German Chocolate Cake

“German chocolate cake” sounds like it’s from Germany, but is it?
 
The “German chocolate cake” story is familiar to food historians. The cake’s name is from German’s chocolate, a chocolate named after Samuel German and first manufactured in 1852. Texas newspapers are credited for printing recipes for “German (Sweet) Chocolate Cake” (using German’s chocolate) in 1956 and 1957. German’s (owned by Baker’s Chocolate) publicized the cake’s recipe a few years later, and the rest is history.
 
However, there are earlier citations. A recipe for “German hard chocolate cake” was printed in the Bedford (PA) Gazette on March 3, 1870. A recipe for “German Chocolate Cake” was printed in the Ladies’ Home Journal in April 1900. A recipe for “German Chocolate Cake” was printed in the Akron (OH) Beacon Journal on September 7, 1935, and another was published in the Port Arthur (TX) News on November 8, 1935.

“Recipe for the German sweet chocolate cake which won the blue ribbon for first place in the domestic science division of the Washita county free fair is submitted by Mrs. J. H. Minker, Cordell, who made and exhibited the cake” was printed in the Cordell (OK) Beacon on September 29, 1949, and this was followed by many printed recipes in the 1950s. A recipe for “German Sweet Chocolate Cake” was printed in the Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle on August 16, 1951. The Austin (TX) American-Statesman of September 23, 1982 stated that the Austin Women’s Club (incorporated in 1929) might have invented the German Chocolate Cake, but no pre-1957 evidence was shown to support this.


Wikipedia: German chocolate cake
German chocolate cake, originally German’s chocolate cake, is a layered chocolate cake filled and topped with a coconut-pecan frosting. Originating in the United States, it was named after English-American chocolate maker Samuel German, who developed a formulation of dark baking chocolate that came to be used in the cake recipe. Sweet baking chocolate is traditionally used for the flavor of the cake, but few recipes call for it today. The filling or topping is a custard made with egg yolks and evaporated milk; once the custard is cooked, coconut and pecans are stirred in.

History
The earliest known published recipe for this cake appeared in 1956, in the Dallas newspaper The Irving News Record, where it was listed as “Summer German Chocolate Cake”. . It was submitted by Daisy Pearce, who obtained the recipe from her daughter, Francis Beth (Montgomery) Tomlinson. It used the “German’s Sweet Chocolate” baking chocolate introduced over a century earlier in 1853 by American baker Samuel German for the Baker’s Chocolate Company of Boston, Massachusetts.

Kitchen Project
Is German Chocolate Cake Really German?

In America there is a very popular cake called German Chocolate Cake. It is not German at all (Nicht Deutcher),

But it has an interesting history. A recipe for “German’s Chocolate Cake” first appeared in a Dallas, Texas newspaper in 1957. That it was sent in by a Dallas homemaker is all we know, according to Patricia Riso, a spokeswomen for Kraft foods . It used a brand of chocolate bar called “German’s” which had been developed in 1852, by an Englishman named Sam German, for Baker’s Chocolate Company. 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. It was my favorite cake when I was growing up and I requested it for my birthday every year.

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.
     
German Culture
German cooking is famous for its complexity and extravagance in choosing the ingredients. Therefore such a rich dish as German Chocolate Cake might perfectly fit into German cuisine. Yet it was not brought (as is sometimes reported) to the American Midwest by German immigrants. The cake took its name from an American with the last name of “German.” In 1852, Sam German created the mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Co. The product was named in his honor - “Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate.” In most recipes and products today, the apostrophe and the “s” have been dropped, thus giving the false hint as for the chocolate’s origin.

The first published recipe for German’s chocolate cake showed up in a Dallas newspaper in 1957 and came from a Texas homemaker. The cake quickly gained popularity and its recipe together with the mouth-watering photos were spread all over the country. America fell in love with German Chocolate cake. No wonder: its superb chocolate taste conquers you at first bite! 
 
Newspapers.com
3 March 1870, Bedford (PA) Gazette, pg. 1, col. 6:
German hard chocolate cake. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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12 January 1883, The Daily Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, IL), pg. 4, col. 3:
... Fancy German Chocolate Cake, ...

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17 April 1900, The Daily Intelligencer (Mexico, MO), pg. 3, col. 4:
German Chocolate Cake. (Recipe is shown from the Ladies’ Home Journal.—ed.)

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2 December 1901, Minneapolis (MN) Tribune, pg. 8, col. 1:
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKES. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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13 June 1928, San Antonio (TX) Express, pg. 9, cols. 5-6:
Sweet Milk Chocolate Cake. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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7 September 1935, Akron (OH) Beacon Journal, “Prize Winning Chocolate Cake Calls For Butter Substitute As Fattening Agent In Recipe” by Glenna H. Snow, pg 12, col. 3:
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

8 November 1935, Port Arthur (TX) News, pg. 12:
German Chocolate Cake
Three cups flour, 3/4 cup cornstarch, 5 teaspoons baking powder, 1 cup cane sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 pound butter 1 1/2 cup milk or cream, 5 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 tablespoons cocoa.
 
Cream butter, sugar and egg yolks for 10 minutes. Sift flour, cornstarch and baking powder together and add slowly to the beaten ingredients. Add the milk, salt and vanilla and mix well. Beat in the stiff whipped whites of the eggs. Fill three greased cake tins with the mixture and add 2 tablespoons of cocoa and 1/2 cup of sugar to the remainder. This will fill two cake tins, giving you three white layers and three chocolate layers. Bake 10 minutes in a moderate oven.
 
