Course | Dessert |
---|---|
Place of origin | Australia |
Region or state | South Australia |
Invented | c. 1923 |
Main ingredients | Sponge cake, jam, cream, fondant |
The frog cake is an Australian dessert in the shape of a frog's head, composed of sponge cake and cream covered with fondant. It was created by the Balfours bakery around 1923, and soon became a popular treat in South Australia. Originally frog cakes were available exclusively in green, but later brown and pink were added to the range. Since then other variations have been developed, including seasonal varieties (such as snowmen and Easter "chicks").
The frog cake has been called "uniquely South Australian", and has been employed in promoting the state. In recognition of its cultural significance, in 2001 the frog cake was listed as a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of South Australia.
Balfours does not attribute the invention of the cake to any single person or year. [1] They speculate that John Gordon Balfour may have been inspired by fondant-covered petit fours on a visit to Paris in 1923. [1] The frog cake was one of many fondant-based "assorted fancies" [1] introduced at a time in which tearooms were still popular in Adelaide. [2] It soon became known as the Balfours mascot, [2] and has traditionally only been sold in South Australia, [3] although they are now sold in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland as well.
The original frog cakes were green in colour, and green remains the most popular of the options, but chocolate and pink coloured versions were later added to the range. [2] In addition, while the frog motif dominates, special occasions have resulted in slightly different designs – such as Father Christmas and Snowman cakes released during Christmas seasons and "Chick" cakes around Easter. Frog cakes have also been released in the colours of the Adelaide Football Club. [4]
Historically, the frog cake has sold well for Balfours, and at times sales have peaked in response to events surrounding the company. When the company was placed into receivership in 2000, a column in The Advertiser by Rex Jory called for people to support the company by purchasing the cakes, and in response sales doubled to an "all-time high". [5] The 2001 inclusion of the frog cake as a South Australian icon saw a comparable increase in sales. [3]
The success of the frog cake has led to imitations, and in response Balfours registered both the name and the shape of the product as a trademark in 2001. [6] [7]
The frog cake is a small dessert shaped to resemble a frog with its mouth open, [8] consisting of a sponge base with a jam centre, topped in artificial cream and covered with a thick layer of fondant icing. The recipe today remains identical to the one employed when the cake was first produced in the 1920s. [8]
When manufactured, large layers of sponge cake are combined and cut mechanically into shape, covered in the fondant, [6] and the mouth is then formed with a hot knife. [3] Fondant eyes of a contrasting colour are manually added to the head, and the completed dessert is presented in a paper patty-pan. [6] The fondant is normally brown, green or pink, but for special occasions colours can include variations such as red and yellow. [8]
The frog cake has been called "uniquely South Australian", [4] have long been regarded as a South Australian icon, and have at times been used to help promote the state. [2] For example, in 2001 frog cakes were given to judges during Joan Hall's final pitch in a successful bid to win the 2007 World Police and Fire Games for Adelaide. [9]
While there have been tongue-in-cheek and satirical suggestions to build monuments to the frog cake, such as that made by Peter Goers, [10] a more serious recognition of the frog cake came in 2001 when it was one of the first items to be selected as a South Australian Icon by the National Trust of South Australia during the 165th anniversary of the state, [11] adding the frog cake to the National Heritage Listing as a "movable asset". [6]
Frog cakes feature in the 2023 film Emotion Is Dead , written and directed by Pete Williams. [12]
The Danish Frøkage ("frog cake") dates back to at least the 1950s. [13] [14] During the 1970s it became known as a Kajkage ("Kaj cake"), named after the character of Kaj the frog in the Danish children's television puppet show Kaj & Andrea . [14] Visually similar to the Australian cake, it has a thin macaron bottom instead of sponge, and is topped with green marzipan rather than fondant.
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.
Trifle is a layered dessert of English origin. The usual ingredients are a thin layer of sponge fingers or sponge cake soaked in sherry or another fortified wine, a fruit element, custard and whipped cream layered in that ascending order in a glass dish. The contents of a trifle are highly variable and many varieties exist, some forgoing fruit entirely and instead using other ingredients, such as chocolate, coffee or vanilla. The fruit and sponge layers may be suspended in fruit-flavoured jelly, and these ingredients are usually arranged to produce three or four layers. The assembled dessert can be topped with whipped cream or, more traditionally, syllabub.
A lamington is an Australian cake made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, giving the cake a distinctive texture. A common variation has a layer of cream or strawberry jam between two lamington halves.
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.
The pie floater is an Australian dish sold in Adelaide. It consists of a meat pie in a thick pea soup, typically with the addition of tomato sauce. Believed to have been first created in the 1890s, the pie floater gained popularity as a meal sold by South Australian pie carts. In 2003, it was recognised as a South Australian Heritage Icon.
Cadbury Creme Egg is a chocolate confection produced in the shape of an egg. It originated from the British chocolatier Fry's in 1963 before being renamed by Cadbury in 1971. The product consists of a thick chocolate shell containing a sweet white and yellow filling that resembles fondant. The filling mimics the albumen and yolk of a soft boiled egg.
A mille-feuille, also known by the names Napoleon in North America, vanilla slice in the United Kingdom, and custard slice, is a French dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by Marie-Antoine Carême.
Mr Kipling is a brand of cakes, pies and baked goods made in Carlton, South Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and North America. It was introduced in May 1967, to sell cakes of a local baker's standard to supermarkets, and grew to become the United Kingdom's largest cake manufacturer by 1976.
After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, often referred to as simply After Eights, are a brand of mint chocolate covered sugar confectionery. They were created by Rowntree Company Limited in the UK in 1962 and have been manufactured by Nestlé since its acquisition of Rowntree in 1988.
A Boston cream pie is a cake with a cream filling. The dessert acquired its name when cakes and pies were baked in the same pans, and the words were used interchangeably. In the late 19th century, this type of cake was variously called a "cream pie", a "chocolate cream pie", or a "custard cake".
Cassata or cassata siciliana is a traditional cake from the Sicily region of Italy. Cassata is typically composed of a round sponge cake moistened with fruit juices or liqueur and layered with ricotta cheese and candied fruit. Cassata has a shell of marzipan, pink and green colored icing, and decorative designs. Cassata may also refer to a Neapolitan ice cream containing candied or dried fruit and nuts.
Arnott's Group is an Australian producer of biscuits and snack food. Founded in 1865 by William Arnott, they are the largest producer of biscuits in Australia and a subsidiary of KKR.
Balfours is an Australian bakery which produces pies, pasties and cakes for sale in South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales.
Princess cake or Princess Torte is a traditional Swedish layer cake or torte consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, pastry cream, and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. The cake is covered by a layer of rolled marzipan, giving it a smooth, rounded top. The marzipan overlay is usually green, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and often decorated with a pink marzipan rose. While the original recipe did not contain any fruit, modern versions usually include layers of jam or fresh fruit, usually raspberries.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs, 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.
Esterházy torta is a Hungarian cake (torte) named after Prince Paul III Anton Esterházy de Galántha (1786–1866), a member of the Esterházy dynasty and diplomat of the Austrian Empire. It was invented by Budapest confectioners in the late 19th century and soon became one of the most famous cakes in the lands of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
The first season of The Great Canadian Baking Show premiered on CBC Television on November 1, 2017. Ten amateur bakers competed over eight weeks of challenges throughout the competition for the title.
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