BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture German Culture German Chocolate Cake

Hi Francine-

I just made a German Chocolate Cake for a friend. It happens to be a frequently requested, homemade, baked good from my family and my friends. It is a chocolate cake (fluffy, not an intense chocolate flavor), iced in a very sweet, dairy based (almost caramel) icing, mixed with chopped pecans and coconut.

So, I was wondering about it's origins. Is this cake actually a German Cake?

Hi Yvonnie, No German Chocolate Cake has nothing to do with a genuine Chocolate Cake from Germany, most of which are basically very rich, with a melted chocolate topping, some with fresh fruit. A 'torte' really.

Many look basically something like this photo.

There are those that have masses of fresh cream and fruit as well as chocolate, such as the Black Forest Gateau.

Or there are cakes that just have chocolate as one of the ingredients, but are not 'chocolate cakes' as such.

A sweet sugar frosting is not something that appears that often on a cake, just a thin ice glaze or something like that is more usual if an icing is called for.

When I was in the USA I was given a slice of the cake you describe, and was told that it came into the public eye in the �domesticated� 1950�s, from a recipe made by a housewife using a dark cooking chocolate developed in the 19th century by a man called Sam German.

He worked for the Bakers Chocolate Company and the chocolate was named for him, German�s Sweet Chocolate.

There are so many different types of cake in Germany, they just love them especially in the afternoon, but have never seen an example of a US �German Chocolate Cake� over here. Enjoyed the slice I had all those years ago though.

Thanks Francine for that educational update.

The cake in your photo looks yummy! I think I'll make one of those next week.