdough starter. Tangy, fluffy, and ready in minutes with no kneading required.

Herman starter coffee cake with chocolate chips, nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon. A friendship bread tradition that turns sourdough starter into a rich, one-bowl cake.

Herman chocolate chip cookies, hearty and loaded with oats, peanuts, and chocolate chips, made with tangy Herman sourdough starter. A clever, chewy way to use up your friendship starter.

Herman coffee cake bakes a 10-day fed sourdough-style starter into a tender cinnamon-raisin coffee cake. The classic friendship cake passed jar-by-jar between neighbors.

Buttermilk chocolate cake is the tangy, tender German-chocolate style cake with a fine, moist crumb, made for topping with coconut-pecan frosting. A classic Southern church-supper dessert.

Mom's Black Forest cake stacks devils food cake layers soaked in cherry liqueur syrup, layered with kirsch whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and mini chocolate chips. A semi-homemade German classic.

Black Forest cake the shortcut way: devil's food cake mix spiked with cinnamon and cherry yogurt, layered with cherry pie filling and whipped topping. A faster take on the German classic.

A festive red velvet cake made with German chocolate cake mix and sour cream, topped with a cooked flour frosting and handmade marzipan holly leaf decorations.

Robert Redford poke cake: chocolate cake soaked with sweetened condensed milk and butterscotch, topped with whipped cream and crushed toffee bars. Classic make-ahead potluck dessert.

Black Forest rugalach pastries with a cream cheese dough wrapped around boozy cherry, dark chocolate and walnut filling. The Jewish bakery classic given a chocolate-cherry overhaul straight out of the German cake playbook.

Fudgey German chocolate sandwich cookies pair two chewy chocolate cookies with a buttery coconut-pecan caramel filling. The flavors of classic German chocolate cake reimagined as a portable cookie.

Better Than Sex Cake is a rich Bundt cake made with yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, sour cream, chocolate chips, grated German chocolate, and pecans.

Lady finger icebox cake layered with rich chocolate mousse made from German chocolate, butter, and eggs, topped with whipped cream. No baking, freezer-friendly.