Let Them Eat Cake! ♥

This famous phrase was supposedly said by a French Princess, Marie Antoinette, when she heard that the peasants had no bread! This phrase is the traditional translation from the french quote, which actually stated 'brioche', not cake. A brioche is a luxury french bread with a high butter and egg content. image from flickr.com

The journey to modern cakes ♥

Cakes are used to celebrate and define important moments in your life like birthdays, weddings, anniversary's, holidays and much more. There are so many types of cakes, originating from all around the world. Whether its cheesecake or chocolate cake, most people will like some sort of cake. However, no one really knows who to thank for this traditional dessert.

It is believed that cake evolved from bread, and we know that the Ancient Egyptians were at the forefront of this evolution. For their time, they were good bakers and made dessert breads which were sweetened with honey. These early cakes were flat and dense, much different to cakes today.

To achieve the lighter consistency we associate with cake to day a leaven must be added. The Romans perfected this, adding yeast as a raising agent. In the 16th century, the Italians figured out how to leaven cake by adding whipped eggs to the batter. These two methods worked but were time consuming a tricky to master.

In the mid 1800's, the introduction of baking powder (bicarbonate of soda) made baking cakes a lot easier. It is believed that a German scientist, Alfred Stock, invented baking powder.

Also, the modern cake would not be as it is if supply and demand were not present. The availability of eggs, flour, sugar, fat and spices made it possible for cakes to be made and improved. The addition of a dessert course to mealtime also brought popularity to cakes and they became much more common in households. The word dessert comes from the french verb desservir, to serve/to clear the table.

Icing Cupcakes ♥

video from youtube.com

Recipe ♥ Chocolate and Orange Cake

It is said that orange cake traditionally comes from Spain, as this is where oranges were always most popular and available. Chocolate was soon added into orange cake recipes as it is the perfect addition!

Ingredients
1 orange
100g plain chocolate (in pieces)
3 eggs
280g caster sugar
240ml sunflower oil
25g cocoa powder
250g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
candied orange peel (to decorate) (optional)
For the Chocolate Ganache
-200g plain chocolate (in pieces)
-225ml double cream

Method

1. Pierce orange with a skewer and cook in boiling water for 30 mins until soft. Whizz the orange in a food processor until smooth and let cool. Preheat oven to 180'C (fan 160'C). Grease a 23cm round cake tin. Melt the chocolate and let it cool.
2. In a large bowl lightly beat the eggs, sugar and oil. Gradually beat in the pureed orange and stir in the melted chocolate. Sift in the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the tin. Bake in the oven for 55 mins (until cake springs back when lightly pressed.)
   After 45 mins in the oven check, and cover with foil if it is browning too much.
3. Allow to cool for 10 mins in the tin and turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Chocolate Ganache : Put the chocolate into a heat proof bowl and bring the cream to the boil before pouring it over the chocolate. Leave for 2 mins and stir until smooth. Set this aside for about 1 1/2 hours until it is spreadable.
5. Put the cake onto a serving plate, spread on the ganache and decorate with the orange peel.

image and recipe from bbcgoodfood.com

Fake Cakes!

In India, the Wedding cake is usually a fruit cake. However, it is very common, particularly in the south to have a 'dummy cake'. This is done to avoid the big expense of a wedding cake. It is covered in sugar icing so when the guests eat the cake they are just eating a piece of the icing! The tradition of the bride and groom cutting the cake must be followed, so for these purposes a piece of real cake is inserted into the dummy cake! The Japanese often have a fake cake made of wax!