By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-26 02:16:03 | Updated at 2024-11-27 16:37:57
1 day ago
~The FReeper Canteen Presents~
National Cake Day!
The history of cake dates back to ancient times. The first cakes were very different from what we eat today. They were more bread-like and sweetened with honey. Nuts and dried fruits were often added. According to the food historians, the ancient Egyptians were the first culture to show evidence of advanced baking skills.
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the English word cake back to the 13th century. It is a derivation of 'kaka', an Old Norse word. Medieval European bakers often made fruitcakes and gingerbread. These foods could last for many months.
Whether it's a shapely bundt cake (celebrated on November 15) or the less curvaceous sheet cake, these sweet layered, frosting-covered, or fondant-decorated works of art scream celebration! Made from scratch, a box or picked up from the bakery, a cake sends a sweet message.
Why does the cake recipe say to use room-temperature eggs? Cold eggs bring down the temperature of the other ingredients in the cake. For example, if you add cold eggs to a butter and sugar mixture, the butter will firm up into clumps. The eggs and butter (or other ingredients) won't distribute evenly throughout the cake batter affecting the final texture. The cake may also take longer to bake if cold eggs are used.
In the 1920s, fewer and fewer people were baking bread at home, says Laura Shapiro, a historian and author of Something From the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America. Flour companies were feeling anxious about the trend, which came in part from the growing availability of commercial bakery goods. Also, surplus molasses was on the minds of the folks at the P Duff and Sons Company.
They hit on a solution in the form of a powdered mix containing 50-50 flour and dried molasses, with dried eggs and a few other ingredients. Just add water, and a home baker could whip up a quick gingerbread. The first mix, sold in a can, not a box, came on the market in 1929, followed by a few other flavors. “The company worked up the idea of spice cakes,” says Shapiro. “They had a little run of cake mixes.” After World War Two, the idea began to take off.
Inherent in its size, cake is almost always meant to be shared! That means that National Cake Day is the perfect opportunity to buy (or bake) a large cake and then find some people to share it with.
Come shares your favorite cake with us!
FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. The Canteen is family friendly. Let's have fun!
We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity.
We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon.
We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way.
God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always
