German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

[CntPAcruiser]

AKA German sweet chocolate cake (named after the brand of sweet baking chocolate and having nothing really to do with Germany), with coconut-pecan frosting. I don't recall seeing this on Royal Caribbean sailings, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe it's because of nut allergies (and the fact that pecans are expensive) or because many people don't like coconut. It's probably my favorite for a birthday cake, since childhood.

 

Have those who sail other lines seen it on board?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

German chocolate cake originated in Pennsylvania.  There was a large population in Penn of people of German decent who arrived there before the American Revolution…Pennsylvania Dutch.  My grandfather was born in Pennsylvania. The German chocolate cake was made with sour milk.  The recipe has been in my family for generations.  I was raised on German Chocolate Cake and it remains my favorite to this day.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 7/27/2024 at 7:26 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

German chocolate cake originated in Pennsylvania.  There was a large population in Penn of people of German decent who arrived there before the American Revolution…Pennsylvania Dutch.  My grandfather was born in Pennsylvania. The German chocolate cake was made with sour milk.  The recipe has been in my family for generations.  I was raised on German Chocolate Cake and it remains my favorite to this day.  

Interestingly enough…Milton Hershey perfected his iconic chocolate by finally using sour milk.  This gave his chocolate a distinctive flavor which is very different from European chocolate.  Consequently most European connoisseurs of chocolate do not like Hershey chocolate.

[CntPAcruiser]

On 7/27/2024 at 7:26 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

German chocolate cake originated in Pennsylvania.  There was a large population in Penn of people of German decent who arrived there before the American Revolution…Pennsylvania Dutch.  My grandfather was born in Pennsylvania. The German chocolate cake was made with sour milk.  The recipe has been in my family for generations.  I was raised on German Chocolate Cake and it remains my favorite to this day.  

Interesting--the cake I'm referring to was reportedly first a published recipe in Texas in the mid-1950s, and the name has to do with a brand of chocolate called German's. It has nothing to do with German settlers.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 8/1/2024 at 4:18 PM, CntPAcruiser said:

Interesting--the cake I'm referring to was reportedly first a published recipe in Texas in the mid-1950s, and the name has to do with a brand of chocolate called German's. It has nothing to do with German settlers.

My family’s recipe dates way back to the early 1800’s and is Pennsylvania Dutch…German in origin.  Much of the German traditions in Pennsylvania was erased at the outbreak of WW I.  So your recipe and my recipe might have nothing in common.  BTW…I’ve never heard of German’s Chocolate so I did wonder at the title of this thread.  

[CntPAcruiser]

On 8/3/2024 at 7:48 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

My family’s recipe dates way back to the early 1800’s and is Pennsylvania Dutch…German in origin.  Much of the German traditions in Pennsylvania was erased at the outbreak of WW I.  So your recipe and my recipe might have nothing in common.  BTW…I’ve never heard of German’s Chocolate so I did wonder at the title of this thread.  

Does your recipe have the coconut-pecan filling/icing? For me, that is what really makes the cake. Flaked coconut was not readily available until the end of the 1800s, so any recipe using coconut prior to that would have involved starting with a whole coconut. Most recipes for the filling call for evaporated milk, which contributes to the caramelized flavor. Evaporated milk was invented around 1850 and became widely available as a commercially sold product in the 1920s and 30s. 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Our recipe calls for a one layer cake in a large rectangular pan with a sugar frosting made with chocolate powder thinned with black coffee.  This is a real farmhouse recipe served in the pan.  

[CntPAcruiser]

On 8/5/2024 at 8:18 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Our recipe calls for a one layer cake in a large rectangular pan with a sugar frosting made with chocolate powder thinned with black coffee.  This is a real farmhouse recipe served in the pan.  

This sounds very good, but is not the cake I'm talking about. I'd love to taste it, though.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

5 hours ago, CntPAcruiser said:

This sounds very good, but is not the cake I'm talking about. I'd love to taste it, though.

How I would love one of my mothers’ German chocolate cakes.  I can still see the milk in a mason jar sitting out on the counter getting sour.  I never knew, at the time, just how good I had it.  

Edited August 9, 2024 by CGTNORMANDIE