Saint Mark Cake (12th Century Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What was the first cake ever made? ›

Early cakes were actually more like what we would today consider biscuits or cookies. They were flat and dry, and often had fruit or nuts added to them for flavor. The first cakes were probably made in ancient Egypt. Yeast was used to making them light and fluffy.

What Are Vintage Cakes? Vintage cakes are vintage or “retro” because they've been around (and around and around) for centuries. They're known for their frilly, over-piped design and can be traced back to the French Rococo style of the 1700s – an age known for its ornate and gilded designs.

Genoise is a light and fluffy sponge cake, named after the city of Genoa, Italy. It's known for its delicate, foam-like texture and is often used as a base for various bakes, including madeleines and ladyfingers.

Foam Cakes, on the other hand, contain little to no fat or leaving agents. Instead, they are leavened by the air that is beaten into whole eggs or egg whites. Also known as unshortened cakes, Foam Cakes are light, airy, and spongey.

Medieval European bakers often made fruitcakes and gingerbread. These foods could last for many months. According to the food historians, the precursors of modern cakes (round ones with icing) were first baked in Europe sometime in the mid-17th century.

Amongst the most common ingredients in medieval cake baking were honey, fruit, nuts, spices and cheese. These are all of course ingredients that we still love to see in our cake baking today. Nice to see that some things haven't really changed.

By the time we get to Medieval England, cake generally referred to something made with flour that had been sweetened, as opposed to bread, which wasn't sweetened.

In the 1700s, there was no baking soda or baking powder. To get their cakes to rise, cooks of that time had to use a branch from a peach tree - "they were very specific about using a peach branch," Kornblum said - to whip either egg yolks for about 15 minutes or egg whites for a full hour.

Sea sponges lack a conventional nervous system, which is typically associated with intelligence. They do not have a brain or neural tissue, which are essential for cognitive abilities [2].

A sponge cake or genoise is a great base for many things, especially multi layered cakes.

What is a cake without cream called? ›

Oil Cake. Oil cakes follow the same principles as butter cakes, but use oil as the source of fat. Because oil is liquid at room temperature, oil cake recipes skip the step of creaming the fat and sugar; usually the oil is incorporated into the wet ingredients, which are whisked or folded into the dry ingredients.

For chemically-leavened cakes — that is, cakes calling for baking powder or baking soda — it's OK if you don't remember to add the eggs until the end. Martina says, “Late in the mixing stage, eggs will incorporate better if you lightly beat them before adding to the batter.

If the batter has eggs or even AP flour, you could unintentionally overmix it. Resulting in a dense, dry or even cracked dessert. If you don't want to overmix your batter or you fear you might overmix your batter. Mix your batter until all of your ingredients are just incorporated before proceeding with your recipe.

The Egyptians gave us the world's oldest known cake–and also the world's oldest Tupperware as it happens. During the reign of Pepi II from BCE 2251 to 2157, bakers mixed up a wheat dough for flatbread and filled it with honey and milk. The dough was poured into two pre-heated copper molds that fit tightly together.

The first cakes were very different from what we eat today. They were more bread-like and sweetened with honey. Nuts and dried fruits were often added. According to the food historians, the ancient Egyptians were the first culture to show evidence of advanced baking skills.

First Cake FAQ

However, the ancient Egyptians are thought to have created the first cake. Egyptians often made honey-sweetened dessert breads, which were likely the earliest version of cakes.

Interestingly, the ancient Egyptians were the first culture to exhibit baking skills, and during Ancient Times the cakes were more bread-like in appearance and sweetened with honey. The Greeks also had an early form of cheesecake, while the Romans developed versions of fruitcakes with raisins, nuts and other fruits.