Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau (from ) is a

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

flavored with melted

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

cocoa powder Dry cocoa solids are the components of cocoa beans remaining after cocoa butter, the fatty component of the bean, is extracted from chocolate liquor, roasted cocoa beans that have been ground into a liquid state. Cocoa butter is 46% to 57% of the ...

, or both. It can also have other ingredients such as

fudge ''Fudge'' is a generic role-playing game system for use in freeform role-playing games. The name "''FUDGE''" was once an acronym for ''Freeform Universal Donated'' (later, ''Do-it-yourself'') ''Gaming Engine'' and, though the acronym has since b ...

, vanilla creme, and other sweeteners.

History

The history of chocolate cake goes back to the 17th century, when cocoa powder from the Americas was added to traditional cake recipes. In 1828,

Coenraad van Houten Coenraad Johannes van Houten (15 March 1801 – 27 May 1887) was a Dutch chemist and chocolate maker known for the treatment of cocoa mass with alkaline salts to remove the bitter taste and make cocoa solids more water-soluble; the resulting pro ...

of the Netherlands developed a mechanical method for extracting the fat from cacao liquor, resulting in cacao butter and the partly defatted cacao, a compacted mass of solids that could be sold as "rock cacao" or ground into powder. The processes transformed chocolate from an exclusive luxury to an inexpensive daily snack. A process for making silkier and smoother chocolate, called

conching upright=1.35, Conche (in the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum) Conching is a process used in the manufacture of chocolate whereby a surface scraping mixer and agitator, known as a conche, evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate and may act as ...

, was developed in Switzerland in 1879 by

Rodolphe Lindt Rudolf Lindt (16 July 1855 – 20 February 1909), often known by his francized name Rodolphe Lindt, was a Swiss chocolate maker, chocolatier and inventor. He founded the Lindt brand of Swiss chocolate and invented the conching machine and other ...

. This made it easier to bake with chocolate, as it amalgamates smoothly and completely with cake batters. Until the 1890s, chocolate recipes were mostly for

chocolate drinks Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocessed, they ta ...

, and its presence in cakes was only in fillings and glazes. Chocolate cakes were first introduced to Spain in the late 19th century, via

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and the Basque Country. In 1886, American cooks began adding chocolate to the cake batter to make the first chocolate cakes in that country. The Duff Company of Pittsburgh, a

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

manufacturer, introduced "Devil's food" chocolate cake mixes in the mid-1930s, but production was put on hold during World War II. After the war, the Pilsbury company was in 1948 the first to sell a chocolate cake mix, and in 1951 the "Three Star Surprise" mix from

Duncan Hines Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an American author and food critic known for his restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name. Early life, family and education ...

(so called because a white, yellow or chocolate cake could be made from the same mix) swept the market. "Chocolate decadence" cakes were popular in the United States 1980s. In the 1990s, single-serving molten chocolate cakes with liquid chocolate centers and infused chocolates with exotic flavors such as tea, curry, red pepper, passion fruit, and champagne were popular. Chocolate lounges and

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

al chocolate makers were popular in the 2000s.Carol Mighton Haddix (2007), ''Chicago Cooks: 25 Years of Food History with Menus, Recipes, and Tips from Les Dames d'Escoffier Chicago''.

Agate Publishing Agate Publishing is an independent small press book publisher based in Evanston, Illinois, Evanston, Illinois. The company, incorporated in 2002 with its first book published in 2003, was founded by current president Doug Seibold. At its inception, ...

, p. 32. Rich, all-but- flourless chocolate cakes are "now standard in the modern

pâtisserie A (), patisserie in French or pastry shop in English, is a type of bakery that specializes in pastries and sweets. In French language, French, the word ''pâtisserie'' also denotes a pastry as well as pastry-making. While the making and selli ...

", according to Maricel Presilla's ''The New Taste of Chocolate'' in 2001.Maricel E. Presilla (2001)
''The New Taste of Chocolate: a Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes''
Ten Speed Press. pp. 29–31, 138.

