Did you know? German Chocolate Cake is not actually German, it’s Texan

It may surprise you to learn that German Chocolate Cake is not actually German. (But don’t worry, it’s still very much chocolateand still very much cake.) And it’s also very Texan.

Pecans aren’t historically found in the German diet, but Texans sure love them. Buttermilk — which is mixed with chocolate in the cake —isalsoaSou thern staple. As it turns out, the cake is an American creation, not brought to us from German immigrants as many have thought.

After researching the origins of the cake, every bite and nibble took us back to a recipe that ran in The Dallas Morning News in June 1957 called German Sweet Chocolate Cake.

Mrs. George Clay, of Southeast Dallas, submitted her recipe to the food pages of our newspaper — Julie Benell’s Recipe of the Day column — using Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, which still exists today. It was called “German’s” chocolate after Samuel German, who invented the sweetened chocolate while working for Baker’s Chocolate, which was then owned by General Foods. (It’s now owned by Kraft). It’s a chocolate that includes sugar, which prov idesashortcutfor bakers.

According to What’s Cooking America, the 1957 recipe was picked up by other newspapers across the country, and sales of Baker’s chocolate soared along with the popularity of the cake.

Confusion about the origins of the cake has persisted. In 1963, according to a story inTheD allas Morning News, even President Lyndon B. Johnson served the cake at his Johnson City ranch for a luncheon with German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard. We can’t seem to find any reports on whether Erhard liked t hecake,orwhether he realized it was errone- ously made in honor of his home country.

WHAT’S IN A CAKE?

So, what is German Sweet Chocolate Cake? It’s usually three layers (sometimes two) of chocolate cake made with melted sweetened chocolate and buttermilk, topped with a custard-y frosting of eggs and sugar mixed with coco- nut and pecans. The frosting is also sandwiched between the layers. It’s decadent, sweet and chocolatey. It’s not really that pretty, but hey, there was no Instagram back in the ’50s and ’60s. Plano recipe developer and frequent Dallas Morning News contributor Rebecca White tested the original recipe for us, in addition to the recipe we ran in ’63 from the Johnson City ranch, which was slightly different. The first thing she noticed about the recipes were the

limited instructions, which leads us to think that home cooks of the ’50s were a bit more skilled in the kitchen. baker, will ‘cream “Ifoneisnotaseasoned be certain the unclear, shortening instructions such and as sugar, melted and chocolate,’” egg yolks and she says. “It lends the beginning baker to wonder 1. What does cream mean? 2. How long to cream the shortening and sugar? 3. When do I add the egg yolks and melted chocolate? 4. How do I melt the chocolate?”

Whitec ombined what she thought were the best ele- ments of each recipe into one m odernized version, which we’ve included below.

The original version used shortening in the cake, while the Johnson City version used butter. White liked the shortening flavor and tex- ture better. For the frosting, the Johnson City version used evaporated milk instead of whipping cream. White preferred the milk to the cream because it gave the frosting a thicker, more custard-y feel.

Try our modernized version and let us know what you think (ebooke@dallasnews.com).