Interesting stories about the cake. Longest cake

The history of the emergence of the cake is not known for certain. Probably, this dessert was invented in ancient Rome, because the word tōrta is translated from Latin as round bread. Historians believe that the first cakes appeared about 2000 years ago.

As for wedding cakes, the custom of baking them also appeared in ancient Rome. Then the wedding bread was baked from barley or wheat flour, and broke it right over the head of the bride. Multi-tiered wedding cakes first appeared in London in the 17th century - they were so large that they were brought in on a special cart. Naturally, this was the privilege of the wealthy strata of society.

Cakes are often used as a throwing weapon to demonstrate public distrust or contempt for public figures. Belgian Noel Gaudin, leader of the International Pastry Brigades, introduced the tradition of throwing cakes at famous people. Such people as Bill Gates, Michel Camdessus, Jean-Luc Godard and many others suffered from the activists of his movement.

The first birthday cake was served in 1785. It had little in common with today's birthday cakes decorated with candles: it was then presented as an invitation to the celebration, and not as its culmination.

The Napoleon cake is one of the most popular dessert recipes not only in Russia, but also in the West. According to one version, the name of the delicacy has nothing to do with the famous Corsican Bonaparte, but comes from the word Napolitano, since it was invented in the Italian city of Naples. At the same time, it is known that during the celebration of the centenary of victory in the war of 1812, celebrations took place in Tsarist Russia, for which there was a thorough preparation. It was for the festive table that eminent chefs managed to prepare a new triangular cake, which would symbolize the famous cocked hat of the defeated Bonaparte.

The largest cake is considered to be a giant of 59 tons, created to celebrate the centenary of Las Vegas. 600 pastry chefs worked on the creation of this cake. This cake was 31 meters long, 15 meters wide and 50 cm high. The largest ice cream cake was created by confectioners in Beijing. Their cake was 4.8 meters long, 3 meters wide and 1 meter high. The weight of this masterpiece was about 8 tons, later the cake was cut into 32 thousand pieces.

The cake, which is 115 years old, has survived to this day. It was found in an attic on a farm in South Africa. And it has survived due to the increased concentration of cognac. It was baked for the 1902 golden wedding. But nobody knows why it was not eaten.

There is an urban legend about a $ 100 cake. It originated in the United States in the 1940s and stated that a restaurant visitor asked for a cake recipe and received a $ 100 bill. Angry, he circulated the recipe widely. Hence the name of the cake - $ 100 cake.

The world's most expensive cake was worth $ 75 million. It was made for the birthday of the daughter of one of the sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates. The masterpiece was born when a customer turned to cake designer Debbie Wingham for help. The $ 75 million cake looked like a 1.8-meter fashion show catwalk. All the models on this track and their outfits were edible. The main value of the cake was made up of placers of precious stones, including multi-colored diamonds worth $ 45 million.

The famous Prague cake is actually called that because it was invented in the confectionery shop of the Moscow restaurant Prague. The author of the dessert is Vladimir Guralnik, who in his time came up with more than 30 recipes for original cakes and pastries. The pastry chef has indeed trained in Czechoslovakia several times, and the Prague cake is to some extent a variation of the Viennese Sacher, which is also very popular in Eastern Europe.

Believe it or not, today, July 20, the whole world celebrates the most voluptuous holiday - International Cake Day!

All the most interesting about this holiday and about cakes read in our article on tochka.net.

International Cake Day - what is this celebration?

This sweet holiday is dedicated to peace and friendship between people, nations and whole countries. And it is not surprising, because it is difficult to find a person, young and old, who would not like cake. All celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other holidays are simply unthinkable without smart, tasty, multi-tiered, puff, cream, biscuit, huge, sweet, positive cakes.

But, perhaps, the main purpose of the cake is the opportunity to be eaten in a solemn and festive atmosphere over a cup of tea with friends. Therefore, it was the cake that was chosen as a symbol of friendship and peace for many countries, which decided to celebrate the International Cake Day. This holiday is held under the motto "I CAKE YOU", which means "I will come to you with a cake." Indeed, it is difficult to think of a more friendly and democratic symbol for communication between people than a cake.

International Cake Day - holiday history

For the first time internationally, Cake Day was held in 2011. This sweet and democratic holiday was initiated by the "Milan Club" of the Kingdom of Love - an international non-profit community of musicians, culinary experts and other enthusiastic creative people.

