The History of Cake Making
Sharon Cassidy
DT418/3
The History of Cake Making
Lecturer: Mary Kavanagh
Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to give a brief history of cake. Firstly this essay will begin with the manifestations of the first ‘cakes’ in Egyptian times and it’s evolvement throughout emerging civilisations and their contribution to the notion of cakes as we know them today. Influences such as colonisations, global trading and immigration will also be discussed to illustrate how the movement of ingredients and methods contributed to the fusion of culinary knowledge. This report will also acknowledge advancements in technology to aid both the domestic and commercial baker, and how consumer trends have changed dramatically throughout history.
Origin
According to Humble(2010) evidence from archaeological digs from our Neolithic ancestors have shown that cakes in some form or other were being made then, although these early endeavours are a far cry from our perception of what a cake is today. These ancient cakes would have been would have been made from little more than crushed grains , mixed with water and made into rounds and baked on a hot stone. They would have been very crude and flat as leavening agents had not yet been discovered; in fact the word cake is also used to describe something that is flat and compacted such as a cake of soap. Humble (2010) also writes that these so called cakes would have been the precursor to the oatcakes we have today but are now categorised as a biscuit. Castella(2010) writes that very little is known about the culinary experiences of these times as there are not much written about food prior to the eighteenth century, however some records exist in the form of tomb drawings, tax records, Greek plays and shipping and military records.
It is thought that around 5,000 B.C. the Egyptians accidentally discovered how to make leavened bread. There are some theories surrounding this discovery such as a mixture of flour and water were
DT418/3
The History of Cake Making
Lecturer: Mary Kavanagh
Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to give a brief history of cake. Firstly this essay will begin with the manifestations of the first ‘cakes’ in Egyptian times and it’s evolvement throughout emerging civilisations and their contribution to the notion of cakes as we know them today. Influences such as colonisations, global trading and immigration will also be discussed to illustrate how the movement of ingredients and methods contributed to the fusion of culinary knowledge. This report will also acknowledge advancements in technology to aid both the domestic and commercial baker, and how consumer trends have changed dramatically throughout history.
Origin
According to Humble(2010) evidence from archaeological digs from our Neolithic ancestors have shown that cakes in some form or other were being made then, although these early endeavours are a far cry from our perception of what a cake is today. These ancient cakes would have been would have been made from little more than crushed grains , mixed with water and made into rounds and baked on a hot stone. They would have been very crude and flat as leavening agents had not yet been discovered; in fact the word cake is also used to describe something that is flat and compacted such as a cake of soap. Humble (2010) also writes that these so called cakes would have been the precursor to the oatcakes we have today but are now categorised as a biscuit. Castella(2010) writes that very little is known about the culinary experiences of these times as there are not much written about food prior to the eighteenth century, however some records exist in the form of tomb drawings, tax records, Greek plays and shipping and military records.
It is thought that around 5,000 B.C. the Egyptians accidentally discovered how to make leavened bread. There are some theories surrounding this discovery such as a mixture of flour and water were
References: Adamson,M. (2004) Food in Medieval Times Greenwood Press, London ------------------------------------------------- Brears, P. (1985) Food and Cooking in 17th Century Britain History and Recipes Peter Brears and English Heritage, London ------------------------------------------------- Castella,K, (2010) A World of Cake, Storey Publishing, M.A. ------------------------------------------------- Flandrin, J,L, and Montanari,M (1999) Food a Culinary History, Columbia University Press, New York ------------------------------------------------- Kenedy, J.(2011) Bocca Cookbook Bloomsbury, London ------------------------------------------------- How Baking works (n.d.) [online} Available: http://www.baking911.com/howto/how_baking_works.htm [Accessed 5th October, 2011] ------------------------------------------------- http://whatscookingamerica.net/history/cakes {[online] [accessed 4th October, 2011] ------------------------------------------------- www.theoldfoodie.com/2010/10/brief-history-ofcakes.html [online] [Accessed 4th October, 2011]