Speciality cakes and how their importance

cannot be overlooked.

Submitted By :
Mohammad Shad Khan
SY BA ICA
Roll No : 28

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 Speciality cakes and how their importance
cannot be overlooked.

Cakes have become most common requirement for any

event be it a wedding, birthday, family functions or any party for
that matter. One integral part of an event which ensures
everyone’s involvement in the event is cake cutting ceremony.
From being a rich classical dessert to a center piece of an event
and to being a crucial part of every celebration cakes have come
a long way to their current status being loved by anyone and
everyone. The term "cake" has a long history. The word itself is
of Viking origin, from the Old Norse word "kaka".To begin a
cake is a form of sweet dessert that is typically baked. In its
oldest forms, cakes were modifications of breads but now cover
a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and
share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues,
custards and pies. There are countless cake recipes; some are
bread-like, some rich and elaborate, and many are centuries old.
Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure; while at one
time considerable labor went into cake making (particularly the
whisking of egg foams), baking equipment and directions have
been simplified so that even the most amateur cook may bake a
cake. Typical cake ingredients are flour, sugar, eggs, butter or
oil, a liquid, and leavening agents, such as baking soda and/or
baking powder. Common additional ingredients and flavoring’s
include dried, candied or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts
such as vanilla, with numerous substitutions for the primary
ingredients. Cakes can also be filled with fruit preserves or
dessert sauces (like pastry cream), iced with buttercream or

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other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or
candied fruit.

According to AYTO,J (2002) although clear examples of the

difference between cake and bread are easy to find, the precise
classification has always been elusive. For example, banana
bread may be properly considered either a quick bread or a cake.
Early cakes in England were also essentially bread: the most
obvious differences between a "cake" and "bread" were the
round, flat shape of the cakes, and the cooking method, which
turned cakes over once while cooking, while bread was left
upright throughout the baking process.

The Greeks invented beer as a leavener, frying fritters in olive

oil, and cheesecakes using goat's milk. In ancient Rome, basic
bread dough was sometimes enriched with butter, eggs, and
honey, which produced a sweet and cake-like baked good. Latin
poet Ovid refers to the birthday of him and his brother with party
and cake in his first book of exile, Tristia.

For making cakes , there are various methods that can beused.
Most of the times , people prefer making cakes in a short period
of time or some people prefer going by the book.
The 3 main goals of making cakes are :
1. To combine ingredients into a smooth uniform batter.
2. To form and incorporate air cells into the batter.
3. To develop a proper texture in the finished product.

There are five main methods of cake making:

1. Rubbing-In

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 2. Melting
3. Creaming
4. Whisking
5. ‘All in one’(same proportions as the creaming method)

Each method produce products that have a different texture. The

different proportion of ingredients used will determine the
texture and the taste of the cake product. The amount of fat in
the cake will determine how long the cake will stay fresh-
without drying out.
During the Great Depression, there was a surplus of molasses
and the need to provide easily made food to millions of
economically depressed people in the United States. One
company patented a cake-bread mix in order to deal with this
economic situation, and thereby established the first line of cake
in a box. In so doing, cake as it is known today became a mass-
produced good rather than a home- or bakery-made specialty.
(Park, 2013).

As stated by CATALANO,C (2002) Later, during the post-war

boom, other American companies (notably General Mills)
developed this idea further, marketing cake mix on the principle
of convenience, especially to housewives. When sales dropped
heavily in the 1950s, marketers discovered that the cake in a box
rendered the cake-making function of housewives relatively
dispiriting. This was a time when women, retired from the war-
time labour force, and in a critical ideological period in
American history, were confined to the domestic sphere and
oriented towards the freshly blossoming consumerism in the US.

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 According to PARK, MICHAEL (2013)In order to compensate
for this situation, the marketing psychologist Ernest Dichter
ushered in the solution to the cake mix problem: frosting.
Deprived of the creativity involved in making their own cake,
within consumerist culture[clarification needed], housewives
and other in-home cake makers could compensate by cake
decoration inspired by, among other things, photographs in
magazines of elaborately decorated cakes.
Ever since, cake in a box has become a staple of supermarkets,
and is complemented with frosting in a can.

Cakes are also prepared to celebrate various special occasions.

