Different Types of Cakes for Special Occasions

Cakes are a type of sweet that people do prefer having it on many occasions. It could be a birthday, it could be a marriage or marriage anniversary or it could be any other occasion. That all depends on the person prefers having it. Also, people do prefer having cake even without a reason or an occasion because they are in love with the taste of the cake.

Cake is somehow a resemblance of happiness. As most people bring it when they are trying to celebrate their happiness or the reason of happiness. It is time when they feel like enjoying or celebrating their happiness with others through cake.

Well, the cake is baked with sugar, flour and many other things depending on the preference of taste of the one who wants to have it. Like they can go for pineapple flavor cake, they can go for vanilla flavored cake, they can choose the butterscotch flavored cake, or they can take any other type of cake flavor depending on their taste.

Cake and Similar Types of Other Food Items

Pastries
Custards
Pies
Meringues

Let’s talk about Pastries:

It is just a smaller form of cake; it is a redefined type of cake. It is also a type of cake because it is also made with the same type of ingredients. There’s not much difference in the ingredients of both cake and pastry. Ingredients for pastries also include like, flour, sugar, milk, baking powder, butter, eggs, etc. There is not just one type of pastry, there are many. No any single shape could define a pastry because it has many types, shapes and of course tastes. People do have pastry in place of cake when they want to consume less or they do not need much of it. They just want to have taste of a cake in a single piece and so they choose pastry over cake. When they feel that big cake is more than enough for one person, they usually choose pastry over cake. It gives the taste of cake in the less quantity and there is no waste also.

Read Also:- Layered Chocolate Cake from Scratch

Let’s talk about Custards:

Well, it is a milk-based type of sweet. It is prepared from cream cooked with egg yolk to thicken the milk base. These are the usual ingredients for preparing a custard. In fact, when we talk about the addition of ingredients, it completely depends on the preference of the person who is going to have it. Sometimes people even add corn starch, flour, or gelatin to the preparation of custard. Some like it this way and others like it the other way. It completely depends on the taste and preference of the one who is going to have it. Well, custard also varies in its thickness and consistency (it could vary from a thin pouring sauce to the thick pastry cream). All this consistency and thickness variation depends on the person who is going to have it or the group of people who are going to have it. Not only the taste of custard or cake can vary but also the taste of any eatable can vary from its original taste as per the preference of the one who is going to have it.

Let’s talk about Pies:

Well, pies are a gift kind of thing that one can present to anyone. As they are baked in the same manner as a cake is baked. The only difference between a pie and a cake is that the cake does not have a filling and pies do have it depending on an individual’s preference. Filled pies can be of two types like sweet pies and savoury pies. Wherein, the sweet pies have a filling like, fruit, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, nuts, etc. The savoury pies have a filling like, eggs, meat, cheese, or a mixture of vegetables and meat. The dough of the pies are made with the same procedure as of pastry dough. The filling is the main thing that causes the difference in the taste. It tastes completely different.

Let’s talk about Meringues:

It is also a type of cake, a dessert or we can even say a type of candy. Well, the preparation of Meringues include ingredients like whipped egg whites, sugar. Whereas lemon, cream and vinegar are optional in its preparation. It is often associated with Italian, Swiss and French cuisine. People usually take it like cake or in the place of cake just to replace that big thing with this small and satisfactory thing in order not to waste the excess one. The cake is something that people usually take occasionally but they can have these meringues in place of cake anytime. As one can have cake no doubt, but they restrict themselves from purchasing cake for a single person and so they go for something like meringues. Well, they are small in size and almost same in taste.

All these above-written names are the other forms of cake. They are self-sufficient, tasty and smell so good that they can attract anyone. People usually do have these options as an alternative to the big cake, as just a single piece if pastry or meringues could make them have the same taste and in small amount and is going to be sufficient for them.

History of Cake

Well, cake has a big history in itself. It was earlier called “kaka”. Cakes usually were always baked which included ingredients like, milk, eggs, nuts, and honey. In earlier times cakes were just the modifications of bread, but today cakes come in many flavors, many shapes, many sizes, many forms, many tastes, many-storied as well like they could be double-storied, triple storied or multi-storied also. But earlier being the beginning of the cake era, cakes were just the modified version of bread and as the evolution charged up with the passage of time cake also started coming in completely different ways.

Cake was called by ancient Greeks as plakous which means ‘flat’. It was prepared with the traditional way of preparing cake just sugar, flour, honey, eggs, nuts, etc, other than that Greeks also had a cake called “satora” well that was a flat heavy cake. As the Roman period arrived they gave cake a different name called “placenta” which was taken from the Greek word. Placenta was baked on the pastry base or inside a pastry cake.

