Portal:Cakes
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
Cake is a form of sweet dessert that is typically baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of breads, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, and that share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
Typical cake ingredients are flour, sugar, eggs, butter or oil or margarine, a liquid, and leavening agents, such as baking soda or baking powder. Common additional ingredients and flavourings 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, nuts or dessert sauces (like pastry cream), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or candied fruit.
Selected general articles
Lithuanian šakotis or raguolis, Polish sękacz ("tree cake"; literally "branchy") is a Polish-Lithuanian traditional spit cake. It is a cake made of butter, egg whites and yolks, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in an oven or over an open fire. Read more...
Kürtőskalács (Hungarian: [ˈkyrtøːʃkɒlaːt͡ʃ] (
listen); sometimes transliterated kurtosh kalach) is a spit cake specific to Hungary and Hungarian-speaking regions in Romania, more predominantly the Székely Land. Earlier a festive treat, now it is part of everyday consumption.
Kürtőskalács is made from sweet, yeast dough (raised dough), of which a strip is spun and then wrapped around a truncated cone–shaped baking spit, and rolled in granulated sugar. It is roasted over charcoal while basted with melted butter, until its surface cooks to a golden-brown color. During the baking process the sugar stuck on the kürtőskalács caramelises and forms a shiny, crispy crust. The surface of the cake can then be topped with additional ingredients such as ground walnut or powdered cinnamon. Read more...
A groom's cake is a wedding tradition originating in Victorian England, but observed more often in the modern age in the American South.
While a wedding cake may often be decorated in white and light in texture or color, the groom's cake can take a variety of forms, many incorporating chocolate or fruit. Cheesecake sometimes serves as a groom's cake. The groom's cake is often served at a table separate from the wedding cake at a wedding reception or wedding breakfast, though it may be served as a dessert for a rehearsal dinner. Read more...- Fiadone (Corsican; pl. fiadoni) is a Corsican cheesecake without bottom layer, made of brocciu, sugar, lemon zest and eggs. The Fiadone can have round or rectangular shape: it is baked in oven and served cold.
In the Italian regions of Abruzzo and Molise are known as Fiadoni large sweet ricotta-stuffed ravioli, served mainly at Easter. Read more...
A three-layer wedding cake with pillar supports and "topper" figures
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at a time following the ceremony on the same day. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on display and served to guests at the reception. Traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Modernly however, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are not always even served to the guests. Some cakes are built with only a single edible tier for the bride and groom to share, but this is rare since the cost difference between fake and real tiers is minimal. Read more...- A pop out cake, popout cake, jump out cake, or surprise cake is a large object made to serve as a surprise for a celebratory occasion. Externally, such a construction appears to be an oversized cake, and sometimes actually is, at least in part. However, the construction is usually cardboard. The inside of the object has a space for someone, traditionally an attractive young woman, to crouch and hide until the moment of surprise, when she then stands up and comes out of the cake. Read more...
- Campanile (Corsican; u campanile, meaning "the bell tower", pl. campanili) is a Corsican cake generally shaped as a crown, made of yeast dough. It is a typical dessert of the cuisine of Corsica and is a traditional Easter cake: the boiled eggs in the cake look like little bells inside the bell tower and represent the renewed fertility of the earth after the end of winter, remembering also the tradition to unleash the bells at Easter, after having tethered them at Good Friday.
The campanile is similar to southern Italian Easter cakes, like the Sicilian campanaru (whose name has the same meaning). Read more...
Napoleonka (kremówka) (Slovak: Krémeš, German Cremeschnitte) is a Polish type of cream pie. It is made of two layers of puff pastry, filled with whipped cream, creamy buttercream, vanilla pastry cream (custard cream) or sometimes egg white cream, and is usually sprinkled with powdered sugar. It also can be decorated with cream or covered with a layer of icing.
In some places in Poland the cake is known as kremówka (roughly translated as "cream cake"), in others, it is called napoleonka. This Polish "war" between names kremówka and napoleonka has been subject to a satirical drawing by Polish illustrator Andrzej Mleczko. Read more...
German chocolate cake, originally German's chocolate cake, is a layered chocolate cake from the United States filled and topped with a coconut-pecan frosting. It owes its name to an English-American chocolate maker named Samuel German, who developed a formulation of dark baking chocolate that came to be used in the cake recipe. Sweet baking chocolate is traditionally used for the chocolate flavor in the actual cake, but few recipes call for it today. The filling and/or topping is a custard made with egg yolks and evaporated milk; once the custard is cooked, coconut and pecans are stirred in. Occasionally, a chocolate frosting is spread on the sides of the cake and piped around the circumference of the layers to hold in the filling. Maraschino cherries are occasionally added as a garnish. Read more...
