German Chocolate Cake

German chocolate cake didn't originate in Germany. And German chocolate cake isn't' even as hard to make as it used to be anymore.

German Chocolate Cake

Think German chocolate cake is from Germany? Think again.

History

You're probably wondering where German chocolate cake is from if it's not from Germany. The recipe seems to have originated in the U.S. However, it's made with German chocolate--Baker's German chocolate, that is. Let us explain. An Englishman named Sam German was working for Baker's Chocolate company when he created this chocolate, which is similar to milk chocolate but sweeter than baking chocolate. It's sweetened baking chocolate! And a housewife in Dallas used it to make a sweet chocolate buttermilk cake with a coconut pecan frosting. She submitted the recipe to a Dallas newspaper, and the German chocolate cake caught on like wildfire. People who ate the cake wanted the recipe and asked the paper to reprint it. Now people make German chocolate cakes, German cheesecake, even German chocolate pie.

And food manufacturers eventually got in on the act, making German chocolate cake mixes, and eventually, pre-made coconut pecan frosting. Now anybody can make a good German chocolate cake whether they consider themselves a baker or not.

What About German Chocolates?

What about them? Actually, Germany does make chocolates. In fact, this might surprise you--German chocolates are the most exported of all European chocolate.

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