June 11 is National German Chocolate Cake Day
German chocolate cake, originally German’s chocolate cake, is a layered chocolate cake…filled and topped with a coconut-pecan frosting. It owes its name to an English-American chocolate maker named Samuel German, who developed a formulation of dark baking chocolate that came to be used in the cake recipe. The recipe for the cake was developed by a Mrs. George Clay of Dallas, Texas and was published as the “Recipe of the Day” in The Dallas Morning News on June 3, 1957 and became quite popular. General Foods, which owned the Baker’s brand at the time, took notice 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 would become 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.
According to calculations by Eratosthenes, Troy was sacked and burned on June 11, 1184 B. C.
Alexander the Great died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon on June 11, 323 B.C. He was 32 years old and his cause of death has been speculated to be poisoning, malaria, pancreatitis, typhoid, or West Nile virus. It was reported that Alexander’s health may have been in general decline after years of heavy drinking and severe wounds.
On June 11, 1509, Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. She was the daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon who supported and financed Christopher Columbus’ explorations.
Birthday of Ben Jonson (June 11, 1572), English playwright and poet, contemporary of William Shakespeare. One quote from Johnson is “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” ‘Father Christmas’ first appeared in his 1616 play first performed at the court of King James I. Ben Jonson was buried standing up in Westminster Abbey. Because he could only afford to buy a tiny amount of space in the abbey, Jonson was buried in an upright position. Now is he buried in Poets’ Corner where so many other famous English writers are interred.
In 1742, Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove. The wood fuel burns on an iron surface over a cold air duct which heats air which then passes through baffles in the back wall. The heated air is released through vents on each side of the stove. Rather than patent it, he chose to write about it in a book so that others could freely copy his design. As he wrote, “That as we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously. From: June 11 – Today in Science.
In 1770, the British explorer, Captain James Cook, ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
June 11, 1776 – The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence. Speaking of these “old white men”, Jefferson was 33 years old; Adams was 41; Franklin was 70; Sherman was 55; and Livingston was 30.
In 1793, the first American patent for a stove designed of cast iron was granted to Robert Haeterick of Pennsylvania.
Birthday of Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910), French oceanographer, marine biologist. Co-Inventer of the aqualung which made SCUBA diving possible.
1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gave the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey.
The Presbyterian Church of America was founded at Philadelphia on June 11, 1936.
1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly became the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island .
President John F. Kennedy addressed Americans from the Oval Office in 1963, proposing the Civil Rights Act (passed in 1964) that would revolutionize American society. It proposed equal access to public facilities, to end segregation in education and to guarantee federal protection for voting rights.
1982 – the movie “ET the Extra-Terrestrial” was released.
Thank you.
What are the chances of finding that original German Chocolate Cake recipe of Mrs. Clay from that June 3, 1957 edition of the Dallas Morning News?
I was surprised you didn’t post it.
I believe the original recipe can be found at My Country Table.