German Chocolate Cake - Wikipedia

Layered chocolate cake named after Samuel German Not to be confused with the German Black Forest gateau. German chocolate cake

A German chocolate cake
Alternative names	German's chocolate cake
Type	Layer cake
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	United States
Region or state	Texas
Created by	Unknown
Invented	1950s
Main ingredients	Chocolate cake, icing (egg yolks, evaporated milk, coconut and pecan)

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.[1]

History

[edit]

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.[2] 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.[3]

In 1957, another recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" appeared as the "Recipe of the Day" in The Dallas Morning News.[4] It was created by Lucy Clay,[5] frequently cited as Mrs. George Clay, a homemaker from Dallas, Texas.[4]

General Foods, which owned the Baker's brand at the time, took notice of the recipe and distributed the cake recipe to other newspapers in the country. Sales of Baker's Chocolate are said to have increased by as much as 73% and the cake became a national staple. The possessive form German's was dropped in subsequent publications, forming the "German Chocolate Cake" identity and giving the false impression of a German origin.[3][6][7]

In 1958, Mrs. Jackie Huffines’ recipe for “Samuel German Chocolate Cake” was published in General Foods’ cookbook.

In a 1959 General Foods Co. newsletter, a St. Louis homemaker reported that she was given a similar recipe in the 1920s but couldn’t bake it at the time because she couldn’t afford the ingredients during the Depression.[8]

Hawaii

[edit]

Popular throughout Hawaii is the Chantilly cake, a modified German chocolate cake without coconut or nuts in its frosting, although it is occasionally topped with macadamia nuts. Otherwise, recipes between German chocolate cake and Chantilly cake are nearly identical.[9][10] This frosting, also known as "Chantilly," can also be applied on cream puffs.[11] Despite its name, it does not contain Chantilly cream.

See also

[edit]

• Black Forest cake, or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, a chocolate- and cherry-flavored cake that is of contested German origin
• List of desserts
• Sheet cake

References

[edit]

1. ^ Elizabeth McWhorter. "German Chocolate Cake recipe". My Home Cooking. Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
2. ^ "The Irving News Record from Irving, Texas". The Irving News Record. 10 May 1956. p. 17. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
3. ^ a b Mikkelson, Barbara (December 31, 1998). "Fact Check: Is German Chocolate Cake Really German?". Snopes. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
4. ^ a b Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell (2009). The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History. Charleston, SC: History Press. p. 81. ISBN 9781596293533. Retrieved 1 March 2013. george clay chocolate.
5. ^ "Dallas City Directory, 1957". 1957. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
6. ^ "Is German Chocolate Cake Really German?". Kitchen Project. 30 May 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
7. ^ Linda Stradley (2007). "German Chocolate Cake - History of German Chocolate Cake". Whats Cooking America. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
8. ^ "German in Name, American in Origins". 22 January 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
9. ^ Shimabukuro, Betty (6 June 2001). "Yummy chantilly frosting requires real butter and a double boiler". archives.starbulletin.com. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
10. ^ Tom, Lynette Lo (20 January 2021). "Back in the Day: A Maui baker has perfected the luscious, buttery frosting for chantilly cake". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
11. ^ Chan, Kathy YL (25 October 2017). "9 Must Eat Hawai'i Desserts". Eater. Retrieved 23 September 2023.

