The 1-2-3-4 Cake: Let me count the ways I love you - No. 7

And the best-ever chocolate pan frosting

The 1-2-3-4 Cake. American Cake. Photo - Mitch Mandel.

You may know the 1-2-3-4 Cake as the yellow cake with chocolate frosting baked for every birthday. But did you know how this simple, unassuming, and utterly delicious cake got its name?

A little backstory.

While researching my book American Cake, the first reference I found to the 1-2-3-4 was in a Mich…