German chocolate cake

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.{{cite web |title=The Irving News Record from Irving, Texas |work= The Irving News Record|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-irving-news-record/32463149/|access-date=24 June 2025 |date=10 May 1956|page= 17}} 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.

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

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.

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.{{cite web |title=German in Name, American in Origins |url= https://tastecooking.com/german-in-name-american-in-origins/|access-date=24 June 2025 |date=22 January 2018}}

Hawaii

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. This frosting, also known as "Chantilly," can also be applied on cream puffs. Despite its name, it does not contain Chantilly cream.

References

References

1. Elizabeth McWhorter. "German Chocolate Cake recipe". My Home Cooking.
2. Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell. (2009). "The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History". History Press.
3. (1957). "Dallas City Directory, 1957".
4. Mikkelson, Barbara. (December 31, 1998). "Fact Check: Is German Chocolate Cake Really German?". Snopes.
5. (30 May 2007). "Is German Chocolate Cake Really German?". Kitchen Project.
6. Linda Stradley. (2007). "German Chocolate Cake - History of German Chocolate Cake". Whats Cooking America.
7. (6 June 2001). "Yummy chantilly frosting requires real butter and a double boiler". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
8. (20 January 2021). "Back in the Day: A Maui baker has perfected the luscious, buttery frosting for chantilly cake".
9. (25 October 2017). "9 Must Eat Hawai'i Desserts".