Despite the name, this rich, coconut-frosted dessert has no ties to Germany. It actually traces back to Samuel German, an English-American chocolatier who created “German’s Sweet Chocolate” for Baker’s Chocolate Company in 1852.

In 1957, a Texas homemaker used that chocolate in a cake recipe that featured layers of chocolate cake and gooey coconut-pecan frosting. It was a hit, and after being featured in a Dallas newspaper, it quickly spread.

Somewhere along the way, the apostrophe-s in “German’s” got dropped, and people assumed it was a German dessert. But make no mistake—it’s a true American classic with a misleading name and unforgettable flavor.