Spettekaka or spettkaka (spiddekaga in native Scanian) is a local dessert of the southern parts of Sweden, chiefly in the province of Scania (Skåne) but also in Halland. It is an important part of the Scanian culinary heritage. The name means "cake on a spit", and this describes the method of preparation: it is the Swedish variation on the spit cake. Read more...
A cupcake (also British English: fairy cake; Hiberno-English: bun; Australian English: fairy cake or patty cake) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, icing and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied. Read more...
Spekkoek (kue lapis legit or spekuk in Indonesian) is a type of Indonesian layer cake. It was developed during colonial times in the Dutch East Indies. The firm-textured cake is an Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) version of the European multi-layered spit cake. However it is not baked on a rotating spit, and contains a mix of Indonesian spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, clove, mace and anise. The cake is made of flour and yolk and is rich in butter or margarine.
Spekkoek is popular in Indonesia and is served as a holiday treat, especially for natal, imlek, and lebaran. It is also served or given as gifts during many local festivities such as at birthday parties and weddings. In the Netherlands, the sliced cake is traditionally served for dessert in rijsttafel. Read more...
Cake balls are small spheres of reconstituted cake crumbs, coated with chocolate or frosting. They are made by blending cake crumbs with icing, shaping them to form a ball and then dipping them in a coating, such as melted chocolate. Cake balls were originally created from the crumbs of leftover or stale cake to prevent waste.
Cake balls do not have the consistency of the traditional sweetened, baked and leavened cakes, but have a consistency similar to dough which can be attributed to the blending of the cake crumbs and icing. Cake balls are sold in various bakeries as well as mall kiosks; they are also available to be purchased as gifts. The bite-sized snacks may be displayed on a stick (known as a cake pop), and can be decorated with ribbon. They are especially popular during the holiday months. Read more...
Welsh cakes (Welsh: picau ar y maen, pice bach, cacen gri or teisen radell), also welshcakes or pics, are traditional in Wales. They have been popular since the late 19th century with the addition of fat, sugar and dried fruit to a longer standing recipe for flat-bread baked on a griddle.
The cakes are also known as Griddle Cakes or
Bakestones within Wales because they are traditionally cooked on a bakestone (Welsh: maen or planc), a cast-iron griddle about 1.5 cm or more thick which is placed on the fire or cooker; on rare occasions, people may refer to them as griddle scones. Read more...
A genoise (/ʒeɪˈnwɑːz/, /ʒəˈnwɑːz/, /dʒeɪˈnwɑːz/, or /dʒɛˈnwɑːz/; French pronunciation: [ʒenwaz]; Genoese cake or Genovese cake; rarely spelled "génoise" in English) is an Italian sponge cake named after the city of Genoa and associated with Italian and French cuisine. Instead of using chemical leavening, air is suspended in the batter during mixing to provide volume.
Genoise should not be confused with pain de Gênes ("Genoa bread") which is made from almond paste, but it is similar to pan di Spagna ("Spanish bread"), another Italian sponge cake. Read more...
A petit four (plural: petits fours, also known as mignardises) is a small bite-sized confectionery or savoury appetizer. The name is French, petit four (French pronunciation: [pə.ti.fur]), meaning "small oven". Read more...
A Swiss roll, jelly roll, roll cake, or cream roll is a type of sponge cake roll filled with whipped cream, jam, or icing.
The origins of the term are unclear. In spite of the name Swiss roll, the cake is believed to have originated elsewhere in Central Europe, likely Austria. It appears to have been invented in the nineteenth century, along with Battenberg, doughnuts and Victoria sponge. Read more...
A lamington is an Australian cake, made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, giving the cake a distinctive texture. A common variation has a layer of cream or strawberry jam between two lamington halves. Read more...- A Lady Baltimore Cake is an American white layer cake with fluffy frosting and a fruit and nut filling. The cake is believed to have been created in the Southern United States in the early 20th century, but its exact origins are disputed. Read more...
Ladyfingers, sometimes known by their original Italian name savoiardi, or as sponge fingers in British English, are low density, dry, egg-based, sweet sponge biscuits roughly shaped like a large finger. They are a principal ingredient in many dessert recipes, such as trifles and charlottes, and are also used as fruit or chocolate gateau linings, and sometimes for the sponge element of tiramisu. They are typically soaked in a sugar syrup or liqueur, or in coffee or espresso for the dessert tiramisu. Plain ladyfingers are commonly given to infants, being soft enough for teething mouths, but easy to grasp and firm enough not to fall apart. Read more...
