The History of Cake Making

Sharon Cassidy DT418/3 The History of Cake devising Lecturer Mary Kavanagh Introduction The purpose of this essay is to give a brief story of legal profession. firstly this essay give begin with the manifestations of the first barrooms in Egyptian times and its evolvement throughout emergent civilisations and their contribution to the nonion of cakes as we know them today. Influences much(prenominal) as colonisations, global trading and immig proportionalityn will withal be discussed to illustrate how the movement of chemical elements and methods contributed to the fusion of culinary knowledge.This report will also detect advancements in engine room to aid both the domestic and commercial baker, and how consumer trends reserve changed dramatic altogethery throughout history. job According to Humble(2010) evidence from archaeological digs from our Neolithic ancestors break shown that cakes in some gen successionl anatomy or other were universe made then, although th ese early endeavours be a far cry from our perception of what a cake is today. These ancient cakes would read been would fuddle been made from little more than crushed grains , miscellaneous with water supply and made into rounds and baked on a hot stone.They would have been real crude and flat as leavening agents had not yet been discovered in fact the word cake is also utilize to describe something that is flat and compacted much(prenominal) as a cake of soap. Humble (2010) also writes that these so called cakes would have been the precursor to the oatcakes we have today but be now catego inceptiond as a biscuit. Castella(2010) writes that very little is known about the culinary experiences of these times as there are not lots pen about feed prior to the eighteenth century, however some records exist in the form of tomb drawings, tax records, Greek plays and shipping and military records.It is thought that approximately 5,000 B. C. the Egyptians accidentally discover ed how to get along leavened popsicle. There are some theories surrounding this discovery such as a concoction of flour and water were left outside for some time and caught internal yeast from the air cause bubbles of gas to appear in the mixture which was then utilize in the making of some bread , or some watery that was universe used to make beer was also used in the making of bread, either scenarios would have resulted in a risen or leavened bread that must have been a commodious improvement on the hard and tough bread that had been previously eaten.The Egyptians are assign with mellisonantening these breads with honey commencing the evolvement of the cake(www. theoldfoodie. com) . The cakes began to be associated with religious ceremonies of which there are tomb paintings showing such scenes involving breads/cakes of unhomogeneous shapes such as rings, fish, crescents and birds universe offered to the Gods. The Greeks were very creative with their cakes by advancin g on the Egyptians innovations by adding fruits desire dates and figs and nuts such as pistachio and pine nuts . The Greeks are also being attributed with the art of cheesecakes which were made with goats milk.The Greeks were great innovators when it came to cake making and in fact bake became a trained profession with the emergence of a strict bakers guild (Castella, 2010) which lasted for several centuries. During the rise of the Roman Empire the Romans took what the Greeks had started with cook and improved it further bringing their innovative techniques with them on military campaigns and thus spreading new methods across Europe, they in turn also collected new ideas, ingredients and tools with which they combined to invent new recipes and formulas.Medieval to Modern Cake Making The beginning of the Medieval time period saw an increase in population and the emergence of cities and towns. There was now a greater claim for food and crops were now grown in surplus to suppl y litigateers in the towns. F regionrin and Montanari(1999) write that this gave route to market places being set up in the main thoroughfare of towns and crafts such as bread making were develop on a vaingloriousr scale.As a majority people no longer had land themselves to produce their own food they had to rely on the markets for their food supply. One of the almost important ingredient discoveries made in relation to baking was dulcorate. Although it originated in new-fashioned Guinea it was the Indians who perfected the methods of processing the sugar cane which the Arab traders brought back to the Middle East. Due to explorers and crusades a huge array of new exotic lavours were being brought back to Europe such as spices, fruits nuts and of course sugar. An example of this was Gingerbread a spicy lovely cake became enormously popular during the Middle Ages which the crusaders brought back with them. Sugar was highly valued and was thought of a medicinal ingredient du ring this era and was frequently prescribed by doctors in the form of sweetened cakes to patients to restore many ailments. It was however only addressable to the upper classes dapple bothone else still used honey as a sweetener.As sugar became more popular some religious