Today is National Chocolate Cake Day! Cakes have a rich culinary history. In Greece, cakes (or “plakous”) were heavy and flat, and people served them with nuts and honey. The Romans made cakes that were more like cheesecake or pastry, and presented them as offerings to the gods. In Medieval England, people used the words “bread” and cake” interchangeably to refer to anything made with flour dough.

A company called O. Duff and Sons created the first boxed cake mix in the late 1920s. In 1947, after years of research and development, General Mills released the first “just add water” Betty Crocker cake mixes. The available flavors were Ginger, Spice, Yellow, and White. In 1948, Pillsbury introduced the first chocolate cake mix.

Today, the most popular kind of cake is chocolate. There are many different types, including Black Forest, Devil’s Food, Flourless, Fudge, Ganache, German Chocolate, Lava, and much more. Head to your local bakery or whip up your favorite recipe to celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day!