Spice cake

Last updated
Spice cake
Spice Cake with sea foam frosting.jpg
Spice cake with seafoam frosting
Type Cake
Main ingredientsCake base, spices
VariationsMaple spice cake

Spice cake is a type of cake that is traditionally flavored with a mixture of spices. [1] The cake can be prepared in many varieties. Predominant flavorings include spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Description

In Medieval cuisine, a spice cake, also called spice bread, was a flavorful, sweetened yeast bread. [5] [6] They were typically sweetened with honey, as sugar was largely unavailable in Europe until the 1600s, and cooked over an open fire. [5] By the 17th century, spice cake was something similar the modern raisin bread, usually having spices, sugar, dried fruit, eggs, and butter in the yeast dough. [6] The sizes ranged from individual buns to ordinary loaves to the great cake, which was a very large cake, sometimes weighing more than 50 pounds (25 kg) that was baked for holidays and important celebrations. [6] (Because these cakes often included both dried fruit and spices, most of them can also be classified as fruit cakes. [6] )

With the development of the sugar trade, spice cakes were still popular, and were coated in white icing on special occasions. [7] French chefs hired by Charles II of England in the mid-1600s baked elaborate spice cakes coated in white icing. [7] This decoration style became popular for wedding cakes, and having a white coating over a darker cake was the first meaning of a white cake. [7] [8]

The modern spice cake, a type of butter cake or layer cake, appeared in the latter part of the 19th century. [6] Brown sugar, molasses, and a generous quantity of dark-colored spices were used to produce a dark brown cake. [6] By the middle of the 20th century, various kinds of spice cake were the second most popular cake flavors in the US. [6]

Variations

A maple spice cake is an American variation that adds maple syrup or maple flavoring. The recipe was a New Hampshire specialty that started at the beginning of the 19th century. It often tastes like cinnamon or apple cider, and is a fall classic. [9] [10] [11]

Sometimes, spice cake is combined with layers of lighter colored cakes, to produce a multi-flavored, multi-colored cake. [12] Names for this included ribbon cake, metropolitan cake, Neapolitan cake, Prince of Wales cake, and Harlequin cake.

During times of food rationing or to keep costs down, spice cakes lent themselves towards replacing expensive ingredients, such as eggs and butter, with more economical choices, such as pureed fruit. [6]

Marble cake is sometimes made with spice cake for the darker colored batter. [6]

Notable versions

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confectionery</span> Prepared foods rich in sugar and carbohydrates

Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French patissier and the confiseur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devil's food cake</span> Moist, airy, rich chocolate layer cake

Devil's food cake is a moist, rich chocolate layer cake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gugelhupf</span> German yeast cake

A Gugelhupf (also Kugelhupf, Guglhupf, Gugelhopf, pronounced[ˈɡuːɡl̩.hʊp͡f,-hɔp͡f,ˈkuːɡl̩-], and, in France, kouglof, kougelhof, or kougelhopf, is a cake traditionally baked in a distinctive ring pan, similar to Bundt cake, but leavened with baker's yeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruitcake</span> Cake made with candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices

Fruitcake or fruit cake is a cake made with candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and optionally soaked in spirits. In the United Kingdom, certain rich versions may be iced and decorated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Layer cake</span> Cake made from stacked layers of cake held together by filling

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston cream pie</span> Custard-filled sandwich cake

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiropita</span> Greek layered pastry food

Tiropita or tyropita is a Greek pastry made with layers of buttered phyllo and filled with a cheese-egg mixture. It is served either in an individual-size free-form wrapped shape, or as a larger pie that is portioned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lardy cake</span> English form of sweet spiced bread

Lardy cake, also known as lardy bread, lardy Johns, dough cake and fourses cake, is a traditional rich spiced form of bread found in several southern counties of England, each claiming to provide the original recipe. It remains a popular weekend tea cake in the southern counties of England, including Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Gloucestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer pudding</span> English dessert

Summer pudding or summer fruit pudding is an English dessert made of sliced white bread, layered in a deep bowl with fruit and fruit juice. It is left to soak overnight and turned out onto a plate. The dessert was most popular from the late 19th to the early 20th century. It first appears in print with its current name in 1904, but identical recipes for 'hydropathic pudding' and 'Malvern pudding' from as far back as 1868 have been found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dobos torte</span> Hungarian sponge cake

Dobos torte, also known as Dobosh, is a Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel. The layered pastry is named after its inventor, Hungarian chef József C. Dobos, a delicatessen owner in Budapest. In the late 1800s, he decided to create a cake that would last longer than other pastries in an age when cooling techniques were limited. The round sides of the cake are coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, or almonds, and the hardened caramel top helps to prevent drying out, for a longer shelf life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flapper pie</span> Dessert in Canadian cuisine

Flapper pie, or the forgotten Prairie pie, is a vanilla custard pie topped with meringue within a graham cracker crust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombe glacée</span> Frozen dessert

A bombe glacée, or simply a bombe, is a French ice cream dessert frozen in a spherical mould so as to resemble a cannonball, hence the name ice cream bomb. Escoffier gives over sixty recipes for bombes in Le Guide culinaire. The dessert appeared on restaurant menus as early as 1882.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angel cake</span> British layer cake

Angel cake is a type of layer cake that originated in the United Kingdom, and first became popular in the late 19th century.

