Cake: A Global History (Edible)

Be it a birthday or a weddinglet them eat cake. Encased in icing crowned with candles emblazoned with congratulatory wordscake is the ultimate food of celebration in many cultures around the world. But how did cake come to be the essential food marker of a significant occasion? In Cake: A Global History Nicola Humble explores the meanings legends rituals and symbolism attached to cake through the ages. Humble describes the many national differences in cake-making techniques customs and regional historiesfrom the French gteau Paris-Brest named for a cycle race and designed to imitate the form of a bicycle wheel to the American Lady Baltimore cake likely named for a fictional cake in a 1906 novel by Owen Wister. She also details the role of cake in literature art and filmincluding Miss Havishams imperishable wedding cake in Great Expectations and Marcel Prousts madeleine of memoryas well as the art and architecture of cake making itself. Featuring a large selection of mouthwatering images as well as many examples and recipes for some particularly unusual cakes Cake will provide many sweet reasons for celebration.