Greeks invented cheesecakes through goat’s milk. In ancient Rome, butter, honey and eggs were used to enrich basic bread to produce a cake-like baked sweetener. Also, it was mentioned by a poet Ovid in his first book of exile, Tristia on his brother’s birthday.

Earlier the cakes in England were essentially the bread and the very big difference between bread and cake was the flat and round shape of the cakes and obviously the cooking method.

The times of great depressions were in the need of easily made food to millions of economically depressed people in the United States. The first line of cake was established in the same era of great depressions where a company patented a cake-bread mix to deal with the economic situation.

Post-war boom, many of the other American companies came into the fight of producing cakes and it led a long story on the way which today serves the best of the cakes to its consumers or lovers or fans in multiple forms.

Types of Cakes:

Butter cakes
Yeast cakes
Coffee cakes
Chocolate cakes
Chiffon cakes
Baked flourless cake
Butter or Oil layer cakes
Sponge cakes
Vanilla cakes

Butter cakes-

Well, this cake involves the beating of sugar and butter combination for a long time that could incorporate air into the batter. All its ingredients include creamed butter, eggs, sugar, and flour etc. the main ingredient here is creamed butter. Baking powder also does much help in the preparation of cake and so it is involved in many cakes. The preparation sometimes so not involves creaming the butter just to prepare the simple type of cake which involves very less tantrums.

Yeast cakes-

Yes, these are very traditional types of cakes. They are very much similar to yeast bread and so are called yeast cakes. They are the oldest forms of cakes. They include pastries as babka and stolen.

Coffee cakes-

Well, these are called coffee cakes because they are to be served with coffee or tea in the morning usually at the time of breakfast people sometimes prefer having yeast in the cake as a leavening agent while sometimes they do go with the baking powder in place of yeast. These cakes often have a topping called streusel or a light glaze drizzle.

Chocolate cakes-

Fudge cakes are usually chocolate cakes they contain fudge. Chocolate cakes are sponge cakes, butter cakes, and many other flavored cakes that have melted chocolate or cocoa powder in them as main ingredient. Also the German chocolate cake is a type of chocolate cake.

Chiffon cakes-

Well these cakes have their own variety and tastes they have different taste from other cakes. They are the sponge cakes; they have vegetable oil in them, as vegetable oil adds moistness to the cake. That makes it different in taste from other cakes.

Baked flourless cakes-

These are from the ancient ages dating back to ancient Greek. Well these are flourless and are not actually cakes as they include cheesecakes in them; also these cheesecakes are not actual cakes. Yes, well that is pretty true that they have cakes in their name but still they do not come under the category of cakes. Cheesecakes are somewhat custard pies, as they have the filling of cheese in them or the filling of cheese cream in them and they have very little amount of flour in them. Well that is different because it has the base made completely of flour. These are the good to have cakes, these have different taste than usual cakes.

Butter or Oil layer cakes-

Finally, these are the cakes we usually have on our birthdays and also they include packaged cakes. Baking powder or bicarbonate of soda is used to lift moisture in the cake. Also these cakes includes many types of flavorings into them. They could be, banana bread, devil’s food cake and carrot cake. These are those cakes that come under the category of birthday cakes, marriage cakes, or any sort of occasional cakes like those cakes which are supposed to be used in some occasion for enjoying or celebrating the happiness. It also includes reasons other than birthday or marriage like celebrating one’s winning, having it when we crave for or celebrating one’s promotion at his/her work. There are many reasons, cakes just do not ask for holding any specific reason because you can have them even without any reason also just to satisfy your taste buds. Cake lovers do not ever bother about a reason behind having a craving for cake? They just have it!

Sponge cakes-

Well, these cakes are also termed as foam cakes. They include ingredients like sugar, whipped eggs and flour. Sponge cakes are the cakes that are coming back from ages, these are the cakes that are oldest they do not include yeast in them. The making of these cakes primarily rely on trapped air in a protein matrix, generally of beaten eggs, well it is so to provide the leavening also sometimes with the presence of a bit of baking powder in it.

Vanilla cakes-

Vanilla cakes are often called as 1-2-3-4 cakes. Well there are many types of cakes available in the market to have on birthdays or some other occasions but people usually go for vanilla cake as their first choice. It is popular since 19th century. No other cake could beat the taste of vanilla cake as people like to have it on their regular days. This is a cake that nobody can ever say no to.

