Who Doesn’t love Cakes …? umm .. probably no one right ?…But do you Know ? .. Who invented Cake ? … and Why it is called Cake ? … Via this post, we gonna answer all the questions and discuss, some of the most interesting and Cool facts about this popular desert.
So here we go :-
- Who invented Cake and how did cake get its name ?
The invention of cake originated in ancient Egypt as round, flat, unleavened breads that were cooked on a hot stone. The evolution of baked goods continued over many centuries through the introduction of new ingredients and the invention of new techniques of baking. The Egyptian’s discovery and skill at using natural yeast helped those flat breads to leaven. Cake making and the production of baked goods in general took a big leap forward with the introduction of vanilla, chocolate, and sugar that appeared in Europe after the discovery of the New World.By the 18th century bakers began making cakes without yeast. Some of the risen cakes survived, but the new cakes became lighter because of the beaten eggs. The problem was that some recipes called for an enormous number of eggs (30) but they required long hours of beating. In the 1840s the situation changed with the invention of baking soda followed closely by baking powder in the 1860s. The quality of baked goods continued to improve over time as ingredients became more and more refined.Many years passed between baking on a hot stone to baking in a hot electric or gas oven. An ancestor of the modern oven was an oven-box that sometimes had a door and was placed inside the fireplace. Obviously it was quite an art to control the temperature inside such an oven. This was remedied by placing baked goods into the box and placing the box into the oven. In early 1900s baking ovens still didn’t have temperature control and women had to invent different methods of checking the temperature inside an oven. Often they would place a piece of paper into an oven and waited to see how long it took to become brown or even worse, or they would put their hand in the hot oven and judge the temperature by how long it took before they felt their hand getting burned!The difference between a bread and a cake was almost undistinguishable. The main difference was in their shape and that cakes were a little bit sweeter. But with the passage of time that difference has become more evident – bread is a staple food and cakes are now considered desserts.
The word ‘cake’ comes from the word kake from Viking Origins. The ancient Greeks called cake πλακοῦς (plakous), which was derived from the word for “flat”, πλακόεις (plakoeis). It was baked using flour mixed with eggs, milk, nuts and honey. They also had a cake called “satura”, which was a flat heavy cake. During the Roman period, the name for cake became “placenta” which was derived from the Greek term. A placenta was baked on a pastry base or inside a pastry case.
- There’s a National Cake Day in U.S, which falls on November 26th. Yes, it’s actually a day when you celebrate cake with nothing else but – Cake!
- The world’s tallest cake was baked for Christmas in Jakarta, Indonesia. It stood 108 feet, 3 inches high and was baked by staff members and students of a culinary school.
- The first chocolate cakes were made in 1886 by American cooks. They added chocolate to the cake batter and this experiment turned out to be a great success.
- One of the most popular cakes, which is the fruit cake, was first eaten by hunters and crusaders of Roman descendant as it was able to sustain them over long periods of time away from home.