The purpose of the holiday was to spread throughout the Earth the ideas of peace and friendship through culture. This interesting initiative was supported by many CIS countries, as well as Israel and the United States. On this day, the world's first joint multinational cake was baked, in the preparation of which people from these countries took part.

International Cake Day is a young holiday, but already quite popular. The number of countries participating in this sweet tradition is growing every year.

Every year, International Cake Day is dedicated to different themes, such as space, love, fairytale. And in 2016 the topic International Day cake sounds "Time Travel".

This means that this year the sweet tooth and confectioners have a wonderful opportunity to travel back in time and present to the audience the cakes that were popular several hundred years ago.

Among the most interesting events of the holiday are exhibitions of unusual and amazing cakes on a given theme, as well as fairs, auctions, confectionery competitions, musical and pastry performances, cake parades, flash mobs and master classes on making and decorating cakes, corporate parties and just friendly tea parties.

The history of the cake

It's hard to say who, where and when first thought of this. culinary masterpiece like a cake. Today there are several versions. The history of this dessert goes back about 2000 years. However, it is impossible to name the exact date of production of the first cake, since the main controversial issue has not been resolved, which products should be part of this cake.

The first cake recipes included flour, honey, nuts, eggs, milk. Since flour was considered one of the main ingredients of the cake, the palm can be given Greece... It was here in the Neolithic villages that cakes were found during excavations that were baked from crumpled grains.

According to another version, it is believed that the great-great-great-grandfather of the first cake was made in Of Italy... No wonder the well-known proverb “they don’t argue about tastes” in the Italian version sounds like “they don’t argue about cakes”. And the word “cake” itself, translated from Italian, means “twisting, twisting”. This dessert is decorated with approximately such creamy patterns. In addition, the Italian pastry chefs are called "Tortayo", i.e. cake makers.

Another part of historians suggests that the cake owes its appearance to such a connoisseur of sweets as East... The ancient culinary experts of the eastern countries made delicious desserts made from a mixture of honey, milk and nuts, shaped like modern cakes. And some kind of cake was found in the tomb of Pharaoh Pepionchus, who lived in Egypt in 2200 BC.

But whatever the origin of the cake, its further improvement and refined taste obliged to master pastry chefs from France... It was here, in the land of love, romance and desserts, that once appeared, the cake conquered the whole world. For centuries, French chefs and pastry chefs have been trendsetters in serving and decorating this popular and beloved sweet. France has become the birthplace of such well-known confectionery names like meringue, Napoleon, biscuit, mousse, cream, meringue, jelly and others.

No matter how violent these disputes may be, it is difficult to come up with a more suitable dessert that adorns a festive and friendly table in all countries of the world.

Interesting Facts about cakes

• The cake is translated from Italian as "round bread" and consists of one or more cakes soaked in cream or jam and decorated with cream, frosting or fruit on top.
• Most tall cake, consisting of 100 tiers and a height of 30 meters, was baked in the USA, in the state of Michigan.
• The heaviest cake weighing over 50 tons is also from the USA, Alabama.
• The longest cake at 246 meters was made and then cut into 15,000 pieces and presented to children on their birthday in Peru.

See all the brightest and most interesting news on the main page of the women's online resourcetochka.net.

All these cakes presented in this article were created by man for some special occasion, reason, for people, in order to get into the Guinness Book of Records, but still this is all work confectionery art... There are a huge number of different cakes: children's cakes, cakes for memorable dates, anniversaries, and there are unique ones, created in a single copy.


1. The tallest cake in the world is considered to be a 100-tiered cake, which is almost 31 meters high. It was made by Beta Cornell, a pastry chef in Shiawassie County, Michigan. The Indian pastry chefs who baked a cake on New Year, consisting of 33 layers, and the weight of which was 550 kg. The height of this culinary masterpiece is 10 meters.

2. We have already spoken about the largest cake in the article about, but, as they say, repetition is the mother of learning - on May 15, 2005, pastry chefs from the American city of Las Vegas made the largest cake in the world for the centenary anniversary of the city's birthday, which weighed 59 tons ... 600 confectioners painstakingly worked on it, this giant was 31 meters long, 15 meters wide, and the height, unlike the previous record holder, was only 50 centimeters.

