National Cake Decorating Day

October 10th is National Cake Decorating Day in the United States.

Cake decorating is the process of making a cake more interesting. It is a sugar art that uses icing, frosting or other decorative elements, though it can also be applied to moulding the cake itself into a three-dimensional item, which would normally then be decorated.

Cake decorations can be purchased in shops as food-safe plastic, but true cake decorations will be made from edible material. These can be made from gum paste, fondant and modelling chocolate, which are sculpted into shape. Piped decorations will be made using royal icing, which is pied directly onto a cake or onto something like greaseproof paper for later attachment using an icing bag.

Decorated cakes are most commonly seen for special occasions, with birthdays being one, though the most elaborately decorated cakes are usually seen at weddings. A whole range of decorations from simple to complex can be used to enhance the visual appeal of a cake.

Image: Gandydancer / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

National German Chocolate Cake Day

June 11th is National German Chocolate Cake Day in the United States.

What is the difference between a German chocolate cake and a normal chocolate cake? This is a specific type of chocolate cake and, despite the name, it isn't from Germany - it's from the United States. The cake is actually named after Sam German, rather than the country, who created the type of dark baking chocolate that is used in the recipe, and it was originally known as German's chocolate cake. The baking chocolate itself, created for the Baker's Chocolate Company, was called Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate.

A German chocolate cake is a layered cake which is filled, and possibly topped, with a caramel made from egg yolks and evaporated milk, that has coconut and pecans stirred in. Chocolate frosting and maraschino cherries are also sometimes added.

Image: Tracy Hunter from Kabul, AfghanistanTracy Hunter from Kabul, Afghanistan / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

National Applesauce Cake Day

June 6th is National Applesauce Cake Day in the United States.

Even though it has what might sound to be a rather odd name, applesauce cake is exactly what it sounds like; a cake made with apple sauce (or applesauce). Applesauce is a purée made from apples and is frequently spiced. The apples are cooked down with water, or possibly fresh apple juice. Different varieties of apples create different types of purée.

Other than having apple sauce adding to the cake mix, this is otherwise a pretty standard type of sweet cake, and there are, naturally, many different recipes for making it. Raisins are a common ingredient. The cake dates back to colonial U.S., and was a popular recipe in the first have of the 20th century. It is sometimes served as a coffee cake; this being the coffee cake that is intended to be eaten with coffee, rather than the coffee cake that is flavoured with coffee.

Image: John Fladd from New Boston, NH, United States / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

National Angel Food Cake Day

National Angel Food Cake Day is on October 10th in the United States.

Angel food cake is so named because of how light it is, which made it "food of the angels". The cake is an American variant of the sponge cake that dates back to the late 19th century, when the first recipes were being published in cookbooks. This apparently included the first cookbook by a Black American woman.

The cake is made from egg whites, which are whipped until they are stiff, with cream of tartar added to the mix. The rest of the ingredients are then folded in, which in a basic cake is just flour, preferably wheat. The resulting cake then has a very light texture, as there is no fat used in the standard recipe. The cake is usually cooked in a specific angel food cake pan, which has a tube in the centre.

Once the cake is baked, it may then be covered in such things as a frosting, glaze or a fruit sauce. Some modern chefs have added spices to the mix.

National Sponge Cake Day

National Sponge Cake Day falls on August 23rd in the United States.

Sponge cakes have an aerated structure resembling that of a natural sponge, hence the name. They are made from flour, sugar and eggs and are sometimes leavened. The two methods for making a sponge cake are the batter method - sponge cakes made like this are known as pound cakes in the US - and the foam method. The foam method uses little, if any, in the way of fat and are leavened by beating air into the mix rather than by the use of a leavening agent. The oldest known sponge cake recipe dates back to the early 17th century to an English book.

Sponge cakes, whilst being quite a simple dish, are rarely left like that. They are made into layer cakes, such as the Victoria sponge (named after Queen Victoria) which is a layer cake where the sponge is cut into two and a layer of raspberry jam and cream is sandwiched between the two layers. Other ingredients and flavourings can be added to the mix. They can also be glazed and iced, and are increasingly popular as celebration cakes, replacing the traditional fruit cake. It is not uncommon to find them being used for birthday and even wedding cakes. Even sponges that do not have icing or a glaze added to the outside will often be dusted with icing sugar.

