With all the seriousness in our world right now I thought it would be refreshing to take a moment for a “Frivolous Friday Fun Fact Journey”. I am very interested in almost everything German, so lets look into the German Chocolate Cake.
Originally German’s chocolate cake, is a layered chocolate cake filled and topped with a coconut–pecan frosting. How “German” is German Chocolate Cake?
The German Chocolate Cake has been a “thing” for over 60 years. Because of its name, I always assumed this recipe hailed from Germany. It turns out that with this assumption I have reinforced Albert Einstein’s intelligence and how right he was about many things – including assumptions. He said, “Assumptions are made and most assumptions are wrong.” This is so true!
Origin of German Chocolate Cake
A gentleman by the name of Sam German, an American or English decent, invented a sweet baking chocolate in 1852. His baking chocolate contained more sugar than other baking chocolates. Walter Baker, the owner of Baker’s Chocolate Company bout the recipe from German for $1,000 and sold it as “Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate”.
It took over 100 years from the time Sam German invented his sweet baking chocolate for it to become well-known. Thanks to Mrs. George Clay, who sent her cake recipe to the Dallas Morning Star newspaper in 1957 the German Chocolate Cake became a “thing” . She orginally called the recipe German’s Chocolate Cake, but over time the apostrophe was not used. Her recipe became very popular. The recipe was published in several newspapers across the company, and Baker’s Chocolate Company’s German’s Chocolate sales skyrocketed in just one year.
Seven years later, in 1964, Baker’s Chocolate Company included Mrs. Clay’s recipe for German Chocolate Cake on the wrapper. Today Baker’s Chocolate products.
Links to More Information
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/163175374/posts/1128
https://wordpress.com/post/lifeisprecious.blog/2111
An American Dessert – Not German
So, again, I learn at least 1 thing new everyday…today I learn that German Chocolate Cake is an American dessert, not a German dessert. I read that I am not the only one to make this mistake, and history notes that even President Lyndon B. Johnson, and his wife, Ladybird Johnson, made my mistake. Back in 1963 they served German Chocolate Cake to German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard at a state dinner because they thought it was a German dessert.
The Recipe
It is safe to say, after searching the internet for German Chocolate Cake recipies, there are hundreds (and maybe thousands or more) of recipies for this cake. They each vary slightly from one another. I wanted to find the “original” recipe. I don’t think I actually found the “original” recipe, but found many that claim that status.
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/german-chocolate-cake/
About Me
Life is precious, capture its beauty. I am lucky to have a loving family, and wonderful friends. Like everyone, I have good days and bad days, happy days and sad days, patient days and crabby days, beautiful days and ugly days, etc. I try to “hold the bright side up” as much as I can because it makes me feel better, and I think it helps others feel better too. I am so far from perfect, but I try to be kind and respectful. I truly believe that life is precious and that there are so many extraordinary ordinary people and moments in life. I want to share and celebrate the “extraordinary ordinary” through my writing and photography. Please check out my photos at Fine Art America Photography https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/35-laura-smith; at Adobe Stock at https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/207669601/Laura%20Jean%20Smith or at Shutterstock https://www.shutterstock.com/g/LauraJSmith. Perhaps you will find something you would like to have as your own?