figures deemed it to be evil and was proscribed however Thomas Aquinas declared that sweets were not actually foods so cakes could now be eaten on religious feast days giving rise to specific cakes being associated with religious holidays. The Medieval Courts advance elaborate banquets with highly decorated food, cakes would often be covered in gold leaf, silver and tear down gemstones (Flandrin and Montanari 1999) .According to Richard Sax (1994) it wasnt until the 16th century that cakes and sweet dishes were served at the end of the meal, where previously sweet and savoury courses were mixed and often were incorporated into the same meal. From approximately the 13th to 17th century advancements in agricul tural improvements and change magnitude overseas trade, the once exotic and uncommon ingredients became widely available and encouraged baking to become more widespread, eating cakes would now become a daily occurrence rather than bonnie for religious or special occasions.Cakes were becoming more and more enriched with butter, eggs, cream and being heavily fruited and spiced, and tinplate encircle were beginning to be used to shape and mould cakes making them easier to bake and serve (Peter Brears 1985). As written by Adamson (2004), using moulds to give cakes a distinctive shape was especially popular in Germany where such tins as a Turks Head Pan were used and continues to be used to this day for making Gugelhupf. - During the mid(prenominal) 1700s yeast was being replaced with eggs as the main source of leavening cakes.This would have taken a huge amount of time in order to whip eggs by peck (sometimes up to an hour) to get to the level of aeration that was needed. This meth od however resulted in a much take fireer cake made possible from the amount of air incorporated during the beating of the eggs. An example of a cake from this era is the pound cake peed in England and used equal quantities of flour, butter, and sugar, and of course eggs to be used as the aerating agent, (http//whatscookingamerica. net). -The 1800s saw improvements in milling technologies to give more refined flours, superior ovens were being produced with breach temperature control and the creation of baking powder by Alfred Bird when he combined bicarbonate of popping with cream of tartar to formulate one of the most significant inventions which has had long lasting effect on baking be it in the foundation or in industry. (Pam Corbin 2011) Baking powder took the hard work out of baking and cakes made from around this time are more akin to what we class as modern day cakes today.Other culinary tools such as hand held egg beaters were now being people produced along with cookb ooks which no housewife would be without. - By the early 1900s baking technology made huge advancements and as early as the1920s the boxed cake mix was invented. ecumenical Mills an American company developed the brand Betty Crocker which by the 1940s exploded on to the market with their just add water and mix method. They became hugely popular with housewives as they were timesaving and cost effective. The 1900s also saw the rise in planetary house cake decorating which previously had only been done by professionals, cake decorator Dewey McKinley Wilton set up a cake decorating school, and eventually manufactured and sold decorating products which paved the way for the booming multi billion dollar businesses that exists today. - - Ingredients - Baking employs carefully balanced formulas.What goes into a flour based baked good either strengthens/toughens (proteins and starches), weakens/tenderizes ( planks and sugars), moistens (any water containing ingredient), dries, or leavens it, however without heat and water, the important chemical and physical reactions wouldnt take place. There are four basic ingredients that are used in cake baking flour, fat, sugar and eggs, however any combi tribe of these added with leavening agents, liquids and flavourings can result in thousands of recipes with completely unalike look, feel and taste from each other. Flour - Flour is the primary structure builder in cakes and is used to bind all of the other ingredients together. Cake flour is milled from soft wheat giving it a protein content of approximately 6-8%. Wheat flourcontains two very important proteins, glutenin and gliadin, when mixed with moisture and stirred, create gluten strands, which set when baked, however these gluten strands can also lead to a tough, dry cake if the flour is mixed for too long.There are many types of flour used in cake making the most popular being cream flour (contains and acid), plain flour and self increase flour (contains baking pow der), However there are numerous other flours on the market today that can be used. Hi-ratio flour has been specially formulated for the commercial bakery which can allow maximum sugar and liquid absorption resulting in higher yield and increase profits. - - Fat -Fats come in two forms solid(butter, trim back and margarine) and liquid(oil). Adding fat to a cake mixture can do several things, the action of beating/creaming the fat , such as butter with sugar will incorporate air bubbles allowing the batter to be light and aid