3. The longest cake ever made in the sweets world was baked by 80 chefs from China. The length of this stunning culinary masterpiece made of dark chocolate and vanilla was almost a kilometer (1068 meters), and its weight was about one and a half tons of sweet pleasure. The world's longest cake was displayed at the luxurious Pudong Shangri-la Hote in Shanghai.

4. The most expensive cake in the world: The sheikh from the United Arab Emirates was not originally going to set any world records for the cost of a cake, he was just looking for something unique for his daughter's birthday. The masterpiece was born when the sheikh turned to cake designer Debbie Wingham for help. The $ 75 million cake looks like a 1.8 meter fashion show catwalk. All models on this track and their outfits are edible. The main value of the cake is made up of placers of precious stones, including multi-colored diamonds worth $ 45 million.

5. The oldest cake in the world is considered to be a cake made in the century before last - in 1898. The 113-year-old cake was made for a wedding and was originally beautiful and white, but eventually dried out and turned brown because it was not stored properly. Until 1964, he decorated the window of a family bakery in London. The turbulent twentieth century left its mark on a long-liver among desserts - after a bomb explosion during World War II, a crack remained on the cake. Through her, experts were able to establish that the inside of the cake is still soft. Now the grandfather cake is kept in the museum, where it was donated by the daughter of the owner of the pastry shop.

Cake is an essential attribute festive table for a birthday, a wedding and almost a daily treat for those with a sweet tooth. The history of the emergence of famous cakes is no less interesting than the secrets of their preparation. Today we will definitely tell you about both.

The history of cakes, apparently, began when people began to grind grain, receiving flour. The first cakes were the most common baked cakes, which in their taste were more like plain bread than a sweet treat.

Cakes in the traditional sense of this concept originated with the arrival of cane sugar from India. Historians know for certain that Arab culinary experts have been preparing dessert dishes using milk, sugar, honey and spices. Similar delicacies in shape and taste were similar to modern cakes and, together with those known to this day oriental sweets gradually penetrated into Europe.

However, the most popular cakes were born in Central and Western Europe. Many people to this day have on their lips the names of such famous culinary experts as Franz Sacher, who invented the cake of the same name, Johann Konrad Vogel, who invented the Linz recipe, or Jozsef Dobosch, who gave the world the famous Dobosch.

Until the 19th century, the production of cakes was associated with manual labor. It was only after the invention of the hydraulic press that confectionery factories began to gradually replace human hands with all kinds of machines. Full-fledged factory production emerged only at the beginning of the 20th century, along with the general automation of all spheres of activity.

In Russia, the concept of "cake" did not exist for a long time. Since ancient times, Russian bakers have been preparing a loaf, which they put on the table for almost every holiday. Nevertheless, in our country there were many delicious recipes cakes, among which the most popular are: "Napoleon", "Medovik" and "Prague".

• At the end of 2010, Indian confectioners became famous for making the largest cake in the world. In its shape, it resembled the famous Taj Mahal hotel, it was about 6 m long and more than 4 m wide.
• The most expensive cake in the world costs $ 75 million. It was ordered by a Sheikh from the United Arab Emirates, who decided to give his daughter the best delicacy in the world for her birthday. It is a detailed cartoon replica of the runway for a fashion show, which is almost 2 meters long.
• "Choco-lime" is the most a tasty cake in the world. Traditionally, it is prepared for Valentine's Day or wedding, heralding the sweet life that awaits the couple in love.

Napoleon (1912, Russia)

The history of the origin of the domestic cake Napoleon dates back to 1912, when Moscow pastry chefs decided to bake a cake of the same name in honor of the centenary of the victory over Napoleon. Gradually, he gained such popularity that all the mistresses of the Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union, began to prepare their Napoleons.

Today, Napoleon is in the assortment of almost every major confectionery factory. Such popularity is due to incredible taste and ease of manufacture. In accordance with Soviet GOST cake preparation consists of rolling puff pastry, baking the cakes, kneading the Charlotte cream and shaping the treat itself.

Medovik (XIX century, Russia)

The origin story of the Honey cake is connected with the wife of Emperor Alexander I, who categorically refused to eat honey. One day, a young cook, who did not yet know about this prohibition, joined the court cooks. Having decided to surprise the august couple, the talented culinary specialist prepared a cake according to his grandfather's recipe. To everyone's surprise, Elizaveta Alexandrovna really liked this delicacy, who, upon learning about the composition of Medovik, not only did not get angry, but also decided to reward the talented young man.

