German Chocolate Cake

Another classic!  This is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting on the sides and a topping of roasted pecans and caramelized coconut.  This is seen throughout the US and is almost a standard. The only thing we can't figure out is how it ties in with Germany which is about the only place that this cake is not seen. Is it a German "Chocolate Cake" or a "German Chocolate" Cake?  How does the coconut figure in as Germany is not known as a place for growing coconuts? Well as it turns out the cake is an American concoction. The name comes from the fact that the original chocolate used was from Baker's Chocolate Company which was founded by Samuel German hence the original name German's Chocolate Cake. Who knew?  Whether this is true or not could be up for discussion as German lived in the mid-1800s and the first recipe appeared almost 100 years later. Eh, who cares!

Regardless this is a good cake recipe and we always like it when one shows up. This one was very fresh probably having been made the same day at the East Side Marketplace. This one was also a bit more decorative than some of the home made versions which have the coconut frosting kind of slathered on with little to no flourish. 

We also saw that when the frosting turned out to be too much, that which is left on the plate can serve as medium for an artist. Out of a pile of cake topping emerged and ice cream cone! We have every reason to believe this is the first instance of German Chocolate Cake Art.

Schwarzwälderkirschtorte. The cake of cakes!

Yes that is all one word in the title and it translates to Black Forest Cherry Torte or what we call the Black Forest cake.  This is a particular favorite and we are big aficionados! Scratch that - we're experts!  On the most recent trip to Freiburg, Germany  - the capital of the Black Forest - we spent every day in a different cafe trying out the various offerings and they were all great. Then to top if off the Colombi hotel, as the conference caterer, featured a giant black forest sheet cake - true to the recipe no less.  Alas in the United States the cake is usually not true to the recipe. The closest thing we found was at Ursula's European pastry but alas that bakery has closed. We miss it because Black Forest cake aside we don't know anyone else who make a good Dobosz Torte. But we digress..

Today's version was courtesy of Dr. Zhang and was made to order at the Vienna Bakery in Barrington, RI.  It is very good though not quite up to European snuff. The critical element however - a whipped cream frosting - was there.   Thank God!  It was filled with the requisite layer(s) of cherries and the shaved chocolate on top is also de rigeur. Other important ingredients of the real thing are a cookie type layer on the bottom, then a single layer of SOUR cherries that are soaked in Kirschwasser (cherry brandy), and then a layer of whipped cream. This one used a double layer of sweet cherries and the lack of the Kirschwasser is understandable because here they would probably require the bakery to have a liquor license to pull that off. But make no mistake, this is a great cake.It is not too sweet, the cake portion was very fresh and with the whipped cream it is much lighter than it looks. Kudos to the Vienna Bakery for one of the best adaptations in the US!

When we were almost done with the cake, Vicki, who has been haunted by Peeps since Easter imagined the cake had become one.