Did a German grandma bring this recipe over when immigrating to
America?
Nope. German Chocolate Cake got it's name for the chocolate bar that
Mrs. Georgia Clay from Dallas Texas, picked up at the grocery
and developed a cake.
She sent in the recipe to
the Dallas Morning News which featured it as "Recipe of the Day" i
in Julie Bennell's (a local celebrity) recipe Column on June 3, 1957.
How did it get it's name?
Mrs Clay used the name of the chocolate she used, "Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate".
Notice the apostrophe on German's. This means it was a name and not the country.
Created in 1852, by Samuel German (who immigrated to America from England),
as a sweeter choice of baking chocolate.
However it had modest popularity until 1957 when German Chocolate Cake
took the country by storm.
Will you find German Chocolate Cake in Germany ?
No I have asked around and they won't even know what this is.
The style of the cake doesn't even have a German counterpart.
Although aspects of this cake have some German similarities but not sure if they
were influenced by them.
If you search for German Buttercream Frosting a recipe comes up that is the closest to this filling.
This one by Hani from Hanielas.com gives a recipe for "German Buttercream Frosting" that does have
some similarities to Mrs Clay's filling -frosting that she developed for her cake. Hani goes on to say that
she doesn't know how it got it's name but it is similar to what they use to call in Slovakia "Pudding Buttercream". Well Slovakia borders Germany!
If you look at the recipes for some of the Bienenstich Kuchen they often have this "Pudding Buttercream"
filling. So maybe there are some roots here that are similar to German baking.
If you were to use a Black Forest Cherry Torte style cake with this pudding buttercream and blend in almonds or hazelnuts instead of pecans and of course the coconut you would have a similar cake to German Chocolate. I will try making one soon.
Who was the person that Created "German Chocolate Cake"?
Mrs. Georgia Clay donated a recipe to the "Dallas Morning News" that became "Recipe for the Day"
in Julie Bennell's food column on June 7, 1957.
What is Special about German Chocolate Cake ?
A Buttermilk Cake ?
The Cake is made using buttermilk instead of whole milk
and a whole German's Chocolate Baking Bar
melted and mix into the cake mix.
I am not sure why....
Yes you can order this now on Amazon, and with prime the shipping is free.
In the Southern American states where this recipe was conceived there are a lot of buttermilk cakes,
buttermilk pies and buttermilk fried chicken I don't know but that could be a good reason
why Mrs.
Clay used buttermilk. I wish I could talk to her but she probably isn't still alive.
Still I try to get into her head and think what she was thinking at the time of conception
for this recipe.
How about the Frosting..
which is
Also the Filling?
The filling is a cooked frosting.
It is more commonly called a custard frosting from my research so far.
The idea of cooking a frosting is not new, but I don't see this style used that much
in the 1950's.
There are many varieties of cooking, butter and milk and sugar, then
adding goodies but this particular creation with the evaporated milk, pecans and coconut may be fairly unique.
Pecans are abundant in the southern part of the United States. Coconut frostings were popular
in the south in the 50's but most that I found were for a coconut orange cake.
Here is a recipe for an A Very Old Fashioned Southern Coconut Frosting for a cake that has a similar structure and has a cooked coconut filling and there is no frosting on the sides. A similar style that may be an influence for Mrs. Clay when she was developing the German Chocolate Cake.
As you can see below the filling is a nice cooked custard using, evaporated milk, eggs, butter
and sugar with the addition of coconut and pecans.
I don't find that used much in the 1950's or before.
How did German Chocolate Cake instead of other Cakes become a Staple
in American Bakeries and Grocery Stores?
In reading the newspapers around the late 50's after it appeared in the Dallas Morning News, it was spread by word of mouth or several food editors would send it to other food editors which was unusual, but they said it was that good. I mean you always want to share something that folks will go ...WOW that is awesome.
However as soon as it became popular Kraft (owner of he Baker's Chocolate Company) took notice and started to send the recipe to newspapers all over the United States. Sales for the chocolate skyrocketed and it has not decreased in popularity since.
An article is from the Green Bay Press Gazette Jan 30, 1958
6 months after it was first published said this ....
German Chocolate Cake Has Country Talking
It's a mystery? Why, Why Why does everyone seem to be talking about a particular chocolate cake. What is it about this cake that is taking the country by storm. True it is perfectly delicious but so are dozens of other favorite cake recipes used now and again, and shared once or twice to friends, but this recipe starting from a home maker in Texas has traveled mostly by word of mouth north, south, east and west.....
This was only 6 months and there was no internet back then.
Come Explore with me The History of Food Have you ever wondered as I have.....
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How about the first salad or what was the first salad dressing?
How did Salad get the name Salad?
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