Everyone loves cake, and no one can’t say why. Because it’s a cake. The cake is the purest form of deliciousness and comes in many shapes, flavors, sizes, shapes, temperatures. Now, for every celebration, we get to see different special cakes. Whatever you like or prefer, you can find any cake you like.
However, the cakes that we eat now are not our cake’s origins. The word “cake” meant any lump of the cooked dough. In the 1400s cake changed into another form along with a sweet taste. Then in, the 1700s, when sugarcane and colonialism farming brought sugar, frosted cakes were established.
Nearly every culture across the world developed their traditional cakes, with the resources they have with themselves. And introduced many ingredients and flavors of their regions too. Want to explore them, then you are in luck today.
1. Barfi — India
Barfi is also referred to as burfi, known to be a popular and classic Indian cake. That’s compared to cheesecake at times. Very similar to cheesecake, it is normally refrigerated. Barfi is quite flat and dense and is made by mixing evaporated milk and sugar with a specific ingredient, such as coconut until the mix gets semisolid. You could even utilize this sugar-milk base to make many unique barfi variations. A few common ingredients for barfi-style cakes are almonds, pistachios, cashews, etc. After the mix gets cooled, put the mixture in a shallow pan. Then, refrigerate this till it is firm enough to chop into little squares.
2. Angel Food Cake – United States
Angel food cake is nothing but a distinctive sponge cake that came from America. This cake is light with divine consistency and that is why it’s called an Angel food cake. It has been around in the market since the 19th century. This dessert invention is known to be inspired by the Pennsylvania Dutch. Dutch are known to utilize special pans for cooking. When it comes to angel food cake, the pan in question is a tube pan, so the finished cake has a distinctive hole in the center.
3. Pavlova – New Zealand & Australia
Introducing you to the most lovely, light, and delicate cake – Pavlova. It a popular cake recipe from Australia and New Zealand and they termed it’s an invention as a national culinary treasure. Pavlova is made as a gift for honoring Anna Pavlova, who is a Russian ballet dancer. Pavlova is art with perfect patience and timing. It is a meringue cake with a perfectly crisp exterior and soft inside with marshmallows taste in between. It is traditionally offered with fresh fruits and whipped cream. However, few bakers advised including tart fruits, such as raspberries, kiwi, and passion fruit, to balance this super-sweet meringue cake.
4. Sponge Cake – Japan
Rather than the unique Japanese sweetest pancake – Okonomiyaki, Japanese love a simple high-esteemed vanilla sponge cake. They also decorate the sponge cake with many things as Americans do for a July 4th cake. First, they start with fresh whipped cream for covering every layer and add bright red berries for a finishing touch.
This cake also has a history that leads us to the time of World War II. The end of the world war raised the Japanese economy to rebound before Christmas, which allowed a rise in sugar consumption. With an influence from the occupation of America in Japan during World War 2, Japan instantly became fascinated with the sugary delights of American recipes. This smooth sponge cake is truly a treasured delight and memory of Japan for many years.
5. Black Forest Cherry Cake – Germany
Black forest cake is a coming that’s a traditional art from the south-east of Germany. But, it is known that the real form of this black forest cake comes from Switzerland. Germans improved it and made it quite famous these days.
This cake is made of more layers of chocolate cake. That is separated by the cherries and decorated by the fluffy chocolate shavings, whipped cream, cherry juice, and more cherries to decorate on top of the cake. Black forest Swedish version also exists. But it is made with whipped cream and meringue.
6. Bibingka – Philippines
This cake is often stocked for the Simbang Gabi. That is a nine-day series of the dawn masses that leads to the celebration of Christmas eve morning. Bibingka is such a delicate cake, that it’s not taller than two-inch or an inch. Bibingka is made with eggs and coconut milk.
Traditional methods involve baking bibingka in a clay pot that’s lined with banana leaves, for extra flavors and aromas. Nonetheless, most families modified the old method to meet new and modern-day standards of baking. Now, this cake is baked in the normal cake molds. You can decorate this soft cake with shredded coconut, browned butter, cheese, duck eggs, and more.
7. France: Galette des Rois – France
“Galette des Rois ” is a French traditional cake. Little tough to spell it. And the English version of this cake’s name is “King’s Cake”. Typically, this cake is eaten right after Christmas, and during January’s first week. But nowadays, it has become very popular where most bakeries used to sell it the whole month. This cake is made of several layers of buttery puff that are decorated with powdered sugar. And then wrapped around the almond cream. After everything has been placed in a position to bake, then it’s baked till the cake’s outer layer get a toasted look
8. Samoborska kremšnita – Croatia
Samoborska kremšnita is yet another well-known dessert from the Croatian town of Samobor. It has a two-layer of puff pastry that is filled with custard cream. You can find a thin layer of whipped cream topping over the custard top.
The whole cake is topped with powdered sugar. Before serving, this cake is cut into cubes. Kremšnita could be served chilled or warm. This delicious dessert was developed by Đuro Lukačić, a pastry chef in Budapest and Vienna.
9. Torta Paradiso – Italy
Torta Paradiso is a classic Italian pastry that is a symbol of Pavia city. This simple sponge cake mostly utilizes crucial cake ingredients that include butter, flour, and sugar. In 1800 this cake was created by Enrico Vigoni, which can be eaten by all by themselves or can be filled with spreads, custards, and creams. The obvious fragrance, softness, sweetness made these cakes a prominent choice for a breakfast treat or can enjoy with tea.
Did we miss any popular cake traditions from any country? Let us know about them in the comments section.
