History of Cake

Cakes date back to the ancient Egyptians, where the first cakes were more bread-like and were sweetened with honey. Although the cake dates back to the ancient Egyptians, the term cake originates from the Vikings in the 13Th century.

According to food historians, the forerunner to the modern cake were first baked in the mid 17Th century in Europe, due to the advances in technology and ingredient availability. Cakes were originally baked in cake hoops that were placed on flat pans. The cake hoops were made from metal, wood and paper. The first icings were made from a mixture of boiled sugar, egg whites and occasionally flavoring, after the cake was baked the icing would be poured on to the cake and placed back into the oven, when it was finished and the cake was allowed to cool the icing formed a hard candy like surface that looked similar to ice.

Cakes are seen differently world wide. Crude cakes formed from roughly crushed grains, were found in the remains of Swiss lake villages. The Greek word for cake was plakous which meant flat as well as a denser cake called satura. Roman cakes were called placenta and libum, they were mostly used for offerings to their gods. Placenta was more of a cheese cake, baked on a pastry base or a pastry case. In Asia the cake is quite different, the Moon Cake is a thin pastry which surrounds a sweet center, some times a egg yolk meant to symbolize the full moon. The modern cake did not emerge until the 19Th century when extra refined flour and baking powder were available.