In terms of popularity, Medovik can only be compared with Napoleon. The secret of cake preparation lies in the correct baking of the cakes, which are kneaded using thick, candied honey, previously melted in a water bath. Classic recipe involves the use sour cream, which gives the products a pleasant sourness that goes well with sweet cakes.

Sacher (1832, Austria)

The history of the Sacher cake brings us to the court of the Chancellor of the Austrian Empire Metternich. A young and talented culinary specialist, who has worked in the prince's kitchen since the age of 14, once surprised the guests with a dessert, which was chocolate cake with tangerine jam. Initially it was called "Black Peter", but the popularity of its author was so great that the original name was changed to "Sacher".

Today original cakes Sachers are produced only in Austria. Recipe includes cooking chocolate dough with the addition of whipped proteins, delicate tangerine jam. Then a cake is formed from ready-made cakes greased with jam and covered with chocolate-creamy icing.

Prague (1955, USSR)

The history of the Soviet cake Prague is connected with the eponymous Moscow restaurant, where the chef Vladimir Guralnik first prepared this delicacy. Today Prague is produced by many confectionery factories, retail chains and private confectioneries. However, a real cake prepared by professional pastry chefs original recipe, can only be purchased in the capital of the Czech Republic.

The cake consists of three layers formed on the basis of biscuit dough soaked in Prague cream consisting of butter, condensed milk, chicken yolks and cocoa. The main secret consists in settling the cakes smeared with cream for a day. During this time, they manage to be completely saturated with the cream, becoming soft and incredibly tasty. At the last stage, the cake is greased on the side with fruit and berry jam and poured with chocolate fondant.

There are countless more delicious cake recipes, authored by the greatest masters of their time. We will definitely tell you about them in the following publications.

Confectionery products accompany us through life. Their taste is familiar to everyone from early childhood. And the older we become, the more acutely the deficiency of the "hormone of happiness" is felt in the body, which is contained in cakes, caramel and other delicacies. That is why the overwhelming majority of people are sweet tooth, delighted with a pleasant meeting with cakes, sweets, chocolate, and other delicacies that have a long history.

By the way, did you know that the pastry chefs could have been called somewhat differently? After all, the word "pastry chef" comes from the Italian verb "candiere", which means "to cook in sugar." With him, with sugar, the confectionery business itself began. It was in Italy, in Venice, at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century that it arose and received the greatest development. And before that sweets were “supplied” to Europe by the Arabs, who had known sugar since 850. They are considered the most ancient pastry chefs in the world.

So, the accidental coincidence of the Italian verb with the Latin word "confectioner" (as the Romans called cooks!), That is, a master who cooks food, who knows how to give it a taste, and this explains the fact that Europeans in the 18th century began to mistakenly call the manufacturers of sweets not kandirs, but by pastry chefs or pastry chefs. Well, the cook has long been called by each nation in its own way.

Sweets have been a favorite of all time. It is believed that they were the first to be invented in Ancient Greece, but candies were spread in other countries of the world as well. For example, during archaeological excavations in Egypt, small sweets were found consisting of dates, honey and nuts. As the Egyptians themselves say, for the first time these ingredients were mixed completely by accident.

The word “candy” is translated from Latin as “prepared potion”. The first sweets appeared in ancient Egypt. Sugar was not then known and dates and honey were used instead. In the East, sweets were made from almonds and figs. In ancient Rome, nuts and poppy seeds were boiled with honey and covered with sesame seeds. In ancient Greece Apple juice, poured into metal saucers, evaporated in the sun, getting "toffee". In Russia, sweets were made from maple syrup, molasses and honey. In the modern world, the variety of sweets allows everyone to find a treat for every taste.

Candied fruits were the predecessors of sweets in Russia. Initially, this was the name of a type of dry (Kiev) jam - fruits and berries candied in honey. They are described in "Domostroy". In the XVII century. the word "candied fruit" came to us from the German language and gradually came into use. Then a new variety of sweets appeared - small sugar spherical products called dragees. This word is borrowed from French and means "delicacy".

In the 16th century, Europeans attributed magic and healing properties... When hopes were not justified, they began, on the contrary, to consider him the source of all troubles.

Quote from a letter from that time: “Dear friend, do not eat a lot of chocolate. And then one of my acquaintances ate it during pregnancy, and the child was born completely black. "

According to Casanova, chocolate arouses erotic feelings, and the Aztec ruler Montezuma drank several cups chocolate drink before going to your harem.

