New Cake

Many different traditional foods have been seen to develop and branch out in history, with new styles, recipes, etc. Cake is no different. In recent years, many new forms of cake have gained popularity. Some of these are new, innovative recipes from creative chefs and some are variations on more traditional styles of cake.

In recent years, a phenomenon known as "Red Velvet Cake" has gained a lot of popularity, particularly in the US. Whether it be in the form of a cupcake or as a wedding cake, one cannot deny this cake's impact on the world of cake. Many agree that red velvet cake originally came from World War II. Around that time, foods were rationed, meaning bakers had to come up with new ways of making their cakes vibrant. One technique used to achieve this was to boil beat juices in order to enhance the colour of their cakes. This is a good example of how a cake recipe from a long time ago can be reinvented and thrive in today's competitive cake world.

Another example of a new, popular cake trend is "Cake Pops". Originally, cake pops we donut holes that were only ever a food eaten for breakfast. These were mainly served in two ways: glazed or coated with sweet toppings like chocolate glaze or in a cinnamon and sugar crumb. Later in the cake timeline, leftover (or sometimes stale) cake would be rolled into balls and repurposed as something similar to today's cake pops. The leftover cake would be crumbed and rolled into balls with icing or some other ingredient to bind it all together, which makes the cake denser and usually sweeter than normal cake. It would then be coated with something like chocolate.

My information on the history of cake pops came from: http://www.cakepopgallery.com/cake-pop-info/history-of-cake-pops.html

The Ingredients

In a previous post, I said that cake is in most cases made up eggs, milk, sugar, flour, baking powder and butter. But where do these things all come from? The geographical aspect of the ingredients is where they come from and who produces them.


Eggs:
In Ireland, eggs are produced by local farms. Female hens lay the eggs, then they are distributed to various places.


Milk:
Most cows are milked two times per day. The milk is stored and refrigerated (at four degrees celcius) for no more than fourty-eight hours. Then, the milk is collected and brought to a processing facility. Once it has been processed, it is sent out to shops.


Sugar:
Cane sugar is sent to a country where it can be refined. Firstly, the sugar crystals are immersed in a concentrated syrup that softens the crystals and removes the coating without dissolving them. Next, any and all impurities are removed from the sugar. Following this, the colour is removed. Finally, the last parts of the processing take place and the sugar is ready to be packaged and distributed.


Flour:
When flour was first used, it was made by grinding grain between stones. Today, a common method of making flour is by grinding grain using stones which are called stone mill. In Ireland, flour is made and distributed by several companies, an example being "Odlums".


Baking Powder:
Usually, baking powder is made up of baking soda, cream of tartar and corn starch. Baking powder is made by combining these core ingredients before they are packaged. Baking powder was first developed in the mid 1800's.


Butter:
Butter is made by beating cream until it becomes solid. Most companies who produce butter add various other things into it, but pure butter doesn't. Butter is produced by many Irish companies such as Kerry Gold.

My source of information about the production of refined sugar is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#Refining My source of information about the production of milk is: http://parmalat.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45&Itemid=222
My source of information about the production of flour is: http://howisitmade.org/how-is-flour-made/
My source of information about the production of baking powder is: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Baking-Powder.html
My source of information about the production of butter is: http://www.wisegeek.org/how-is-butter-made.htm

Introduction

Greetings, my name is Cian and I on this blog I will share with you the geography of cake. One can be forgiven for thinking that geography might not stem out as far as the exciting subject of cake, but I am here to show you how it does.

To start, what exactly is cake (other than the extremely delicious food commodity eaten mainly on special occasions and sometimes for breakfast)? Well, on a very basic level, cake is made up of eggs, milk, sugar, flour, baking powder and butter. This fact can be studied from a geographical perspective because of where all of these ingredients come from, who makes them, other ways they are used etc. Other ways that the subject of cake can be looked at geographically is where cake is popular, where cake is made and shipped to, etc.
The next post will go more in-depth into the interesting world of the geography of cake.