It must be admitted: for everyone there is a cake that goes with our palate. Since this, the most emblematic dessert in history, was invented, more than once we have literally fought to get a succulent taste (our civilization even once started a cake war). Tres leches, red velvet, thousand leaves, chocolate, with more chocolate and many more…There are so many recipes, variants, shapes, textures and flavors, that it is simply impossible not to succumb to one of their tasty versions.
The pastry experts They will know that the cake is born from a succulent mixture of ingredients such as milk, butter, sugar, eggs, flour, yeast and salt, mainly. However, these elements were not what the world’s first cakes were created with. What’s more, the first cake was nothing like the one they buy for your birthday celebration.
Who came up with it?
Although today there are hundreds of recipes, the cake, in its beginnings, was born sweet. This invention is attributed to the ancient Egyptians, according to Food Timeline’s culinary research. However, the first cake in history comes from ancient bread, made by hand with flour —less practical than what we know today– and . It was baked on stones and was only sweetened with honey; Sometimes they added nuts and dried fruits on top.
Later, the Greeks would make their own version with cheese. You could say that this is the predecessor of cheesecake. In ancient Greece, this cake was one of the sources of energy for the athletes who participated in the first Olympic games in 776 BC. c.
When not for athletes, the cakes honored the gods as a tribute.
There was even a very deep concept behind making cakes, as their round shape symbolized the circular nature of life. At the same time, these cakes represented the sun and the moon. It was also with the ancient Greeks that the tradition of placing candles on top of it arose. Only Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon, was not going to blow out the candles to make a wish. The candles were to make them shine and resemble moonlight (very poetic, right?).
The cake + candles = birthday combo was officially born in Germany during the Middle Ages. The Germans were the first to celebrate birthday parties for children. The candles corresponded to the number of years lived and an extra one for the coming year.
A crucial time for the cake was the Industrial Revolution, since at that time it was democratized; It stopped being for gods and the rich. The necessary and new ingredients such as pastry creamsas well as the tools for its realization were cheaper and this, combined with mass production, made this incredible invention available to everyone.
In Mexico, the pastel is regularly present in celebrations where Las mañanitas are sung and, sometimes, the traditional chorus of ¡Mor-di-da, mor-di-da! It also appears at weddings and meetings, and you almost always find it to satisfy cravings and pleasure along with a good coffee, an atole or a hot chocolate.
Dare to create original cakes!
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