National Raspberry Cake Day

July 31st is National Raspberry Cake Day in the United States.

A raspberry cake will encompass pretty much any cake that has been made with raspberries. Cakes are, these days, normally sweet baked desserts that are related to bread, although in the past this was not the case. Determining whether a dish is a cake, bread or pastry, though, can be more of a matter of opinion.

Raspberries are an edible fruit, of which there are a number of different varieties, with the red Eurasian raspberry being one of the most common, and certainly one that many people will picture when thinking of the fruit.

A raspberry cake could be made using whole raspberries or preserved ones. Raspberries, in the form of jam, could be used in a sponge cake to separate two layers of sponge. The fruit could also be added to the cake mix directly; for example, by blending the fruit into the cake mix, which will cause the raspberries to permeate the cake and will often give it a pinkish-red colouration. Alternatively, the raspberries could simply be used to decorate the top of a cake. The raspberry cake is therefore quite a versatile creation.

National Hazelnut Cake Day

National Hazelnut Cake Day is on June 1st in the United States.

Another one of the more specific days, this one is celebrating just what it sounds like - hazelnut cake, or a cake made with hazelnuts.

Cakes can be made into hazelnut cakes by simply adding hazelnuts to the recipe. These would usually be chopped, but alternatively hazelnut flavouring or paste (paste is commonly used in confectionery) could be used to simply flavour the cake, perhaps with hazelnut pieces used to decorate it. The precise way in which they are used will differ depending on the recipe, but one thing they will all have in common is that they will have hazelnuts in them somewhere.

Hazelnuts, like so many things with "nut" in the name, are not botanical nuts, but are culinary nuts. They come from the hazel tree and, like so many nuts - whether true or culinary - are a good source of nutrients, and are rich in protein and unsaturated fat.

National Macaroon Day

National Macaroon Day is on May 31st in the United States.

First, what are macaroons? Well, they are a small, circular cake that have been made since at least the 19th century - there is a recipe for one in the classic book on Victorian housekeeping, Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.

The cakes are named after almond paste, as ground almonds are the traditional ingredient for the cake, macaroon deriving from the Italian word "maccarone" which means "paste." Other ingredients are used in the basic recipe, such as egg white and sugar, but the almonds themselves may also be replaced, or used in combination with other ingredients.

This is a cake that has many regional varieties. Coconut is another popular ingredient in some variations, as is chocolate, and other nuts such as cashews are also used.

National Devil's Food Cake Day

May 19th is National Devil's Food Cake Day in the United States.

This cake is considered to be the opposite to Angel Food Cake. The latter is light and airy, whilst devil's food cake is anything but.

This is essentially a moist, rich and chocolate layer cake. What is supposed to be the difference between an ordinary chocolate cake and a devil's food cake is that the latter contains more - perhaps a lot more - chocolate flavour than the former does.

Even though it is at base a chocolate cake, it usually, rather than chocolate, uses cocoa in the ingredients instead of chocolate. Coffee is also a common addition and it can be given a darker colour by using baking soda in the mix. For an even greater chocolate indulgence, melted chocolate may be used as well as the cocoa. For yet more chocolate, the cake may then have a chocolate frosting.

National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day

National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day is on April 20th in the United States.

Upside-down cakes are pretty much what they sound like - cakes that are upside down.

The cake mixture is made as normal but, before it is poured into the pan in which is is cooked, chopped fruit is placed in the base. Then the mixture is poured on top of the fruit. This means that, once the cake is cooked and removed from the pan, the chopped fruit is now on the top of the cake as a decorative topping.

In pineapple upside down cake, the fruit that is used is, of course, pineapple. Pineapple (which is actually a multiple fruit comprised of many berries) is skinned and, usually, sliced when it is used. The pineapple upside-down cake is a traditional American dish.

National Coffee Cake Day

National Coffee Cake Day is on April 7th in the United States.

The name "coffee cake" is not quite as clear cut in its description as it sounds, as there are a couple of different things that are called coffee cakes. The first is any cake designed to be eaten on a coffee break and, therefore, with a drink of coffee at a coffee table. Although both coffee and table may be altered. This could in theory be any type of cake, but it tends to be loaf shaped single layer cakes which are sliced.

