The Vintage Chocolate Cake Made Famous By A Texas Hotel From The 1800s

The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, has been churning out its signature 1886 Chocolate Cake — named in honor of the year the hotel opened — for more than half a century. Unpretentious yet super decadent, the dessert combines a fudgy, buttermilk-chocolate base with a luscious, cream-loaded chocolate ganache. Once you taste it, it's easy to understand how it's become a beloved favorite over the past 70 or so years.

The cake wasn't offered at The Driskill until Helen Corbitt took over the hotel's Lunchroom — now known as the 1886 Cafe & Bakery — in the early 1950s. Born in New York, Corbitt became a Texas culinary icon, as her career took her from the University of Texas at Austin's University Tea Room to the Houston Country Club to The Driskill, before finally finishing off her culinary career at Neiman Marcus' Zodiac Room in Dallas. She was known as the Julia Child of Texas in her time, and her legacy has endured for decades, with the 1886 Chocolate Cake remaining one of The Driskill's hallmarks. (The confection isn't the only piece of Corbitt's culinary skillset that's stayed a part of The Driskill's heritage — diners can still enjoy her original-recipe cheese soup and chicken salad when stopping by the hotel for brunch.)

While the same base recipe is still used for the 1886 cake at The Driskill, a few things have changed — namely, the topping. Today's version of the cake is a bit sweeter than the '50s version. Corbitt's original recipe for 1886 Chocolate Cake was unfrosted, and the current chocolate-ganache-enrobed take was developed by Kristen Groth, pastry chef at the famed hotel, when she came on board in 2021.

Glazing the cake is a two-step process that begins with carefully frosting the entire cake with Groth's chocolate ganache, adding even more moisture to the already rich, buttermilk-infused cake. If you're not a fan of super-sweet cakes, you're in luck — the ganache uses 70% chocolate, which makes it a bit less sweet than a traditional chocolate frosting. After the base layer chocolate ganache is applied to the top and sides of the cake (and it's chilled), the final layer — a mirrored chocolate glaze — is poured over the top, draping the cake in shiny, sweet perfection. Groth didn't stop there — she added even more flair to the original recipe by coating the sides of the cake in chocolate shavings. Depending on the occasion, you can request special writing or a gold-leaf accent on top. You can get single-serving 1886 Chocolate Cakes at the hotel's cafe, or you can order a full-size version to feed a (very lucky) crowd.