Cakes
Cake is a baker's confectionery made by combining flour with a liquid, a fat or both, and usually with a leavening agent. Cakes are usually baked, but can be griddled. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
The most common ingredients include flour, sugar, eggs, fat (such as butter, oil, or shortening), and a leavening agent (such as baking soda or baking powder). Common additional ingredients include dried, candied, preserved or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and flavor extracts such as vanilla, with numerous substitutions possible. Cakes can also be flavored with fruit preserves, nuts, or dessert sauces (like custard, jelly, cooked fruit, whipped cream, or syrups), covered with icing or frosting, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or candied fruit.
Cake is often served as a celebratory dish on ceremonial occasions, such as weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays. There are countless cake recipes; some are bread-like, some are rich and elaborate, and many are centuries old. Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure; while at one time considerable labor went into cake making (particularly the whisking of egg foams), baking equipment and directions have been simplified so that even the most amateur of cooks may bake a cake.
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