Cake

President George W. Bush presents Pope Benedict XVI with a birthday cake

Cake is a dessert food usually consisting of bread, sugar, eggs, and other ingredients added for various flavors, which are mixed together and usually baked. The Egyptians made honeycakes, and the Ancient Greeks had "plakous", which were made of honey and nuts.

Cakes are typically made from butter, sugar and flour with eggs and a flavoring. There is also a leavening agent of baking soda or baking powder that causes the cake to rise in the oven. Baking soda is used where there is an acid ingredient like lemon juice to activate it. Cakes must be baked shortly after adding the baking soda to the batter or the batter will go flat and your cake will be very thick.

Cake flour has a lower gluten content and makes a more delicate texture.

Popular cakes include:

• Carrot cake
• Black Forest cake
• Strawberry shortcake

A cake is the traditional dessert at weddings. Because of the numerous guests at the reception, wedding cakes are often very large and elaborate, involving several tiers of cake.

Cakes are also popular to celebrate birthdays.

References

• http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html#aboutcake