The Not-So-German Chocolate Cake

German cakes are different than American cakes. Kuchen here is still tasty, but certainly less rich, less sweet, less gooey, and generally incorporates more fruits, berries, and nuts. It's readily available, so we eat it quite often. But one several occasions Lauren and I have remarked to each other, "where's the German Chocolate Cake?" Yes, to our surprise, we haven't found it anywhere. What's the deal? Thanks to some internet researching, here's what we found:

"German chocolate cake does not come from Germany or from German immigrants. German chocolate is a milder, sweeter baking chocolate (milk chocolate would not be invented until 1876, by Daniel Peter in Vevey, Switzerland). According to Kraft Foods, which now owns Walter Baker & Company, German chocolate cake was created in 1852 by Sam German, an Englishman who worked in the U.S. for Walter Baker & Company. Originally called Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, the apostrophe-s was later dropped, adding to the confusion. The popular recipe for German Chocolate Cake was submitted to a Dallas newspaper almost 100 years later, in 1957, by a Texas housewife who may or may not have invented it. In light of the resulting demand for German chocolate, General Foods (since merged with Kraft) sent the recipe to newspapers nationwide, and the cake became a national hit." (from The Nibble. Story corroborated by Kraft Foods here and the LA Times here).

So there you have it. Not German at all. Not even German-American. But, no less delicious either. In case this tempts your tastebuds enough that you want to whip one up right now, you can find the original recipe here, using the very Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate whose very misnaming has probably led generations of Americans like me to search for the original cake in its original land only to walk away empty-handed and none-the-wiser. Oh well, at least now we know.