Origin of cakes and how Christmas cakes became special
People love to eat cakes and it is the best possible dessert available, but has anyone thought from where does this thing arrive? From when people started preparing or even baking something like a cake? In fact, from where does the word ‘cake’ come from? What it actually means?
At present people have varieties of cakes and even specifications of it like birthday cakes, wedding cakes, anniversary cakes or Christmas cakes and as winter comes, people become crazy for Christmas cakes to buy. But before that, one should definitely know the history or origin of this delicious treat.
Long time ago, Celtic people used to celebrate a festival which was known as the Beltane Festival. During that festival, people used to make a bonfire at the top of a hill and used to make cakes which were round in shape. They used to roll down those cakes from the top of the hill and believed that if the cakes reach the bottom or the plain land without breaking then it can bring some good luck to them.
Where does the word ‘cake’ come from?
In Italy, local people used to believe that there should be a cake prepared for every religious occasion that is performed. They also had a belief that the cake they should bake must be a circle or round in shape. This was mandatory because; people used to think that the cycle of nature is round and it has a pattern just like the moon or the sun. Also, many people believe that this particular round shape of cake has nothing to do with the cycle of nature. It is all because of the yeast bread type which was used to make a cake. Those breads were round in shape and that is why, those cakes were made round. Till date, round is a famous pattern in cake baking history and process.
How come Christmas cakes became special?
Well, as the common notion goes, this concept of Christmas cake is definitely an English tradition, which first began with plum porridge. Long ago, on Christmas Eves people used to eat that plum porridge in the evening and before that they used to fast for the entire day. This porridge helped them to break their fast. Later, people started adding more ingredients to this porridge. Things like eggs, spiced dry fruits along with honey and other things were added to the mixture of the porridge to make it heavier and slowly from plum porridge it turned to a Christmas pudding with elaborate ingredients in it. At present Christmas cakes are baked separately and especially in the month of November. They are kept aloof in a box with holes where a regular amount of brandy or rum is poured to it and it is seasoned till Christmas Eve. That is why; it is special and different.
Cake delivery is easy these days as one can order some delicious cakes from online websites and get it delivered right at their door steps in right time.
