Don’t forget the Chocolate Cake

National Chocolate Cake Day is January 27th this year! If you haven’t heard of National Chocolate Cake day, read on for some information about this cake-tastic holiday!

Chocolate Cake History

James Baker discovered how to make chocolate by grinding cocoa beans In 1764. John Hannon and the American physician Dr. James Baker started importing beans and producing chocolate in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The first chocolate cake was made in 1765. The company was called the Hannon chocolate company until Hannon never returned from a 1779 sailing trip to the West Indies to purchase cocoa beans. The name was changed in 1780 after Hannon's wife, Elizabeth Gore Hannon, sold the company to Baker in 1780. They converted the building into a chocolate factory where they ground up cocoa beans between huge millstones to make a thick syrup. Many years later in the 1800s, an Austrian chef created a special dessert for a prince. He spread jam between two layers of chocolate dough and poured chocolate frosting over it. The modern chocolate cake was born.

Types of Chocolate Cake

When choosing a chocolate cake to serve on this holiday, you have a variety of choices. Below are some of the more popular chocolate cakes you can eat on this day:

• German Chocolate Cake
• Flour-less Fudge Cake
• Black Forest Gateau
• Devil’s Food Cake
• Chocolate Decadence Cake
• Molten Chocolate Cake
• Red Velvet Cake