The second type, and the one that this day refers to, is the more obvious sort of coffee cake - that is a cake that is flavoured with coffee or that is made with coffee. Again, this could describe a wide range of cakes, but they will all taste of coffee. Sponge cakes are popular for flavouring like this, but there are many different types and shapes.

National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day is on March 29th in the United States.

Lemon chiffon cake is a type of chiffon cake that has, not surprisingly, been flavoured with lemons.

Chiffon cake itself is a light cake - chiffon is a lightweight fabric - that can be made in different flavours. The base ingredients are baking powder, flour, eggs, vegetable oil and sugar. The vegetable oil is used instead of the butter used in other cakes, which means the texture of the cake is created by beating egg whites until they are stiff and folding them into the rest of the batter. This is a very moist cake.

Chiffon cake was first created in the 1920s - making it one of the more modern recipes - by Harry Baker, who kept the recipe secret for twenty years before selling it, to General Mills.

National Black Forest Cake Day

March 28th is National Black Forest Cake Day in the United States.

Black Forest cake, which is also known as Black Forest gâteau, is a cake that bears the name of the German Black Forest region, which is called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte or "Black Forest cherry-torte." It is actually named after the cherry liqueur from that region.

This dessert is a layered chocolate cake. Between the layers are whipped cream and cherries. The cake is also decorated with yet more whipped cream, maraschino cherries and chocolate shavings. Sour cherries and the cherry liqueur kirsch are also optionally used, depending on the recipe used. The kirsch will be found in more traditional European recipes.

It is not known when this dessert originated, or even definitely where, but it seems to be quite a new dish. The earliest reference to it is in Berlin in the 1930s, although claims have been made making the dish older.

National Pound Cake Day

National Pound Cake Day is on March 4th in the United States.

The "pound" in pound cake refers to the unit of weight, and how much of the ingredients are used. The cake itself is believed to have originated in northern Europe in the early 18th century, although the recipe has changed a bit over time.

In the traditional Southern American style pound cake, there are four main ingredients: sugar, butter, eggs and flour. One pound of each ingredient is used in the mix, although, for both smaller and larger quantities, the same dessert will still be created as long as the 1:1:1:1 ratio of ingredients is maintained - it will just be either smaller or larger.

Other ingredients may be used, such as flavourings, and different countries can have their own variations on the recipe.

The cake will normally be cooked in either a Bundt mould or a loaf pan. Once cooked, it may then be dusted with sugar, glazed or iced.

National Carrot Cake Day

February 2nd is National Carrot Cake Day in the United States.

Given that carrots are a vegetable - and not one that is merely treated like a vegetable, but one that actually is - rather than a fruit, they may seem an odd choice to make a cake from, and one that is a sweet dessert cake.

Carrot cakes are made from mixing carrot in with a batter which results in a cake rather like a quick bread. The baking process softens the carrot and the resulting cake is moist and will keep longer than most. The cake itself is usually glazed or topped with something, rather than plain. Other ingredients may be added to the cake too.

The reason for using carrots is sugar. The portion of the carrot eaten, the orange taproot, stores a lot of sugar. In fact, carrots have one of the highest percentages of sugar of any vegetable. Sugar beet has more, and that vegetable is grown for its sugar content. Consequently, carrots are very sweet and the sugar is what makes them a suitable ingredient in a sweet cake.

National Chocolate Cake Day

National Chocolate Cake Day is on January 27th in the United States.

Chocolate cake is what it sounds like - a cake made with chocolate, although other ingredients can also be used, especially those that can be used between layers of the cake and to glaze the outside or top of it. In most chocolate cakes, these extras tend to use cream, or more chocolate.

Although chocolate has been around since the 18th century and it became much less expensive in the 19th century as processes for extracting  the required ingredients from cacao beans improved, chocolate cake itself is a rather more recent creation. The ability to make chocolate cakes improved by the end of the nineteenth century, but recipes were still mostly for chocolate drinks.

