Cakes: Created By Several Cultures

Whenever we think about cakes, at least three words rush into our minds: fat, sweet, and western. However we fail to realize that it was, in fact, several cultures’ effort’s that created the modern cake of today. Every culture took the ideas from their predecessors and created their own style of cakes.

The history of cake started during the ancient time when the Egyptians strived in our world. Surprisingly, Egyptians were the first civilization to make some style of cake. Though the “cakes” that the Egyptians made consisted of bread sweetened with honey, they started the cake revolution to the world. The medieval Europeans further upgraded from the foundation of the Egyptians by creating gingerbreads, yet they were still far away from making the sweet, delicate shaped cakes of today. During 15th century, the Chinese made moon cake, which was made with lotus seed paste and was eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, predecessor of modern cakes appeared in our society during the 17th century, when the Europeans designed their “breads” as a round, baked cake with icing on the top of it; due to the invention of ovens and new ingredients, such as refined sugar, the 17th century Europeans baked a cake similar to our cakes today. In 19th century, the round cake with icing turned into the cake that we all know today. By using extra refined white flour and baking powder instead of yeast, it changed into a modern cake of today. Not only did the taste change drastically, but its shape altered as well; cakes were no longer limited to thick, round cakes. Now bakeries design their cakes to express their feelings and symbolize meanings. Besides their shapes, some cultures, like Asia, use different ingredients to create their own unique cake. For example, Kasutera, also known as sponge cake in Japan, and Korean sweet potato cake, a cake replacing flour with sweet potatoes, are rising in favor among Asian countries.
In a sense, every culture in the world shaped the cake’s foundation. We today are able to enjoy the delicious, creamy cakes because our 19th century Europeans developed from the recipes that the 17th century Europeans created. The 17th century Europeans were able to produce something similar to the modern cake because the Egyptians, Chinese, and the medieval Europeans, their predecessors, first started creating premature cakes. Cakes were created by several cultures, not only by the western countries.