Q: I love German chocolate cake, but I know people who are allergic to coconut.
Can I recreate the caramel and evaporated milk frosting without coconut? Will the layered cake still hold up?
Sent by Lauren
Editor: Lauren, the filling would still be delicious without coconut, but we would recommend making a little more of it (perhaps 50% more) to bulk up the filling between the layers. You could also substitute finely chopped nuts for the coconut.
Anyone ever made German chocolate cake without the coconut? Any good substitutes?
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I think a standard substitution is chopped pecans, but if it's an allergy situation, other tree nuts may not work.
What about toasted oatmeal - like the stuff you would make granola with? It will give you a similar texture if not shape.
If they're not allergic to nuts as well, I'd use sliced almonds (the finely-sliced kind you buy in the baking section of your grocery). Similar fat content and similar texture.
The oatmeal might work as well, but it could get gummy and would definitely be noticeably more "granola" than the traditional topping. If you're open to that, then go for it!
This sounds kind of gross but it may work... finely shredded carrot is really delicious in cake. It may give it that chewy, stringy feel that coconut does.
I like ihateacrylic's idea, and I'd try it first with finely shredded parsnip: same texture as carrot, but the color is right for coconut, and parsnip has kind of a nutty flavor anyway. (Like carrot, parsnip can be used in spice cakes, too.)