As per CASTELLA, K. (2010) This tradition has been going on
from a long period of time , all over the world. Cakes may be
classified according to the occasion for which they are intended.
For example, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, cakes for first
communion, Christmas cakes, Halloween cakes, and Passover
plava (a type of sponge cake sometimes made with matzo meal)
are all identified primarily according to the celebration they are
intended to accompany. The cutting of a wedding cake
constitutes a social ceremony in some cultures. The Ancient
Roman marriage ritual of confarreatio originated in the sharing
of a cake.
Particular types of cake may be associated with particular
festivals, such as stollen or chocolate log (a type of cake that is
usually prepared on the occasion of Christmas), babka and
simnel cake (at Easter), or mooncake. There has been a long
tradition of decorating an iced cake at Christmas time; other
cakes associated with Christmas include chocolate log and
mince pies.

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According to EICHER, L.; WILLIAMS, K. (2009) Along with
cakes that are prepared for special occasions , there also cakes
that can be described by their physical form. Cakes may be
small and intended for individual consumption. Larger cakes
may be made with the intention of being sliced and served as
part of a meal or social function.
The types of shapes are as followed:
1. Bundt cakes
2. Cake balls
3. Conical, such as the Kransekake
4. Cupcakes and madeleines, which are both sized for a single
persons
5. Layer cakes, frequently baked in a spring form pan and
decorated
6. Sheet cakes, simple, flat, rectangular cakes baked in sheet
pans
7. Swiss rolls.

GELB, A.; LEVINE, K. (2005) Apart from shapes , cakes are

also designed in various different types. A cake might be given
different colour , glaze or could even be decorated with edible or
non edible props. Cakes are also covered in fondants (sugar
paste) for an attractive look. With fondant , one can make
various props to give a cake an aesthetic design.

EICHER, L.; WILLIAMS, K. (2009) A cake can fall, whereby

parts of it sink or flatten, when baked at a temperature that is too
low or too hot, when it has been underbaked and when placed in
an oven that is too hot at the beginning of the baking process.
The use of excessive amounts of sugar, flour, fat or leavening
can also cause a cake to fall. A cake can also fall when subjected

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to cool air that enters an oven when the oven door is opened
during the cooking process.

As per MARION ROMBAUER BECKER (1975) Special cake

flour with a high starch-to-gluten ratio is made from fine-
textured, soft, low-protein wheat. It is strongly bleached, and
compared to all-purpose flour, cake flour tends to result in cakes
with a lighter, less dense texture. Therefore, it is frequently
specified or preferred in cakes meant to be soft, light, and/or
bright white, such as angel food cake.

Basically cakes have been a part of each and every occasion

from a long period of time. A cake is incomplete without an
icing or any other kind of a decoration , it can only be presented
when it is completely covered in icing and decorated so that it
attracts the people to itself . And an event or occasion is
incomplete without a cake. Changes have been observed as there
are new modifications in the cake making process day by day .
Nowadays, cake are personalised as per a customers demand.
Cakes are usually baked and are raved and given desired
shapes. These cakes are covered with fondants and are designed
as per the requirements of the customer. Cakes are so vital in
day to day events be it a cake or just simple tea cakes
(petitefour), Its importance can never be overlooked.

Cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know
the way of happiness! If you have a cake in front of you, you
should not look any further for joy!
- C. JoyBell C.

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 References:

1. IRMA VON STARKLOFFROMBAUER; MARION

ROMBAUER BECKER (1975). Joy of cooking. Simon and
Schuster. pp. 54
2. CASTELLA, K. (2010). A World of Cake: 150 Recipes for
Sweet Traditions From Cultures Around the World.
3. AYTO, J. (2002). An A-Z of food and drink. Oxford
[Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press.
4. CATALANO, C.(2002). "Shaping the American Woman:
Feminism and Advertising in the 1950s". Constructing the
Past. 3
5. EICHER, L.; WILLIAMS, K. (2009). The Amish Cook's
Baking Book. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 11.
6. Eckhardt, L.W.; Baigrie, J. (2005). Cakes from Scratch in
Half the Time. Chronicle Books. p. 23.
7. PARK, MICHAEL (2013). "A History of the Cake Mix, the
Invention That Redefined 'Baking'.[ONLINE]. Available
at :www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/pop-
culture/article/cake-mix-history (Accessed on 6th November
2016).
8. GELB, A.; LEVINE, K. (2005). A Survival Guide for
Culinary Professionals. Thomson Delmar Learning. p. 243