Spice cake explained

Spice cake
Type:Cake
Main Ingredient:Cake base, spices
Variations:Maple 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]

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. 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. The sizes ranged from individual buns to ordinary loaves to the great cake, which was a very large cake, sometimes weighing more than 50lb that was baked for holidays and important celebrations. (Because these cakes often included both dried fruit and spices, most of them can also be classified as fruit cakes.)

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. 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.[8]

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

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.

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

Notable versions

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Making a Cake by the Book. 2009-06-20. Kitsap Sun-The E.W. Scripps Co. Ann Vogel. 2008. 2023-03-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20230309131506/https://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/may/31/ann-vogel-making-a-cake-by-the-book/. dead.
  2. Spice cake . Canadian Oxford Dictionary . 2004 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-541816-3 . Barber . Katherine . 2nd . Don Mills, Ontario.
  3. Web site: Pecan Spice Layer Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting. 2009-06-20. Gourmet Magazine-Epicurious-Condé Nast Digital. 2007. 2022-10-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20221027124349/https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pecan-Spice-Layer-Cake-with-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-238083. dead.
  4. Web site: York . Patricia S. . 20 November 2023 . The Old-Fashioned Spice Cake Recipe I Make Every Fall . 2024-04-13 . . en.
  5. Book: Hahnemann, Trine . The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-931339-6 . Goldstein . Darra . Oxford New York . Scandinavia . Mintz . Sidney . Krondl . Michael . Rath . Eric . Mason . Laura . Quinzio . Geraldine . Heinzelmann . Ursula . 1.
  6. Book: Schmidt, Stephen . The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America . 2013 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-973496-2 . Smith . Andrew F. . 2nd . New York, NY . Cake.
  7. Book: Woloson, Wendy A. . The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America . 2013 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-973496-2 . Smith . Andrew F. . 2nd . New York, NY . Weddings: Wedding Cake.
  8. Book: Wilson . Carol . The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-931339-6 . Goldstein . Darra . Oxford ; New York . Wedding cake.
  9. Book: Maple Spice Cake (excerpt from The Presidents) . 2009-06-20 . John Wiley & Sons, Inc . 2007. 9780787988869 .
  10. Web site: Vergara . Deniz . 2021-07-31 . Applesauce Spice Cake With Maple Glaze Recipe . 2024-04-13 . . en-US.
  11. Web site: Vergara . Deniz . 11 April 2024 . Blender-Made Batter Equals an Effortless Spice Cake . 2024-04-13 . . en.
  12. Book: Reber, Patricia Bixler . The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-931339-6 . Goldstein . Darra . Oxford New York . Layer cake . 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. . Mintz . Sidney . Krondl . Michael . Rath . Eric . Mason . Laura . Quinzio . Geraldine . Heinzelmann . Ursula . 1.
  13. Book: Everett-Heath, John . Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names . 2020 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-190563-6 . 6 . en . Banbury . 10.1093/acref/9780191905636.001.0001.
  14. Book: Hudgins, Sharon . The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-931339-6 . Goldstein . Darra . Oxford New York . Gingerbread . Mintz . Sidney . Krondl . Michael . Rath . Eric . Mason . Laura . Quinzio . Geraldine . Heinzelmann . Ursula . 1.
  15. Book: Wallace, Emily . The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-931339-6 . Goldstein . Darra . Oxford New York . Cane syrup . Mintz . Sidney . Michael . Krondl . Eric . Rath. Laura . Mason . Geraldine . Quinzio . Ursula . Heinzelmann . 1.
  16. Book: van der Sijs, Nicoline . The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-931339-6 . Goldstein . Darra . Oxford New York . The Netherlands . Mintz . Sidney . Krondl . Michael . Rath . Eric . Mason . Laura . Quinzio . Geraldine . Heinzelmann . Ursula . 1.
  17. Book: Lockwood, Yvonne R. . The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America . Lockwood . William G. . Kraig . Bruce . 2013 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-973496-2 . Smith . Andrew F. . 2nd . New York, NY . Midwestern Regional Cookery.
  18. Book: Ayto, John . The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food & Drink . 2012 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-964024-9 . 2nd . Oxford . Singing hinny . 796276333.

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