German Myth 1
German Chocolate Cake
Is German Chocolate Cake German?
MYTHS: German Misnomers, Myths and Mistakes > Myth 1
The short answer: No! - The term "German chocolate cake" was actually derived from German's Sweet Chocolate, a brand name that isn't German either. According to spokespeople from Kraft Foods/General Foods, a man named Sam German, working for the Baker's Chocolate Company, developed a bar of sweet baking chocolate in 1852. The new product bore the name of its inventor: Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate. But the first known published recipe for a cake using German's Sweet Chocolate appeared in a Dallas newspaper in 1957. As time went by, the name of the popular cake recipe—using Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate or Baker's Sweet Chocolate—was shortened to "German chocolate cake."
Another source: Robert Shea's German Chocolate Cake page - with a photo of a wrapper from Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate Bar.
German Misnomers, Myths and Mistakes
Those tales you've heard about Frau Blucher, Hitler's autobahn, jelly doughnuts, and Thomas Nast may not be true. - Myth 13: The Devil Dogs and the U.S. Marines.
German Newsletters
Subscribe to a free newsletter!
OUR GERMAN FORUMS