Cake types

Popular variants on chocolate cake include: * Chocolate

layer cake 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; butte ...

– Cake made from stacked layers of cake held together by filling *

Black Forest gateau Black Forest gateau, ( , ) or Black Forest cake, is a layer cake made out of cocoa powder, Sour Cherry, cherries, ''Kirsch'', and whipped cream, with dark chocolate as a decoration. The origins of the cake and its name are disputed. However, th ...

– Chocolate sponge cake with a cherry filling, often layered with whipped cream *

Blackout cake Blackout cake, sometimes called Brooklyn Blackout cake, is a chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding and topped with chocolate cake crumbs. It was invented during World War II by a Brooklyn bakery chain named Ebinger's, in recognition of the ...

– Chocolate cake filled with chocolate

pudding Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...

* Chocolate soufflé cake – Cake made with whipped egg whites that makes it light and airy *

Devil's food cake Devil's food cake is a moist, rich chocolate layer cake. Because of differing recipes and changing ingredient availability over the 20th century, it is difficult to precisely qualify what distinguishes devil's food from the more standard chocol ...

– Moist, airy, rich chocolate layer cake *

Ding Dong A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake produced and distributed in the United States by Hostess Brands and in Canada from Vachon Inc. under the name King Dons; in some U.S. markets, it was previously known as Big Wheels. With the exception of a brief p ...

– Commercial cake made by

Hostess Brands Hostess Brands Inc. is an American bakery company formed in 2013. Its main operating subsidiaries are Hostess Brands, LLC, and Voortman Cookies Limited. The company owns several bakeries in the United States that produce snack cakes under the ...

shaped like a hockey puck with a cream filling * Flourless chocolate cake – Chocolate custard cake made with whipped eggs and without flour * Fudge cake – Generic term for a chocolate cake with a consistency, flavor, or richness reminiscent of

, sometimes from the use of dark brown sugar or a rich icing * Garash cake – Bulgarian chocolate and walnut cake * German chocolate cake – Layered chocolate cake named after Samuel German, typically topped with coconut and walnut * Joffre cake – Chocolate buttermilk cake layered with

ganache Ganache ( or ; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream. In the broad sense of the term, ganache is an emulsion between (melted) solid chocolate (which is made with cocoa butter, the fat phase) and ...

and frosted with chocolate buttercream * Molten chocolate cake – Cake with liquid chocolate core *

Red velvet cake Red velvet cake is a red-colored layer cake with cream cheese or ermine icing. The origin of the cake is unknown, although it is popular in the Southern United States and has been served as a dessert at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel s ...

– Reddish chocolate cake with cream cheese icing *

Sachertorte Sachertorte ( , ; ) is a chocolate sponge cake covered with chocolate glaze, with an interior layer of apricot jam either under the glaze or in the middle of two sponge layers. The cake was invented by Franz Sacher, either in 1832 for Aus ...

– Austrian chocolate cake invented by Franz Sacher with dense cake and a layer of apricot jam * Chocolate

Swiss roll A Swiss roll, jelly roll (United States), roll cake, cream roll, roulade, Swiss log or swiss cake is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, icing, or any type of filling. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of ...

– A sponge cake roll filled with jam, cream or icing, and its Christmas variant the

Yule log The Yule log is a specially selected log burnt on a hearth as a winter tradition in regions of Europe, and subsequently North America. Today, this tradition is celebrated by Christians and modern pagans on or around Christmas/Yule. The name by w ...

* Tunnel of Fudge cake – A chocolate

bundt cake A Bundt cake () is a cake that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive donut shape. The shape is inspired by a traditional European cake known as , but Bundt cakes are not generally associated with any single recipe. The style of mo ...

that won 2nd place in the 1966

Pillsbury Bake-Off The Pillsbury Bake-Off is an American cooking contest, first run by the Pillsbury Company in 1949. It has been called "one of the most successful promotions in the history of the modern food business". History The first contest was held in 1949 ...

References

{{Authority control * Chocolate desserts

History

Cake types

See also

References