Cake mixes to make chocolate cake at home were introduced in the 1930s and by the end of the century various "death by chocolate" cakes became popular. Today it is possible to get a wide range of different cakes, some of which contain no flour at all.

National Cupcake Day

December 15th is National Cupcake Day in the United States.

The cupcake, also known as the fairy cake (which is actually a variant with a "wing" made from the top of the cake) and cup cake, is a small, individual cake that dates back to at least the late 18th century in a recipe in which the capes were baked in small cups - hence the name. Today, baking cupcakes in cups is no longer necessary, as there are baking trays and other implements designed specifically to cook them in, with muffin tins being one of the most commonly used.

They shouldn't be confused with the other cup cake which are named after the measurement of ingredients by volume (a common trait in American recipes), namely cups.

Cupcakes have an advantage over normal cakes in that they are easier to cook evenly and quicker to cook. There is also no problem with cutting them into slices - one cupcake is one portion.

There are a wide variety of different cupcakes, from the most basic to the most extravagant. Modern cupcakes shops and stalls, which typically sell only cupcakes, can practically make them into works of art.

National Fruit Cake Month

December is National Fruit Cake Month in the United States.

This seems like quite a logical month to be celebrating fruit cake, or fruitcake, as it is also known. Christmas cake, a festive cake eaten in December, is probably one of the most popular types of fruitcakes - although Christmas cake is not, strictly speaking, a type of cake, as the ingredients used to make it can vary. Christmas cakes are frequently iced. Fruitcakes have been around for centuries; the oldest known fruitcake recipes originate in ancient Rome.

Fruitcakes are cakes that are popularly eaten at various celebrations, such as Christmas, but they are also a popular, traditional wedding cake. Whilst wedding celebrations can, and do, occur throughout the year, Christmas is only celebrated at, well, Christmas.

A fruitcake is pretty much what it sounds like - it's a cake made from fruit. The fruit used in fruitcakes tends to be candied, dried or both, and other ingredients include such as chopped nuts, alcohol and spices, which are added to the mixture. The resulting cake is often quite rich.

Although fruitcakes can be rich, this is not always true. There are many different variations of fruitcakes, and some countries make cakes that are actually quite light, whilst others have cakes that are moist and rich. In the UK, fruitcakes can cover a range, with Christmas cakes tending to be at the rich, dark and moist end of the spectrum. US fruitcakes are often similar to the richer British types, containing lost of fruit and nuts, but rarely contain alcohol.

National Brownie Day

National Brownie Day is on December 8th in the United States.

This is a celebration of the baked good, also known as the chocolate brownie, rather than the mythical creature. Not that you'd really want to eat the mythical being.

Brownies are flat baked squares or bars that first came to being in the US in the late 19th century. It's not known specifically how they came to be created - or rather, it may be, but there are three different versions, and it isn't known which of them, if any, might be true.

Brownies are made with chocolate (the type that isn't is known as a blondie) but they can have other ingredients added to them too, such as nuts, chocolate chips and cream (which can create a marbled texture) to name a few. They can be eaten as-is, as an accompaniment to a hot drink such as coffee, and are also a popular dessert, warmed and served with ice cream.

Brownies are sometimes considered to be cakes, other times to be cookies (or biscuits). In the UK, this is an important distinction, as cakes are zero-rated for VAT, whilst biscuits are not.

National Cake Day

November 26th is National Cake Day in the US.

What is cake? Such a generic word it is. Nowadays, cake is normally refers to a baked dessert that is similar, in many ways, to bread. Cakes date back centuries, although the name is not quite as old. Early cakes were fried breads and cheesecakes - cheesecakes, despite the name, would rarely be considered to be a type of cake today, as in fact they are really a type of pie.

There are many different types of cakes, with some broad categories. There are the aforementioned cheesecakes, sponge cakes - which are very common - and butter cakes such as devil's food cake.

Fruitcakes are also a popular type, especially when celebrating certain things, such as weddings or Christmas with the Christmas cake. There are many different ingredients that can be added, too.

Some cakes may be left as-is, being essentially a sweet bread that is sliced, which may then be toasted or buttered. Glazes, frostings and icing are all popular decorations, Some cakes, such as the Victoria sponge, may be sliced and filling added between the layers, making a layer cake.