Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Gerry's Chocolate Cake

Today I have another "older" recipe. Recently, our son brought to my attention that since he is the ripe young age of 35, and I was calling recipes that I have had for 30+ years "Vintage" and "Heirloom." He wasn't feeling "Vintage" or "Heirloom" status at 35 years, so I will just call them "older" from now on. Of course, he said it with a chuckle and a laugh, so it was all in good fun!

I cut this recipe out of the Oregonian Foodday in March of 1993. In the article that featured this recipe, the writer told about Gerry Frank who was a business man who traveled extensively and collected chocolate and chocolate recipes for years. At the Oregon State Fair, his cakes took the top prize, year after year. In 1981, he opened Gerry Frank's Konditorei Extravagant Cakes Et Cetera in Salem, Oregon and began serving his famous cakes and other offerings to the public.

Fast forward to approximately 1996, our son was in his third year at Western Oregon University and he asked us to meet him at Gerry Frank's Konditorei. He had recently been there for the first time and he wanted us to be able to experience and appreciate it too. I wasn't sure what a Konditorei was so I was very intrigued. As someone that loves to bake and uses only the best ingredients, I was very impressed. The cakes and pastries all looked beautiful and they also tasted great. No cake mixes there, only the finest ingredients. Hanging on the wall were many printed articles about him and his life. I connected that I was in the shop of the man that I had read about and had baked his chocolate cake recipe.

That was the first of many times that we met there, and as I was looking through my "older" recipes and found this recipe, all those memories of meeting our son came flooding back. Back then, it was a 45 minute trip to meet him in Salem. Now it is a 14-16 hour drive to see him and it made me miss him more than I already do.

So...this one's for you Alan, and to all the fun memories I have of meeting you and your friends at the Gerry Frank's Konditorei!

Gerry's Chocolate Cake

This recipe is from the famous Oregon chef, Gerry Frank ...

See Gerry's Chocolate Cake on Key Ingredient.


Enjoy! 

P.S. A Konditorei is a confectionery shop in Germany and Austria.

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