I am such a curious person, knowledge junkie.  Now, with Wiki right at one’s finger tips, the not so good thing is sometimes I look something up before I let my memory actually find the answer.  Sometimes, I simply don’t know, and, in those instances, it’s great to have this Googly thing. So, I am going to start an installment here called Wiki Looks, on some of the better finds of the week.

The other night, it was German Chocolate Cake.  While at a friend’s birthday, I partook in a decadent, ginormous slice of said cake, courtesy of Hill Country.  I guess I don’t typically have German Chocolate Cake nor have I ventured to bake it.

Being of Filipino and German descent, I noted this is a perfect combination for me.  Coconut for the Philippines and the rest, being German.  But this cake isn’t about me. And I realized it made no sense.

“Why would German Chocolate Cake have coconut in it?  There is no coconut in Germany!” I asked to no one really in particular at the banquet table of 20 birthday guests.

Seriously. This is a good question.  Coconut is by no means native to Germany so how did that come about. Unlike other German baked goods which incorporate basic baking staples like nuts, berries, and chocolate, coconut is pretty off the beaten path.

So, being the curious food anthropologist I am, I went Wiki as soon as I got home (didn’t want to be rude at the dinner table) and found that German Chocolate Cake is not German at all!.  It is named after an American named Sam German who created a dark baking chocolate for Baker’s.

Read more about its history here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_chocolate_cake