Prinzregententorte (German: [ˈpʁɪnts.ʁeˌɡɛntənˌtɔʁtə]) is a Bavarian torte consisting of at least six, usually seven, thin layers of sponge cake interlaid with chocolate buttercream and a topping of apricot jam upon the very last. The exterior is covered in a dark chocolate glaze.
The Prinzregententorte is very popular in Bavaria, available in cake shops all year round. Read more...
A cake pop is a form of cake styled as a lollipop. Cake crumbs are mixed with icing or chocolate, and formed into small spheres or cubes in the same way as cake balls, before being given a coating of icing, chocolate or other decorations and attached to lollipop sticks
Cake pops can be a way of using up leftover cake or cake crumbs.
The cake pop increased in popularity between 2009 and 2011. A book called "Cake Pop" by Bakerella appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.. Cake pops can be found in many bakeries and grocery stores. Read more...
The mille-feuille (French pronunciation: [mil fœj], "thousand-leaf"), vanilla slice or custard slice, similar but slightly different than the Napoleon, is a French pastry whose exact origin is unknown. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by Marie-Antoine Carême.
Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry (pâte feuilletée), alternating with two layers of pastry cream (crème pâtissière). The top pastry layer is dusted with confectioner's sugar, and sometimes cocoa, pastry crumbs, or pulverized seeds (e.g. roasted almonds). Alternatively, the top is glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white (icing) and brown (chocolate) stripes, and combed. Read more...
A charlotte is a type of dessert or trifle that can be served hot or cold. It is also referred to as an "icebox cake". Bread, sponge cake or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. It can also be made using layers of breadcrumbs.
Classically, stale bread dipped in butter was used as the lining, but sponge cake or ladyfingers may be used today. The filling may be covered with a thin layer of similarly flavoured gelatin. Read more...
Tiramisu (from the Italian language, spelled tiramisù [ˌtiramiˈsu], meaning "pick me up" or "cheer me up") is a coffee-flavoured Italian dessert. It is made of ladyfingers (savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavoured with cocoa. The recipe has been adapted into many varieties of cakes and other desserts. Its origins are often disputed among Italian regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, and others. Read more...
A cremeschnitte (Bosnian: krempita, Croatian: kremšnita, German: Cremeschnitte, Hungarian: krémes, Polish: kremówka, Romanian: cremșnit or crempita, Serbian: кремпита/krempita, Slovak: Krémeš, Slovene: kremna rezina or kremšnita) is a chantilly and custard cream cake dessert popular in several Central European countries. There are many regional variations, but they all include a puff pastry base and custard cream. Read more...
Marry girl cake or dowry cake is a traditional Chinese pastry that was once a ceremonial cake used as a wedding gift in the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, hence the name. Today, this cake is known more as a classic Chinese pastry rather than a wedding gift because it has lost most of its original significance due to cultural change. It can be found in Hong Kong and in some Chinatowns overseas. Read more...
A stack cake is a unique regional variation that replaces a wedding cake, which can be prohibitively expensive in the economically deprived area of Appalachia, United States. Friends and family each bring a layer for the cake, and the bride's family spreads apple preserves, dried apples, or apple butter between each layer. A stack cake looks like a stack of thick pancakes. It is thought to have originated in the Beaumont Inn of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, by the original settler James Harrod. The greater the number of layers, the more popular the couple is considered.
Many types of cake layer recipes exist from sponge-like layers of cake to cookie dough-like ones; sometimes a stack cake includes many variations and flavors. One recipe from the Bluegrass region utilizes a sorghum molasses based gingerbread type cake. Stack cake parties that do not involve a wedding occur irregularly but typically serve as a way for people to exchange recipes and gossip. Its use is not limited to Kentucky cuisine but all of Appalachia. Read more...
Majorcan roscón
Roscón de reyes or rosca de reyes (ring of the kings) is a Spanish and Spanish American king's cake pastry traditionally eaten to celebrate Epiphany. In Catalonia, it is known as tortell. In southern France where it is also eaten, it is known as Gâteau des Rois, Corona dels Reis or Reiaume.
Although the name indicates that it should be round, the roscón de reyes generally has an oval shape due to the need to make cakes larger than 30 cm (12 inches) across for larger parties. Recipes vary from country to country. For decoration, figs, quinces, cherries or dried and candied fruits are used. Read more...