in the leavening process. Fat also has a tenderising effect and increases the keeping qualities of the cake. Fats also have a shortening effect as it shortens the gluten strands. It contributes to a smooth mouth feel and flavour especially in the case of butter.Fats help to keep food products moist and extend shelf life. - - bollock - Eggs add colour, flavour and nutrition to baked goods. The protein in the egg celebrates air and acts as a raising agent when whipped before other ingredients are added. The lecithin in egg yolks is an emulsifying agent that acts during mixing to assist with attach the ingredients together and tenderising.When baked, eggs coagulate causing them to set. - - Sugar - Sugar plays a vital role in cake baking as it im plowshares Sweetness to the cake mixture. Usually Caster sugar is used as their smaller granules dissolve quickly especially when its creamed together with fat this action causes the sugar to hold air and acts as a raising agent.During baking the sugar caramelises causing the cake to colour and cook because sugar is also ahygroscopic substance it helps with a recipes moisture retention and thus increases its shelf life by slowing the staling process (www. baking911. com) - Other ingredients that can be incorporated with the ones listed above are endless, some examples are - Dairy milk, buttermilk, cream, cheese and sour cream Fruits lemons, oranges, limes, dried fruits, cherries and mixed peel - kookie almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts, coconut and walnuts - Flavourings Chocolate, Vanilla, almond extract, spices and alcohol - - - International Practices Krystina Castella (2010) writes in her book A world of Cake that either celebration around the world is accompanied by cake that embodies the rituals of that point society, and that every culture globally has their own version of cakes that symbolize the customs and customss of their respective histories. Ancient civilisations all offered cakes to their gods and so throughout history became an intact part of religious and other holiday customs of different ethnicities.Of course the recipes change from unsophisticated to country and even from town to town but generally these traditional cake customs are still alive today if though slightly evolved from their first beginnings. Here are some samples of celebrations from around the world and an example of the type of cakes that are still eaten at that time - China Mid- autumn festival Mooncakes - Mexico twenty-four hours of the Dead Pan de Meurto - India Diwali Gulab Jamun France Bastille Day Opera Gateaux - Italy Liberation Day Cassata U. S. A Shrove Tuesday juvenile Orleans nance Cake Ireland Easter Hot Cross Buns Many recipes were developed because of the ingredients that were available in that particular region and what methods were accessible at the time, mass immigration/emigration globally played an enormous part as can be seen with the discovery of the New World which brought with it a diversity of people from all corners of the globe to contribute to the birth of America.This assortment of cultures resulted in the amalgamation of traditional recipes brought from the home country such as Scottish scones becoming American shortcakes, Dutch fried cakes became doughnuts and German streusel became American buckle cake. The Amish community, who were German settlers, brought their no frills baking concept with them and famous American cakes such as Funnel cakes and Angel food cakes derive from the Amish people.The Jewish settlers from middle and Eastern Europe have made a huge dissemble on baking practices especially in America where a great proportion of them made a new home in New York. The renowned New York cheesecake can be attributed to Reubens delicatessen which were the first to substitute cottage cheese for cream cheese and according to Amander Hessner (2010) was a detail that outlined the New York cheesecake that went on to win them a gold medal at the 1929 World Fair.Jacob Kenedy (2011) writes that turbulent histories have left a positive involve in culinary terms in some regions such as the French leaving behind the techniques of fine viennoiserie and patisseries, helping to make Naples one of the capitals of Italian desserts. In Britain Queen Victoria made popular the custom of high tea, a very dignified tradition of eating sweet dishes and drinking tea which initiated the development of numerous new rec ipes for cakes and sweet treats, and although the ritual is not part of every day life today, people still associate having something sweet to eat while having a cup of tea.Domestic, Plant and Boutique Style Bakeries Up until the mid 20th Century the majority of cakes that were baked were made by housewives and small local bakeries, however the emergence of the supermarket had a massive impact on the buying and eating patterns of the public. As mentioned above such products as cake mixes were now available to help the harried housewife, along with frozen desserts which were now available due to advances in technology allowing every home to have refrigeration and freezer capabilities.The establishment of Womens Lib afforded women the freedom to work outside