Well the recipe to the cake is easy as well. The number 1-2-3-4 here refers to the quantities of the ingredients. That are about to be used in the preparation of the cake and they are like, 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour and 4 eggs are needed in the preparation of the cake. Its preparation is as easy as it seems.

Cakes according to the occasions

Wedding cakes
Birthday cakes
First communion cakes
Halloween cakes
Passover plava (a type of sponge cake even sometimes prepared from meat)

Wedding cakes-

Cakes usually do not need any type of occasion on the first go as its lovers do not need any type of occasion for having it. And so following the need there are different specified forms and types of cakes in the market, here we are talking about wedding cake, these cakes are especially prepared for wedding celebrations. They are specially ordered for the occasion they have such decoration on it which symbolizes love and the pair in it.

Birthday cakes-

Children always wait for their birthday to have cake. Cake makes them even more excited for their birthday. They find the cake even tastier when it is their birthday cake. Yes, cakes are specially been ordered for birthdays and they are specially been decorated for the birthday as per the demand of the customer. These cakes are different from the usual or the other type of cakes we have in the list.

First communion cakes-

Well, these are the cakes especially being prepared for the Christian tradition’s ceremony in which the person first receives the Eucharist (it is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches and as an ordinance in the other).

All the cakes are designed according to the occasion and need of the occasion, also as the customer demands.

Halloween cakes-

Here, Halloween is celebrated in many countries, it occurs on 31st October. It begins and continues for three days (the three days of observance of Allhallowtide) well it is the time of the liturgical year dedicated remember the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

These are the cakes specially designed and decorated for the Halloween celebration as per the party demands. May be somewhat decorated as the party calls off like in the scariest way. Just the way people get dressed for Halloween so the cake is designed for the party.

Passover plava-

Well, it is a type of sponge cake it is also sometimes prepared with meat. Well it is one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals, this celebration is traditionally done in Israel for seven and eight days among many Jews in the Diaspora. It is a major Jewish holiday that occurs in the spring month on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan.

All these above written names are some occasions on which these cakes are specially prepared. People either do make it on their own or they do order it for the occasion from the bakery shops. Many are mad about cakes that they wait for any occasion to have one, many go around and bring one even without waiting for any type of occasion, and many do go for an alternative offered like cake pastries, custard, meringues, pies, etc.

People just do not need reason for having a cake, who are in love with them. They just go to the shop and order one they like the most, else they just bake for themselves or for their family on their own.

Cake Decorations:

Cake decoration depends on what the occasion is? The decorators do opt one decorating style and bake the cake accordingly and then prepare one though the decorations needed according to the occasion.

Icing-

Types of frostings include, rolled fondant icing, lard, etc.

Frosting-

Frosting is usually prepared from powdered sugar, milk or cream, sometimes even with fat of some kind, flavorings are also added to the cake in frosting like of cocoa powder or vanilla extract.

Toppings (like sprinkles)

Well the decorators often use special types of tools to prepare special types of cake just to make them more complex. Tools include, various types of piping pips, various types of piping bags, syringes and embossing mats.

Through the use of these piping pips and his various techniques a cake decorator can make many designs in order to design a cake beautifully. It is all about art that the decorator or the cake maker has in him.

Earlier, or in the past all these things were nowhere seen because one never had assumed about something like this that says decoration of cake also needs this much attention, and art to explore. Earlier, it was just the piece of bread that was somewhat modified in a way that used to be round in shape a little bit different in shape than usual bread and different in taste. Nothing, much was focused on something like decoration of cake because nobody had expected that someday even cakes will too be decorated.

Now, is the time when one can do a lot with his/her art in the field of cake baking. They can come up with the talent of decorating cake. People appreciate this talent. They like more and more decorated and more complex decorated type of cakes to have. They pay for the talent with open art. As the talent today is really appreciable. We can see many-many types and styles of cakes available on the internet, in the market, people are ready to serve their customers with many different styles of cakes and so they are being paid.

We can take an example of the wedding cake, they make it like a big multi-storied cake, let’s call for 3 storied cake and is having a sugar or chocolate made statue of a pair of man and women standing in their respective wedding dresses in the middle of the top most storey of the cake. This seems extremely beautiful. Even the bride and the groom feel happier by having a look at such cake.

Cakes make one feel fresh and also one feels like having more and more of it, nobody ever feels like missing the chance of having it, even if it is just the one piece of cake or the whole cake. Go bake one and have it.