Cakes

Today, we are going to talk about one of my favourite subjects - cake!

My mother was always a big cake maker, and as we were all very active, it never harmed our waistlines!
And as young kids, we all learnt so much by watching her and “helping” in the kitchen.

It is always rewarding when the different ingredients combine and turn into something like this!

The history of cake dates back to ancient times, and the first cakes were very different from what we eat today. They were more bread-like and sweetened with honey, and nuts and dried fruits were often added. Medieval European bakers often made fruitcakes and gingerbread. These foods could last for many months.

The word “cake” is a derivation of “kaka”, an Old Norse word.

The forerunners of modern cakes were first baked in Europe sometime in the mid-17th century. This was primarily due to technological advances with better ovens and ingredient availability, such as refined sugar. At that time, cake hoops - round mould for shaping cakes placed on flat baking trays - were popular. They could be made of metal, wood or paper. Some were adjustable. Cake pans were sometimes used.

It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the cake as we know it today became commonplace.

There are novelty cakes for birthdays and special occasions, as well as more traditional varieties, such as carrot cake, marble cake, lemon drizzle cake, cupcakes, apple cake etc.
And some people take cake decoration into a whole new art form!

So, what is the difference between cakes, gateaux and tortes?

• Gateau is the French word for cake. Gateaux are usually made with delicate ingredients that are best consumed soon after they are made.

• Cakes can last much longer, some even improving with age, like fruit cakes such as Christmas cakes. 

• Torte is the German word for cake. A traditional cake has ingredients mainly consisting of sugar, eggs, butter and flour. A torte, however, calls for little to no flour and ground nuts or breadcrumbs are used in its place. This change of ingredients causes the torte to be much heavier in both texture and taste. Since cakes are made with flour, they rise when they are baking, and this causes them to be pretty tall, usually around 4 inches. And if it is a multi-layer cake, the final result will be very tall. Tortes, however, are almost always much shorter. They average 2-4 inches in height, even with layers.
  When tortes are multi-layered and fancifully decorated, they are closer to gateaux, except they can last quite nicely for several days.

Are you a cake lover? If so, which are your favourites?

Are you a cakemaker? Do you have any recipes to share?

Let’s share some sweet fun today, with all things cake!