Icing
One cup pineapple preserves; 1/4 pound of cocoa or chocolate, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cane sugar, 1/2 cup butter.
 
Melt the butter in a dish over boiling water. Mix in the chocolate and the sugar.
 
In icing the cake, alternate the white and chocolate layers. Between each layer spread a layer of the icing topped with a layer of pineapple preserves. Garnish the top of the cake with a star made of pineapple preserves.
   
Newspapers.com
29 September 1949, Cordell (OK) Beacon, “Recipe Given For Prize Winning Cake,” pg. 10, col. 2:
Recipe for the German sweet chocolate cake which won the blue ribbon for first place in the domestic science division of the Washita county free fair is submitted by Mrs. J. H. Minker, Cordell, who made and exhibited the cake.

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3 December 1950, Indianapolis (IN) Star, “The Friendly Exchange,” sec. 3, pg. 1, col. 5:
I also wish to thank Mrs. W. E. L/.of Spiceland for the German sweet chocolate cake recipe.

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16 August 1951, Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle, “Spinster’s Special: Miss Davis Charms Family with German Cake Recipe” by Junetta Watson, sec. 2, pg. 1, cols. 1-3:
GERMAN SWEET CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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18 October 1951, Clarksdale (MS) Press Register, pg. 2, col. 5:
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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18 November 1951, Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette, “Favorite Recipes of Iowa Women” by Elinor Day, sec. 3, pg. 8, col. 1:
German Chocolate Cake. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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20 March 1952, The Blizzard (Oil CIty, PA), “Recipes,” pg. 23, col. 5:
German Sweet Chocolate Cake. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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11 November 1953, Houston (TX) Chronicle, “Game, Holiday Cookery Share Readers Interest” by Betty Rose Cravens, sec. D, pg. 5, cols. 2-3:
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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31 December 1953, Texhoma (OK) Times, “Society,” pg. 4, col. 2:
German Sweet Chocolate Cake. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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28 May 1954, Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), “Treats and Tricks,” sec. 1, pg. 10, cols. 1-2:
GERMAN SWEET CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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10 November 1954, Houston (TX) Chronicle, “The Mailbag Offers Variety” by Betty Rose Cravens, sec. D, pg. 3, col. 3:
GERMAN SWEET CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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24 July 1955, Taylor (TX) Daily Press, “County Cooks’ Corner,” pg. 5, col. 3:
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE. (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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10 May 1956, Irving (TX) News Record, “Cookin’ With Daisy,” pg. 17, cols. 5-6:
SUMMER GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE AND LEMONADE (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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19 September 1956, Brownwood (TX) Bulletin, pg. 3, col. 1:
GERMAN SWEET CHOCOLATE CAKE (Recipe is shown.—ed.)

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23 January 1957, Houston (TX) Chronicle, “German Chocolate Cake Varies Popular Recipe” by Betty Rose Cravens, sec. C, pg. 2, cols. 2-3:
(Recipe for “German Sweet Chocolate Cake” is shown.—ed.)

Memorial Book and Recipes 1957
Compiled January 1957
by Mrs. Marie Baca
Czech Catholic Home for the Aged, Inc.
Hilljo, Texas
Pg. 183:
German Chocolate Cake
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or crisco
4 eggs, separated, whip whites and fold in last
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 whole German chocolate bar melted in 2 tablespoons water
 
Melt chocolate in water, mix sugar, butter and egg yolks and add the cooled chocolate. Add the dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites last.
 
Filling:
1 box powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons of chocolate or cocoa (dry)
4 tablespoons black coffee
If too stiff, add black coffee to make of spreading consistency.
Mrs. Christine Bartosh, Granger, Texas.
 
12 April 1957, Commerce (TX) Daily Journal, pg. 2, col. 3:
Cafeteria Lists
Four-Day Menus
Menus at the Commerce public school cafeteria for the week April 15-18 have been announced as follows:
(...)
Thursday
(...)
German Chocolate Cake
 
Newspapers.com
23 September 1982, Austin (TX) American-Statesman, “German chocolate cake leads to Austin Club’s oven” by Betty Crider, pg. F1, col. 1:
Members of the Austin Women’s Club, which incorprated in 1929, believe that the cake was born in their kitchen.
(...) (Col. 3.—ed.)
Whether a different German chocolate cake was baked by the club prior to the 1957 version is undocumented. (...) “We certainly cannot prove that it originated here but we do believe that it did,” AWC member Fran Ledbetter said.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark GERMAN’S
Goods and Services IC 030. US 046. G & S: Sweet Chocolate. FIRST USE: 19100100. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19100100
Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM
Design Search Code
Serial Number 71133515
Filing Date June 10, 1920
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Registration Number 0144544
Registration Date July 12, 1921
Owner (REGISTRANT) Walter Baker & Company, Ltd. CORPORATION MASSACHUSETTS PIERCE SQUARE Dorchester, Boston MASSACHUSETTS
(LAST LISTED OWNER) KRAFT FOODS HOLDINGS INC CORPORATION BY ASSIGNMENT DELAWARE THREE LAKES DR NORTHFIELD ILLINOIS 60093
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record SUSAN H FROHLING
Prior Registrations 0044429
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECTION 8(10-YR) 20011101.
Renewal 3RD RENEWAL 20011101
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