Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at a time following the ceremony on the same day. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on display and served to guests at the reception. Traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Nowadays, however, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are not always even served to the guests. Some cakes are built with only a single edible tier for the bride and groom to share, but this is rare since the cost difference between fake and real tiers is minimal.
Icing, or frosting, is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling.
A cupcake (AmE), fairy cake (BrE), or bun (IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied.
Red velvet cake is traditionally a red, crimson, or scarlet-colored layer cake, layered with ermine icing. Traditional recipes do not use food coloring, with the red color due to non-Dutched, anthocyanin-rich cocoa.
A layer cake or sandwich cake is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices. Frequently, the cake is covered with icing, but sometimes, the sides are left undecorated, so that the filling and the number of layers are visible.
Hot milk cake is a butter sponge cake from American cuisine. It can be made as a sheet cake or a layer cake, or baked in a tube pan. The hot milk and butter give the cake a distinctive fine-grained texture, similar to pound cake.
Fondant icing, also commonly called simply fondant, is an icing used to decorate or sculpt cakes and pastries. It is made from sugar, water, gelatin, vegetable oil or shortening, and glycerol. It does not have the texture of most icings; rolled fondant is akin to stiff clay, while poured fondant is a thick liquid. The word, in French, means 'melting,' coming from the same root as fondue and foundry.
Carrot cake is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter.
Chocolate crackles are a popular children's confection in Australia and New Zealand, especially for birthday parties and at school fêtes. The earliest recipe found so far is from The Australian Women's Weekly in December 1937.
Buttercream, also referred to as butter icing or butter frosting, is used for either filling, coating or decorating cakes. The main ingredients are butter and some type of sugar.
Cake decorating is the art of decorating a cake for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, baby showers, national or religious holidays, or as a promotional item.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Cake balls are small spheres of reconstituted cake crumbs, coated with chocolate or frosting. They are made by blending cake crumbs with icing, shaping them to form a ball and then dipping them in a coating, such as melted chocolate. Cake balls were originally created from the crumbs of leftover or stale cake to prevent waste.
Coconut cake is a popular dessert in the Southern region of the United States. It is a cake frosted with a white frosting and covered in coconut flakes.
Hostess CupCake is an American brand of snack cake produced and distributed by Hostess Brands and currently owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Company. Its most common form is a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and vanilla creme filling, with seven distinctive white squiggles across the top. However, other flavors have been available at times. It has been claimed to be the first commercially produced cupcake and has become an iconic American brand.
Chocolate biscuit pudding, commonly abbreviated as CBP, is a Sri Lankan dessert. Chocolate biscuit pudding is made up of alternating layers of milk-dipped Marie biscuits and chocolate pudding or icing. These layers can be seen clearly when cutting through the dish, which is normally served cold. The pudding is often garnished with roasted or chopped nuts, usually cashewnuts.
Applesauce cake is a dessert cake prepared using apple sauce, flour and sugar as primary ingredients. Various spices are typically used, and it tends to be a moist cake. Several additional ingredients may also be used in its preparation, and it is sometimes prepared and served as a coffee cake. The cake dates back to early colonial times in the United States. National Applesauce Cake Day occurs annually on June 6 in the U.S.
Chestnut cake is a cake prepared using chestnuts. Chestnut flour prepared from cooked, ground chestnuts are used in its preparation, along with additional typical cake ingredients. It is sometimes prepared as a chocolate cake. Chestnuts are sometimes used in a frosting or glaze atop the cake, and it may be garnished with cooked or candied chestnuts. It can be prepared as a gluten-free dish.
Confetti cake is a type of cake that has rainbow colored sprinkles baked into the batter. It is called confetti cake because when baked, the rainbow sprinkles melt into dots of bright color that resemble confetti. Typically the batter is either white, golden, or yellow to allow for a better visual effect; but chocolate, devil’s food, and strawberry cake variations also exist. The cake generally consists of flour, butter, baking powder, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, and rainbow colored sprinkles. The cake normally has a frosting made of butter, salt, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk.
