Oh, German Chocolate Cake, how I love you. I remember traveling to Germany as a young college sophomore and being super confused as to why German bakeries didn’t sell German Chocolate Cake. Turns out, German Chocolate Cake isn’t the slightest bit German. In fact, the recipe for it was first published in a Texas newspaper– The Dallas Morning News. Texas!
I can’t feel too bad about my blunder because Lady Bird Johnson, who is actually from Texas, made the same mistake. Her’s was more newsworthy though and even dubbed “the biggest German Chocolate Cake gaffe in history.” The first lady actually served German Chocolate Cake to German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard during a state dinner at the Johnson’s ranch in Johnson City, Texas. So at least they were in the right state where the German Chocolate Cake originated.
So, if it’s not German, what’s the deal with the name then? German Chocolate Cake was originally called German’s Chocolate Cake–named after Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate that was the main chocolate component in the cake. The chocolate was named after two guys who weren’t even German (or bakers). Go figure.
It makes no difference to me what the name is–Texas or German, it’s delicious! So, here’s our play on the Texan origins of this cake. Our favorite Texas Sheet Cake recipe transformed with our family’s Coconut Pecan Frosting recipe. We would have taken a photo of the entire sheet cake in its iconic sheet pan, but… you know how it goes… as soon as we topped it with frosting, it went pretty fast. Enjoy!
