Fun Facts About Cake

Find out things you never knew about cake, and dazzle people at your Kidscape Kids Bake party…

The word ‘cake’ is of Viking origin.
Some of the oldest kinds of cakes are yeast cakes, which tend to be very traditional in form. An example of a yeast cake is stollen, a traditional German Christmas treat. Cakes can be central to many cultural and religious ceremonies.
The bride and groom cutting the wedding cake together has great ceremonial significance. Tradition dictates that the top tier of a wedding cake (which customarily has at least two tiers) is saved for the couple’s first wedding anniversary, or their first child’s christening. This is why the top tier of the cake is often a fruitcake, as this can be frozen for a significant length of time.
Simnel cake is traditionally eaten at Easter in the UK and Ireland. This is a light fruit cake covered in marzipan, with a layer of marzipan baked into the middle of the cake. The cake has eleven marzipan balls on top around the edge, symbolising the true apostles of Jesus. Simnel cake has been around since mediaeval times – a very old cake indeed!
For the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), it is traditional to eat honey cake – to symbolise a sweet new year.
The Chinese celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival (Zhongqui Jie), a harvest festival, by eating mooncakes outside under the moon. Mooncakes are not like your average Victoria sponge cakes however… they are savoury, dense round pastries, usually filled with some kind of bean/seed/dried fruit paste (depending on the culture of the region) and egg yolks (symbolising the full moon) from salted duck eggs. They traditionally have an imprint of Chinese characters on the top reading either “longevity” or “harmony”, as well as the filling and name of the bakery.
What would a birthday be without birthday cake? The birthday cake has been part of birthday celebrations in Western cultures since the 19th century. The idea to put candles on a birthday cake was rooted in 18th century Germany.
A babka, filled with cinnamon or chocolate, is a yeast cake that is a favourite with east European Jews; Christians in the area enjoy it for Easter, with a fruit filling, and a rum glaze.
Cheese cake dates back to the ancient Greeks, who sweetened theirs with honey.
The English favourite sponge cake has its relatives in the Italian/Jewish pan di Spagna and the French Génoise.
Butter cakes, which include many chocolate cakes, have a short list of ingredients. The pound cake, for instance, originally included a pound of sugar, a pound of flower, and a pound of butter.
Middle European traditions include the torte, a fancifully decorated and beautifully constructed cake that combines layers of cream or mousse or fruit with layers of cake that depend on ground nuts for their texture. The traditional accompaniment is a cup of coffee
Christmas cake is enjoyed all over the world – not only in the UK and Ireland, but also as far away as the Philippines and Japan! In Britain and Ireland, Christmas cake is usually a rich, fruit cake, however this varies world-wide. In Japan, for example, Christmas cake is a sponge cake decorated with whipped cream, strawberries, Christmas chocolates and seasonal fruit.
One of the most famous quotes about cake was said by Marie Antoinette, the queen consort of Louis XVI (a French King). In response to the news, just before the French Revolution of 1789, that the French populace had no bread to eat, Marie Antoinette said to “let them eat cake”.