Christmas Cake & Culinary History

Those of you who follow this blog know that baking is my favorite winter sport. Christmas and other winter holidays offer so many chances to turn on the oven that it's often hard to narrow down the recipes.

Ever wondered when cakes were first made?

Cakes date back to ancient Egypt.   Old Kingdom (2700-2600 BC) tomb scenes depict bread being shaped and produced in mass quantities.  Ramses II’s tomb revealed pictures of elegant pastries, cakes, and pies being made in bakeries which catered specifically to royalty.  Sweets were also prepared in communal ovens and sweetened with honey and molasses, instead of sugar, which was extremely expensive at the time because it was just introduced by the Persians.          

Roman philosopher Cato wrote about cakes after Romans took control of Egypt and gained access to wheat and sugar.Ancient Greek cakes were made of honey and fruits.Typically the Roman and Greek cakes were used as offerings to the gods.

In Medieval England the terms bread and cake were synonymous and cake usually referred to small bread.

During the renaissance in Italy, baking really took off and caused both English and French to import Italian pastry chefs to work for them.

By the 17^th century, baking pans consisted of round rings which were placed on flat surfaces.The round symbol has been used since antiquity as a symbol of the life cycle itself.  As a result, we still use cakes as a way of marking life’s most monumental events.

In the mid 18^th century eggs replaced yeast as the most common leavening agent in Europe – many cakes from the rest of the world still use yeast.

By the 19^th century the industrial revolution changed the world of cake making.  Baking powder was invented and the modern cake was born.  

If you would like to make an easy, delicious, diabetes-friendly dessert this holiday, I suggest the following:

Christmas Apple Walnut Cake

·         2 cups applesauce ·         8 pkt. SweetLeaf Stevia®Sweetener ·         1/2 cup butter, at room temperature ·         3 eggs ·         3 cups sifted whole wheat flour ·         1 1/2 tsp. salt ·         1/2 tsp. baking soda ·         1 tsp. ground cinnamon ·         1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg ·         1 Tbsp. vanilla extract ·         1 cup chopped walnuts ·         3 cups chopped Macintosh apples ·         1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350^oF. Butter and flour one 10-inch tube- or Bundt-cake pan. Cream together the applesauce, butter and SweetLeaf Stevia^® Sweetener. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the vanilla, walnut and apples. Mix well and pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool. Once cool, slide knife along the outer edges of the pan to release pan bottom, the along the bottom and inner tube of the pan to release cake onto serving surface.

Enjoy!