German chocolate cake - Definition

The German Chocolate Cake is a layered chocolate-buttermilk cake filled and topped with a coconut-pecan frosting.

History

This cake was not actually invented by Germans. The original recipe was sent by a homemaker in Dallas in 1957 to a newspaper in Texas. It used Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate, which was created in 1852 by an Englishman named Sam German for the Baker's Chocolate brand.

The cake had an immediate and enthusiastic response, and requests about where to find the German's chocolate bar were so numerous that General Foods (who owned Baker's Chocolate) decided to send pictures of the cake to newspapers all around the country. Everywhere the recipe had the same response and the sales for the chocolate exploded.

Now the cake is a regular item in bakeries across the country, and a mix is on the grocery shelves also.

The cake most likely didn't originate from this Dallas housewife. Buttermilk chocolate cakes have been popular in the south for over 70 years, and Pecans are plentiful in the area also, to make the nice frosting. German's chocolate is similar to a milk chocolate and sweeter than regular baking chocolate.