“Let Them Eat Cake”
For 2020, National Cake Day is on Tuesday, November 26. We believe Marie Antoinette said it best when she (allegedly) said “let them eat cake!”
We’re not sure the peasants of 18th century France were too fond of the sentiment but nevertheless we’ll take her advice do just that!
“Let Them Eat Cake!” – A Real Quote from Marie Antoinette…Probably
What is National Cake Day?
Can’t wait for your birthday? Remember, National Cake Day falls on November 26. No one really knows how this holiday came about, but we all know that we all love to eat cake.
One Cake to Rule Them, One Cake to Burn the House Down
Birthday parties, wedding receptions, baby showers, bar/bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras, and pretty much any social event has cake for dessert.
National Cake Day History
The term “cake” has a rather complicated history. The word itself is of Viking origin, from the Old Norse word “kaka.”
It’s All Greek to Me!
The ancient Greeks called cake “plakous,” which was derived from the word for “flat.” The simple ingredients include flour mixed with eggs, milk, nuts, and honey. They also had a cake called “satura,” which was a flat heavy cake. During the Roman period, the name for cake became “placenta,” which was derived from the Greek term. A placenta was baked on a pastry base or inside a pastry case.
Baklava is considered an “O.G. Cake” by all Major Historians
(The name placenta is still used today on the island of Lesbos in Greece to describe a baklava-type dessert of layered pastry leaves containing crushed nuts that is baked and then covered in honey.)
When in Rome
The Greeks invented beer as a leavener, frying fritters in olive oil, and cheesecakes using goat’s milk. In ancient Rome the basic bread dough was sometimes enriched with butter, eggs, and honey, which produced a sweet and cake-like dessert.
Get Down(ton) With The Queen
Early cakes in England were also mainly bread. The most obvious differences between a “cake” and “bread” were the round, flat shape of the cakes, and the cooking method, which turned cakes over once while cooking, while bread was left upright throughout the baking process.
Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance.
