From the moment we choose a recipe to prepare at home or even when we order the dessert in the restaurant after lunch, in the middle of a busy day, full of deadlines and meetings that seem to have no end. The cake is that food that accompanies you on a break, often in pairs with freshly brewed coffee, which perfumes the environment. In addition to sugar, flour, eggs, butter, yeast, cakes also bring affection. In such hard times, it’s an increasingly necessary pleasure.
The first records of something that would refer us to a cake come from Ancient Egypt. A kind of sweetened bread, with fruits and jams, made up the table of Egyptian society. Other sources also point to the Roman Era as the cradle of cakes, which were named for the round shape, similar to a “ball”. And, going further, we also have the presence of food on the abundant tables of the 16th-century European nobility, inaugurating the art of confectionery, with decorated cakes, with more than one layer, such as the emblematic royal wedding cakes.
The importance of cake in our life
The word “cake” encompasses a multitude of recipes and combinations of ingredients, often resulting in sweet food. Chemically analyzed, sugar activates in us serotonin, the hormone responsible for mood and well-being. It’s as if, when we savor that incredible slice of pie with chocolate and red fruits, we were invaded by a wave of joy, the kind that takes anyone off the bad trip (even if only momentarily).
Over time, cakes became accessible to everyone, thanks to the industrialization of food. This is very interesting information, especially if we cross with our history, taking into account the customs in different regions of India. The traditional cakes in our country take into account the supply of inputs (Pineapples, orange, chocolate, for example) as well as the influences of the people who have passed through here (Portuguese, Western, and Persian). Food is also the materialization of a historical cut, which passes from generation to generation, and this is very magical!
Why do we love homemade cakes so much?
The offer of cakes on the market shelves is large. It is aimed at the consumer who doesn’t have time to cook or doesn’t have many skills with the kitchen. In addition to the online cake order in Chennai, the famous ready-to-eat mixes, which have been gradually changing their position to a proposal “with a taste of grandma’s cake”. We live in a paradox: at the same time that life is rushed and we cook less and less, either because of fatigue or because we prioritize other activities, we are constantly encouraged by reality shows and TV talk shows to cook our own food. And, in order not to carry so much guilt, we surrendered to the hybrid “homemade cake made in the shop”. That cake that is present at the meeting of friends, on birthdays for the closest, in the firm’s cafe. Perhaps this explains the explosion of cake houses across the country.