E-cards and some calendars say today is Chocolate Cake Day. From Devil’s food and German chocolate to fudge, Black Forest and molten chocolate, there are more than a dozen different types of chocolate cake.

You’ve probably seen Baker’s Chocolate in the stores and maybe even on your mom’s kitchen shelf. You might think it’s the kind of chocolate you use for baking. It’s actually named after Dr. James Baker, who was the first to grind cocoa beans between two large round millstones in 1764.

It wasn’t until after 1900 when chocolate began to be used for cake. Before that, chocolate was used mainly for drinks.

The Duff Company of Pittsburgh was the first to introduce Devil’s food chocolate cake mixes around 1935, followed by General Mills. But when Duncan Hines introduced their “Three Star Special” in 1938, it took over nearly half the market in cake mix sales. With the “Three Star Special”, you could make a white, yellow or chocolate cake using the same mix.

By the way, German chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany. It’s named for Samuel German who developed the dark baking chocolate first used to make the cake.

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