When somebody says German chocolate in the European sense they mean chocolate made in Germany, the kind known for milk and hazelnut bars and filled wafers and a strong gummy and licorice habit. It has nothing to do with the American dessert called “German chocolate cake” (that one’s named after a man called German and not the country), and people mix the two up all the time.
The “German chocolate cake” myth
The cake’s name goes back to a sweet baking chocolate that an American named Sam German developed in the 1,850s and the country had no part in it at all. What we’d call real German chocolate is the bars and pralines and gummies actually made over there, which is a different category altogether.
What German chocolate is known for
Germany has a deep confectionery tradition when you get down to it, with smooth milk and hazelnut bars on one side and filled or layered wafers and marzipan on the other, plus a huge gummy and fruit-jelly shelf. Funnily enough the modern gummy bear came from there too, which tends to surprise people. Chocolate from Germany has a name for steady quality and fair value. We’d say that makes it an everyday bar as easily as something you’d tuck inside a gift assortment.
German chocolate vs regular chocolate
Put a German bar next to the mass-market domestic stuff and you’ll usually taste the difference first, more cocoa and a cleaner milk flavor, with whole hazelnuts turning up in some. To us it comes across as richer and a little less sugary. Honestly that’s the reason an imported German line is worth bothering with.
Best German lines to stock
Where I’d begin is the milk and hazelnut bars and the filled wafers, then the gummies and fruit jellies German makers are known for. Poke around the German lines first. The chocolate and gummies categories fill in the rest of a section.
FAQ
Is German chocolate cake actually German?
Nope. It’s named for Sam German, who developed a sweet baking chocolate in the 1,850s. The dessert never had a thing to do with the country of Germany.
What is German chocolate known for?
Smooth milk and hazelnut bars, mainly. Filled wafers too, and marzipan if that’s your thing. There’s also a huge gummy and fruit-jelly tradition, and Germany is where the modern gummy bear was born.
