A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by a filling such as frosting , jam , or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices. Frequently, the cake is covered with icing , but sometimes, the sides are left undecorated, so that the filling and the number of layers are visible.
17-526: Popular flavor combinations include German chocolate cake , red velvet cake , Black Forest cake , and carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Many wedding cakes are decorated layer cakes. In the mid-19th century, modern cakes were first described in English. Maria Parloa's Appledore Cook Book , published in Boston in 1872, contained one of the first layer cake recipes. Another early recipe for layer cake
34-547: A Dallas, Texas newspaper printed a cake recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" based on this chocolate. Subsequent reprints in other newspapers by the company's owner General Foods named it " German chocolate cake ". Chocolate production steadily increased through the century. The trademark logo of La Belle Chocolatière was adopted in 1883 by the fourth-generation familial owner, Henry L. Pierce , step-nephew of Walter Baker. Pierce began advertising Baker's Chocolate heavily in newspapers to increase sales. In 1896, Baker's Chocolate
51-574: A double-layer cake, and others expect 24 servings. Much smaller pieces, with as many as 32 servings for a nine-inch round layer cake, are common for wedding cake . Unlike the Vietnamese Bánh da lợn or Swiss rolls , layer cake is assembled from several separate pieces of cake. A sheet cake can become a layer cake if it is cut into pieces and reassembled with frosting or other filling to form layers. German chocolate cake German chocolate cake , originally German's chocolate cake ,
68-472: Is a brand name for the line of baking chocolates owned by Kraft Heinz . Products include a variety of bulk chocolates , including white and unsweetened , and sweetened coconut flakes. It is one of the largest national brands of chocolate in the United States. The company was originally named Walter Baker & Company . In 1764, John Hannon (alternatively spelled "Hannan" in some sources) and
85-404: Is a custard made with egg yolks and evaporated milk ; once the custard is cooked, coconut and pecans are stirred in. Occasionally, a chocolate frosting is spread on the sides of the cake and piped around the circumference of the layers to hold in the filling. Maraschino cherries are occasionally added as a garnish . In 1957, a recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" appeared as the "Recipe of
102-475: Is a layered chocolate cake filled and topped with a coconut - pecan frosting. Originating in the United States , it was named after English-American chocolate maker Samuel German, who developed a formulation of dark baking chocolate that came to be used in the cake recipe. Sweet baking chocolate is traditionally used for the cake's flavor, but few recipes call for it today. The filling and/or topping
119-492: 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 . Baker%27s Chocolate Baker's Chocolate
136-641: Is used for a cake in France, and in the UK it means a layer cake. It is also used for some types of pastry-based desserts like the Gâteau Basque . Layer cakes typically serve multiple people, so they are larger than cupcakes , petits fours , or other individual pastries. A common layer cake size, which is baked in nine-inch round cake pans, typically serves about 16 people, but there is some variation. Some recipes suggest larger pieces with as few as 10 servings for
153-668: The American physician Dr. James Baker started importing cocoa beans and producing chocolate in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester, Massachusetts . The original brand name was "Hannon’s Best Chocolate", which was "manufactured for almost fifteen years" and was sold with a money-back guarantee if the consumer was unsatisfied with the product. Distribution was mainly in the Northeastern United States until 1804 when James Baker's son, Edmund Baker, inherited
170-584: The Day" in The Dallas Morning News . It was created by Mrs. George Clay, a homemaker from Dallas, Texas, and used the "German's Sweet Chocolate" baking chocolate introduced in 1853 by American baker Samuel German for the Baker's Chocolate Company . A similar recipe by food conservationist Jackie Huffines had previously been featured on television. General Foods , which owned the Baker's brand at
187-614: The Forbes Syndicate bought the company, which they sold In 1927 to the Postum Cereal Company , later known as General Foods . In 1966 production moved from Dorchester, Massachusetts to Dover, Delaware . The company was passed onto Kraft Foods in 1989 when they acquired General Foods. Baker's is now owned by Kraft Heinz, a company formed by the merger between Kraft Foods and Heinz . Baker's continues to expand its line of products, focusing on conveniences for
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#1732773349701204-583: The company to James Baker in 1780 and it was renamed to the Baker Chocolate Company . By 1849 (under Walter Baker), the Baker's Chocolate brand had spread to California during the Gold Rush era. Production was limited to one kind of chocolate until 1852, when employee Samuel German created "German's Sweet Chocolate" that had a higher sugar content than previous baking chocolates. In 1957
221-499: The family business and increased production with a state-of-the-art mill. Before 1865 the company originally purveyed three grades of drinking chocolate , which were "Best Chocolate", "Common Chocolate", and "Inferior Chocolate". The inferior grade was mostly sold to West Indian and American slaves. After Hannon never returned from a 1779 sailing trip to the West Indies to purchase cocoa beans, his wife Elizabeth Gore Hannon sold
238-733: The finished stack. These layers are then covered with a thin layer of cream and/or jam and stacked. This stack, which is the same height as the typical Western layer cake, is then frosted so that the structure is not visible. At first glance, these cakes look much like a German konditorei style cake such as the Black Forest cake. An example for a European layer cake invented in 1735 is the Frankfurter Kranz (Frankfurt Crown Cake) which consists of two or three layers of sponge cake filled with jam and buttercream frosting , and then frosted with more buttercream. The French term gâteau
255-405: 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. Popular throughout Hawaii
272-420: Was advertising in around 8,000 newspapers in the United States. The company also advertised using signage and cards in grocery stores, in novels, in street cars and using billboards. Promotional offers of tableware and logo pins helped attract customers. Around the late 1800s, the company began promoting the notion of using chocolate as an ingredient in desserts and for baking. Following Pierce's death in 1896,
289-521: Was published in Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book , published in London in 1894. Whereas in modern layer cakes, layers are generally baked to a height of around 2 inches (5.1 cm) and split horizontally, another method of preparing cake layers is used for cakes like Dobos torte and Prinzregententorte : The cake batter is baked in seven or eight separate thin layers, about a half-inch thick each in
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