Joffre Cake

Joffre cake is a rich, layered chocolate and buttermilk cake that was invented in 1920 in Bucharest. Built in 1852, a restaurant, hotel, and cafe called Casa Capsa was thought to be a symbol of Romanian high society, a place where the most special dinner parties in Bucharest took place. When Marshal Joffre, leader of the French army, visited the country in 1920, the Capsa brothers organized a special event in his honor and made a special cake that was named after the Marshall. The size and shape of the cake are thought to be modeled after the French casquettes worn in World War I by the Marshall's troops. The cake was a great success, and it still is today, supported by the saying "one piece of Joffre is always followed by another one."