<i>Baicoli</i> Italian biscuit, originating in Venice

Baicoli are Italian biscuits, originating in the city of Venice. They are made with sugar, butter, flour, yeast, eggs, and salt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singing hinny</span> Type of bannock, griddle cake or scone

A singing hinny or singin' hinny is a type of bannock, griddle cake or scone, made in the north of England, especially Northumberland and the coal-mining areas of the North East. In Scotland, they are known as fatty cutties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhallebi</span> Milk-based dessert pudding

Muhallebi is a milk pudding commonly made with rice, sugar, milk and either rice flour, starch or semolina, popular as a dessert in the Turkey and Middle East. While the dessert is called Muhallebi in Turkey and Iraq, the Egyptian variant is called mahalabia, the levantine variant is called mahalabiyeh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Applesauce cake</span> Dessert cake

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karydopita</span> Greek dessert cake

Karydopita is a Greek dessert cake made primarily from walnuts and covered in a sweet syrup. Its name is a compound word which derives from "karýdia" and "pita".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guriev porridge</span> Porridge made with semolina, nuts, milk and dried fruit

Guryev porridge is a Russian sweet porridge (kasha) prepared from semolina and milk with the addition of candied nuts, honey and dried fruits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White cake</span> Cake made without egg yolks

White cake is a type of cake that is made without egg yolks. White cakes were also once known as silver cakes.

References

  1. ↑ Ann Vogel (2008). "Making a Cake by the Book". Kitsap Sun-The E.W. Scripps Co. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  2. ↑ Barber, Katherine, ed. (2004). "Spice cake". Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-541816-3.
  3. ↑ "Pecan Spice Layer Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting". Gourmet Magazine-Epicurious-Condé Nast Digital. 2007. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  4. ↑ York, Patricia S. (20 November 2023). "The Old-Fashioned Spice Cake Recipe I Make Every Fall". Southern Living . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  5. 1 2 Hahnemann, Trine (2015). "Scandinavia". In Goldstein, Darra; et al. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931339-6.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Schmidt, Stephen (2013). "Cake". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-973496-2.
  7. 1 2 3 Woloson, Wendy A. (2013). "Weddings: Wedding Cake". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-973496-2.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Carol (2015). "Wedding cake". In Goldstein, Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931339-6.
  9. ↑ Maple Spice Cake (excerpt from The Presidents). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007. ISBN   9780787988869 . Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  10. ↑ Vergara, Deniz (2021-07-31). "Applesauce Spice Cake With Maple Glaze Recipe". The Daily Meal . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  11. ↑ Vergara, Deniz (11 April 2024). "Blender-Made Batter Equals an Effortless Spice Cake". Food & Wine . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  12. 1 2 Reber, Patricia Bixler (2015). "Layer cake". In Goldstein, Darra; et al. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931339-6. The Dutch-Indonesian cake Spekkock or lapis legit is made by baking very thin layers in succession to form a tall, multilayered spice cake.
    Although layer cakes of a single color were often baked, two-layer cakes could combine silver (white) and gold (yellow), or light and dark (spice and chocolate). Three layers might have a contrasting color sandwiched between two matching cakes, while four layers could feature completely different colors, as in the Harlequin Cake.
  13. ↑ Everett-Heath, John (2020). "Banbury". Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names (6 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780191905636.001.0001. ISBN   978-0-19-190563-6.
  14. 1 2 Hudgins, Sharon (2015). "Gingerbread". In Goldstein, Darra; et al. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931339-6.
  15. ↑ Wallace, Emily (2015). "Cane syrup". In Goldstein, Darra; et al. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931339-6.
  16. 1 2 van der Sijs, Nicoline (2015). "The Netherlands". In Goldstein, Darra; et al. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-931339-6.
  17. ↑ Lockwood, Yvonne R.; Lockwood, William G.; Kraig, Bruce (2013). "Midwestern Regional Cookery". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-973496-2.
  18. ↑ Ayto, John (2012). "Singing hinny". The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food & Drink (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-964024-9. OCLC   796276333.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.