All about history of cake

Cakes are created from a variety of ingredients, including refined flour, shortening, sweetening, eggs, milk, leavening agent, and flavoring. There are literally dozens of cake recipes (some bread-like, others rich and intricate), many of which are centuries old. Cake baking is no longer a difficult process. Depending on the leavening chemical employed, there are five fundamental forms of cake.

Shortly after discovering flour, the world's most primitive peoples began baking cakes. The cakes depicted in texts in medieval England were not cakes in the traditional sense. They were classified as flour-based sweet dishes, as opposed to breads, which were just flour-based meals without any sweetening.

Bread and cake were somewhat synonymous terms, with "cake" referring to smaller cakes. The first instances were discovered amid the ruins of Neolithic communities, when researchers uncovered rudimentary cakes fashioned from crushed grains that had been moistened, compressed, and most likely baked on a hot stone. Oatcakes are today's equivalent of this early cake, albeit we think of them more as a biscuit or cookie.

The Greeks termed cakes "plakous," which comes from the word meaning "flat." These cakes were often made with a blend of almonds and honey. They also had a "satura," which was a flat, thick cake.

During the Roman era, the name for cake (derived from the Greek phrase) was changed to "placenta." The Romans termed them "libum" and used them largely as a sacrifice to their gods. Placenta was baked on a pastry foundation or occasionally inside a pastry casing, similar to a cheesecake.

With the passage of time, the terms "bread" and "cake" became synonymous. The phrases are of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the term cake was most likely used for the smaller loaves. Cakes were typically created for special occasions since the best and most expensive ingredients were accessible to the cook. The wealthier you were, the more likely you were to eat cake on a regular basis.

By the middle of the 18th century, yeast had gone out of favor as a cake raising agent in favor of beaten eggs. Once as much air as possible had been mixed into the mixture, it was put into molds, which may be as complicated as two tin hoops placed on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, or as simple as two tin hoops set on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Our current cake pans are derived from antique cake hoops. Early American chefs saw cakes as a sign of happiness.

Baking ingredients were more economical and widely available in the early nineteenth century as a result of the Industrial Revolution, thanks to mass manufacturing and railroads. Baking soda and baking powder are examples of modern leavening agents.