A tompoes or tompouce is a pastry in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the local variety of the mille-feuille or Napoleon, introduced by an Amsterdam pastry baker and named after Admiraal Tom Pouce, the stage name of the Frisian dwarf Jan Hannema. Read more...
Parkin or perkin is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in northern England. Often associated with Yorkshire, particularly the Leeds area, it is very widespread and popular elsewhere, notably in Lancashire. Parkin is baked to a hard cake but with resting becomes moist and even sometimes sticky. In Hull and East Yorkshire, it has a drier, more biscuit-like texture than in other areas. Parkin is traditionally eaten on Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November, but is also enjoyed throughout the winter months. It is baked commercially throughout Yorkshire, but is mainly a domestic product in other areas. Read more...- Castella (カステラ, Kasutera) is a popular Japanese sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup.
Now a specialty of Nagasaki, the cake was brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. The name is derived from Portuguese Pão de Castela, meaning "bread from Castile". Castella cake is usually sold in long boxes, with the cake inside being approximately 27 cm long. It is somewhat similar to Madeira cake, also associated with Portugal, but its closest relative is pão-de-ló, also a Portuguese cake. Read more...
Blackout cake, sometimes called Brooklyn Blackout cake, is an American chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding and chocolate cake crumbs, and frosted with chocolate icing. It was invented during World War II by a Brooklyn bakery chain named Ebinger's, in recognition of the mandatory blackouts to protect the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
After the war, the name persisted for a very dark chocolate cake and became common across the American Midwest. Ebinger's variety was very popular and became a signature offering, popular with Brooklyn residents, until the chain of more than fifty locations closed in 1972. Read more...
Banana bread is a type of bread made from mashed bananas. It is often a moist, sweet, cake-like quick bread; however, there are some banana bread recipes that are traditional-style raised breads. Read more...
A sweetheart cake or wife cake is a traditional Cantonese pastry with a thin crust of flaky pastry, and made with a filling of winter melon, almond paste, and sesame, and spiced with five spice powder.
"Wife cake" is the translation of lou po beng from Cantonese, and although the meaning is "wife", the literal translation is "old lady cake", paralleling the colloquial usage of "old lady" for "wife" in American English.
The cake is still popular in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Many people in Hong Kong, as well as professional chefs, also bake modern variants. Read more...
The frog cake is a dessert in the shape of a frog's head, composed of sponge cake and cream covered with fondant. It was created by the Balfours bakery in 1922, and soon became a popular treat in South Australia. Originally frog cakes were available exclusively in green, but later brown and pink were added to the range. Since then other variations have been developed, including seasonal varieties (such as snowmen and Easter "chicks"). The frog cake has been called "uniquely South Australian", and has been employed in promoting the state. In recognition of its cultural significance, in 2001 the frog cake was listed as a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of South Australia. Read more...
Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside, usually topped with fruit and whipped cream. The name is pronounced /pævˈloʊvə/, or like the name of the dancer, which was /ˈpɑːvləvə/.
The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years. In 2008, Helen Leach published The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History, in which she argued that the earliest known recipe was published in New Zealand. Later research by Andrew Wood and Annabelle Utrecht suggested the dessert originated in the United States and was based on an earlier Austrian dish. Read more...
A torte /ˈtɔːrt/ or /ˈtɔːrtə/ (from Italian torta) is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruits.
Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garnished. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that Halloween cake themes include cakes that resemble jack-o'-lanterns and the human brain, and cupcakes with bloody teeth emerging from them?
- ... that Claire Ptak baked the lemon and elderflower wedding cake for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?
- ... that the origin of clementine cake may be roughly based upon an orange cake developed by the Sephardi Jews?
- ... that someone told Kate Brew Vaughn that her eggless, sugarless, and butterless World War I Victory Cake was "joyless", but then ate three pieces?
- ... that fig cake and similar cakes have traditionally been served in the Appalachian Mountains as a part of Old Christmas celebrations?
- ... that Queen Elizabeth cake is named after Elizabeth II and is a popular cake in Canada?
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Selected images
Cake mix in plastic packets
Cake decoration – buttercream swirls being piped onto the sides of this cake with a pastry bag
Malay steamed sponge cake
Gooey butter cake
Cake made for a baby shower with edible decorations, an example of edible art
Chocolate Cake pops with sprinkles. A cake pop is a cake styled as a lollipop.
Raisin cake
A chocolate sour cream bundt cake
Strawberry mousse cake
A fudge cake is a type of chocolate cake
A strawberry cake prepared as a layer cake
Birthday fruit cake
Cranberry coffee cake
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