Some types of chocolate contain more vitamins A and B, iron, calcium and potassium than an apple, a glass of yogurt and a slice of cheese.

Chocolate contains chemicals that act like marijuana. Just to achieve this effect, you need to eat 5.5 kg.

The first cake appeared in Italy at the end of the 15th century.

The Italian phrase, which is equivalent to ours "They don't argue about tastes," sounds like "They don't argue about cakes."

Back in the 18th century, appeared good tradition ordering a cake from professional pastry chefs. The French were considered the legislators of the fashion for sweets, both then and today, which is why certain noble people, having the financial opportunity, ordered themselves birthday cakes not only from other cities, but even from other countries.

At that time, in France it was very prestigious to be a pastry chef, and in order to get an education, one had to have knowledge not only in the field of culinary, but also in a number of sciences. If you did not have the ability to sculpt and draw, it was not possible to get training with the professionals in the world of sweets. No matter how it sounds, the future confectioners necessarily attended the lessons of art history, architecture, modeling and drawing. Such scrupulousness in the approach to teaching and prohibitive high standards requirements for future specialists has become one of the reasons for the worldwide recognition of French masters.

Confectionery is based on the Three Whales. First of all, it is, of course, cooking sugar and sugar-like media, that is, molasses and honey. Next comes baking confectionery that contain and do not contain flour. Finally, cooking and casting various fillings and mixtures of chocolate, praline and marzipan type.

In 1715, for the speech from the throne, the French king Louis XV received a huge dish of sweets. This is understandable: Louis was at that time five years old and better way the chancellor did not find to show favor to the monarch.

Cake "Napoleon" was invented by Moscow pastry chefs in 1912 for the centenary of the expulsion of the French army from Russia.

The most famous sweets are pralines. The chef prepared them especially for the French ambassador to Germany. They were invented in 1663 in Germany and still hold sales records both at home and in Switzerland.

At the beginning of the 19th century, even the richest and noble ladies, being at receptions, secretly hid sweets in their reticules. Such obscene behavior was simply explained: in Russia there was no confectionery factories, and each pastry chef prepared candy for each dinner party own recipe, which was kept in the strictest confidence.

Belgium is not only the "brain" of Europe, but also the home of comics, the famous French fries and the pride of the Belgians - chocolates praline. Belgian master of chocolate and magician of taste Pierre Marcolini is considered the king of sweets in Brussels.

Marcolini's handmade chocolate masterpieces are not cheap - 200 grams of pralines cost at least 15-20 euros. The master adds thyme, citron, orange, licorice, pepper, basil to the chocolate, olive oil as well as a variety of perfume essences. Marcolini, who dreamed of becoming a chocolate maker since childhood, owns a small enterprise that produces exclusive chocolate. Several employees work for him, but the master does all the main work himself.

Marcolini oversees the entire process of making pralines - from grinding cocoa beans to making sweets. Unlike large producers who buy ready-made chocolate, Marcolini always travels to Madagascar himself and buys cocoa beans there. The tropical climate of Madagascar, according to Marcolini, is ideal for growing quality raw materials. Marcolini is not afraid to experiment, so he creates all the new combinations of chocolate with unusual fillings, for example, he adds tropical orchid flowers and ylang-ylang flowers to candies, bringing a person into a state of mild euphoria.

Sweets are a favorite treat for children and adults. The production of chocolates consists of several stages: making the filling, glazing, packing and packaging. Each type of sweets requires special conditions - the right temperature, a certain package.

In addition to records such as the tallest and longest cake, the Guinness Book of Records has a record for the oldest cake. He is now over a hundred years old. By chance, he found himself in the attic of an ordinary house in South Africa. Thanks to the abundant impregnation of cognac, this dessert has not yet deteriorated.

Today beautiful cakes decorate with confectionery mastic (especially a lot of it on children's cakes), such a plastic mass, by and large, consisting of icing sugar... It was invented back in the 16th century, and it was originally used to make small candies with nuts and dried fruits. Much later, somewhere in the middle of the last century, mastic began to roll out into thin sheets and decorate cakes with it, and it was also used to prepare figurines for decoration. Today, looking through some confectionery delights, you are generally amazed that this is a cake, it’s even a pity, everything is so beautiful and realistic.