I recently blogged about a German Chocolate Sandwich Cookie that people all seem to love. [To find that post, please use the search box to the right.]
One little issue has come up: multiple people have wondered if they can substitute other chocolate flavors. Just use semi-sweet instead of German? The answer is “No” but I feel badly that I cannot provide a detailed explanation.
German chocolate is not German. It was created by an Englishman named Sam German in the 1850’s. He added some ingredients to semi-sweet chocolate, presumably sugar, in an attempt he felt to make baking easier for the home cook.
Now, I know that the taste of German chocolate is distinctive and it is really needed for the cookies and that coconut pecan filling. Just why it is distinctive is something that I have tried to discover and cannot.
I googled, of course. I went to the Nestle site. I found nothing.
I just don’t know what gives German chocolate its unique, almost tangy, flavor. If you know, please contact me.
All I can say is that if a recipe call for German chocolate, you really want to attempt to use it. So, yes, you need to get in the car, drive to the market, find the baking aisle and do what I do: stock up!