Further reading

[edit]

• "Celebrating Not-So-German Chocolate Cake" (Audio with transcript). All Things Considered. NPR. 23 Jun 2007.

v t e Cakes
List of cakes
Butter cakes	Babka Banana bread Gâteau nantais Gooey butter Pound
Cheesecakes	Basque cheesecake Falculelle Fiadone Japanese cheesecake Ostkaka Tu Ube cheesecake
Nut cakes	Brazil nut Castagnaccio Chestnut Financier Neccio Pain de Gênes
Chocolatecakes	Amandine Bariloche Batik Black Forest gateau Blackout Chocolate brownie Colin the Caterpillar Flourless chocolate Garash German chocolate Hedgehog slice Joffre Kladdkaka Molten chocolate Red velvet Sachertorte Torta caprese
Fruitcakes	Apple Banana Bánh chuối Black bun Bolo-rei Cherry cake Clementine Crema de fruta Dundee Fig Genoa Jewish apple Kornigou Mango Mango float Panforte Panpepato Plum Queen Elizabeth Raisin Strawberry Torta alla Monferrina
Layer cakes	Angel Argentine Berry chantilly cake Bolo fiado Buckwheat gateau Cassata Coconut Devil's food Doberge Dobos torte Esterházy torte Flan Gâteau magique Lapis legit (spekkoek) Liver cake Maria Luisa Cremeschnitte Šampita Tompouce Marlenka Mikado Princess Prinzregententorte Rainbow Rogel Sarawak layer Smith Island Torta setteveli Torta Tre Monti Torte Vínarterta
Spit cakes	Baumkuchen Kürtőskalács (Chimney cake) Šakotis Spettekaka Trdelník
Spongecakes	Bahulu Bánh bò Battenberg Boston cream pie Brown sugar Buko pandan Castella Charlotte Coffee and walnut Donauwelle Fanta Frankfurter Kranz French Fancy Frog Génoise Hot milk Hummingbird Lady Baltimore Ladyfinger Lamington Madeira Madeleine Mantecada Marry girl Misérable Opera Pandan Paper wrapped Pionono Rum Shortcake Spice Tres leches Victoria sponge
Foam cakesand meringue	Angel food Brazo de Mercedes Chiffon Dacquoise Kyiv Mamón Mango Pavlova Sans rival Spanische Windtorte Ube Yema Zuger Kirschtorte
Yeast cakes	Banbury Berlingozzo Bienenstich Breudher Cacavellu Campanile Canestru Chorley Cozonac Date and walnut loaf Easter bread Gugelhupf Inuliata Portuguese sweet bread Pandoro Rum baba Streuselkuchen
Specialoccasions	Birthday Buccellato Christmas Bûche de Noël Pan de Pascua Groom's Halloween King Rosca de reyes Kransekake Lekach Love Marry girl Mooncake Snow skin mooncake Pască Pop out Simnel Soul Stack Stollen Strenna Wedding
By shape	Bundt Cake balls Cake pop Cupcake Petit four Swiss roll Upside-down
Other	Basbousa Beer Better than sex Bizcocho Bulla Carrot Coffee Fruit slice Gingerbread house man Heavy Ice cream Ispanaklı kek Kue Kuih Lolly Louise Mané pelado Marble Nonnette Ontbijtkoek Pain d'épices Pancake Parkin Parrozzo Poke Punschkrapfen Rice Ruske kape Snack Soufflé Sugee Sweetheart Teacake Tiramisu Watergate Welsh
Food portal Category

v t e Chocolate desserts
Cakes	Batik cake Black Forest cake Blackout cake Boston cream pie Bûche de Noël Chantilly cake Chocolate brownie Chocolate cake Chokladboll Colin the Caterpillar Death by Chocolate Devil's food cake Éclair Flourless chocolate cake Garash cake German chocolate cake Hedgehog slice Kladdkaka Molten chocolate cake Pain au chocolat Prinzregententorte Red velvet cake Sachertorte Torta 900 Torta caprese
Pies and tarts	Chocolate creme pie Mississippi mud pie
Cookies	Chocolate chip cookie Chocolate crinkle Chocolate salami Nanaimo bar Oreos S'mores
Ice cream	Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream Chocolate ice cream Cookies and cream Mint chocolate chip Milkshake Sundae
Other	Banana boat Brigadeiro Chocolate-covered bacon Chocolate-covered potato chips Chocolate crackles Chocolate pudding Chocolate salo