Both of these eponymous foods feature chocolate, but they also both feature some issues with timelines and attribution that need to be unraveled. 

Research:

• Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell. “The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History.” History Press. Charleston, S.C. 2009. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/bakerchocolateco00samm/page/80/mode/2up
• “Celebrating Not-So-German Chocolate Cake.” NPR. All Things Considered. June 23, 2007. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11331541
• Asher Edwards advertisement. Goldsboro Messenger. Nov. 18, 1878. https://www.newspapers.com/image/62317791/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Pat’s Steak House advertisement. The Welsh Citizen. October 12, 1951. https://www.newspapers.com/image/855431677/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “This is the Youngland Look for Fall.” Lincoln Journal Star. July 19, 1959. https://www.newspapers.com/image/312770953/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “A Tested Recipe.” Star Tribune. Dec. 2, 1901. https://www.newspapers.com/image/180802997/?terms=%22German%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “Miss Florence Davis Charms Family With German Chocolate Cake Recipe.” Denton Record-Chronicle. January 27, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/36794004/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “German Sweet Chocolate Cake.” The Guthrie Daily Leader. Feb. 3, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/591933621/?clipping_id=79147909&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjU5MTkzMzYyMSwiaWF0IjoxNjczNjYzMDYxLCJleHAiOjE2NzM3NDk0NjF9.1-IZfz1ipCaYbFDzYrvI4l8vbgh-yruhCMNpjLUZVe4
• “County Cook’s Corner.” Taylor Daily Press. July 24, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52547082/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Bode, Mary Jane. “Anything, Just So Long As It Is With Chocolate.” Austin American-Statesman. Sept 4, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/356073125/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Lundeen, Kay. “Buttermilk Mystery Solved.” The Eugene Guard. August 21, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/140086242/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “German Chocolate Cake.” Chickasha Daily Express. April 28, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/591919201/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Garrison, Eudora. “Here’s That Chocolate Cake Again.” The Charlotte Observer. Oct. 10, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/619939965/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “Curried Chicken Asparagus Salad.” Cookin’ With Daisy. Irving News Record. May 10, 1956. https://www.newspapers.com/image/44445870/?terms=%22Summer%20German%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• United States Copyright Office. “Works Not Protected by Copyright.” Circular 33. March 2021. https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf
• “History of Pecans.” Texas A&M. https://pecankernel.tamu.edu/history-of-pecans/
• Dysard, Virginia. “German’s Cake Sweeps Country.” Sept 1, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/398144745/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• “German Sweet Chocolate Cake.” The Llano News. June 6, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/11305935/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Lacy, Mary. “Favorite Recipes – Jefferson County Variety.” Waurika News-Democrat. January 31, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/590019658/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Treaster, Hazel Hogan. “Home Tested Recipes.” Oklahoma City Advertiser. January 11, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/594427114/?terms=%22German%27s%20Chocolate%20Cake%22&match=1
• Byrn, Anne. “American Cake.” Rodale. 2016.
• Eschner, Kat. “Tootsie Rolls Were WWII Energy Bars.” Smithsonian. Feb. 23, 2017.
• Hirschfeld, Leo. “Process of making candy.” 1907. https://patents.google.com/patent/US903088
• “Kills Himself in Hotel.” New York Times. January 14, 1922. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/14/109830963.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
• Kawash, Samira. “Tootsie Roll Tragedy: The Real Leo Hirschfeld Story.” CandyProfessor. Jan. 4, 2014. Accessed on Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20160319022205/http://candyprofessor.com/2014/01/04/tootsie-roll-tragedy-the-real-leo-hirschfeld-story/
• Kawash, Samira. “Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2013.
• Tootsie Roll Industries. “Company Timeline.” https://tootsie.com/interactive-timeline/