of the home contributing to the now emerging gap in the market for convenience foods. By the 1960s huge advances were been made to eliminate fermentation time in bread making by mechanical and chemical means, and naturally methods were also being developed to improve cake production on a mass scale. Unfortunately in order to produce cake viable for sale for longer periods of time baffling the introduction of emulsifiers, stabilisers and other additives to increase their shelf life.Flour was also been chlorinated to produce a high ratio flour that could absorb higher quantities of sugar and liquid allowing a higher profit margin for producers. blue demand for ready made baked goods saw the rise of small bakeries in Ireland nonetheless it has been argued that Irelands entry into the EEC played a part in the decline of these bakeries due to European large plant bakeries flooding the market with cheaper products. The Celtic tiger grades of Ireland however saw a revival meeting of sorts to the traditional and artisan baking.This resurgence can be attributed to several reasons, Kavanagh(2008) states her beliefs as follows individuals have travelled and are aware of standards and choice elsewhere thus seeking va riety on their return she also explains increased disposable income has meant that the consumer is more quality and health conscious and seeks organic, fresh, and local produce an indication of the increase in the number of farmers markets emerging Chef Clodagh McKenna explains that artisan producers and farmers markets have played their part in regenerate local economies by encouraging employment and bringing forth a new generation of arouse people. Health, nutrition and consumption trends In an article written by Miriam Tuomey(2011) for Bord bia, it has been found that the sale of home baking products in Ireland, has grown by 8. 1% to reach a value of almost 63m in the year ended 23 Jan 2011, according to Kantar. (www. bordbia. e) This trend in home baking can also be attributed to enormous food dedicated programmes on television where chefs and bakers are now afforded celebrity status and home baking has now become officially cool Another aspect driving consumption trends is th e increased awareness of health implications from certain ingredients used in baked products. There is greater demand for natural ingredients as apposed to some of the ingredients in massed produced goods such as preservatives, flavourings, colourings, artificial sweeteners, stabilisers and modified starches. Through scientific and medical checkup advances, more is known about wheat intolerance and coeliac disease and the baking industry has responded by producing gluten-free baked products, other products are also being produced to suit the nourishmentary needs of people who are lactose intolerant, have allergies such as egg and nuts, for diabetics and for people who generally want to follow a healthy lifestyle. ConclusionCake has started off as a basic nutritional addition to the diet of ancient civilisations and has progressed to play a vital role in the development of cultures and traditions and visa versa. They are an integral part of modern and traditional celebrations, brin ging people together, be it for a religious festival, a wedding, or a birthday. The fusion of cultures and the opening of global markets have meant that everyone now has access to ingredients, recipes, tools and knowledge from every nation and the modern baker has the world of cake at their feet. - - References - Adamson,M. (2004) Food in Medieval Times Greenwood Press, capital of the United Kingdom - Brears, P. (1985) Food and Cooking in 17th Century Britain History and Recipes Peter Brears and English Heritage, London - Castella,K, (2010) A World of Cake, Storey Publishing, M. A. - Corbin, P. (2011) The River Cottage Cakes Handbook Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London - Flandrin, J,L, and Montanari,M (1999) Food a Culinary History, capital of South CarolinaUniversity Press, New York - Hessner, A. (2010) The Essential New York Times Cook Book, Classic Recipes for a New Century W. W. Norton and company, New York - Humble,N. (2010) Cake a Global History, Reaktion books, London - Kavana gh, M. (2008) Curriculum Evolution at the Department of Baking technology (National Bakery School), D. I. T, Kevin Street,1998-2008 What Factors Have Brought About a Change in the Curriculum M. A thesis capital of Ireland Institute of Technology - Kenedy, J. 2011) Bocca Cookbook Bloomsbury, London - McKenna, C. (n. d. ) The Irish Farmers Market Cookbook, Collins - Sax, R. (1994) Classic Home Desserts Houghton Mifflin Company, New York - How Baking works (n. d. ) online Available http//www. baking911. com/howto/how_baking_works. htm Accessed 5th October, 2011 - Toumey, M. (2011) Homebaking Products show further Growth online Available http//www. bordbia. ie/industryservices/ data/alerts/Pages/Homebakingstillgrowing. spx Accessed 21st October, 2011 - http//whatscookingamerica. net/history/cakes online accessed 4th October, 2011 - www. theoldfoodie. com/2010/10/brief-history-ofcakes. html online Accessed 4th October, 2011 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -