Chocolate Cake
Who can resist the rich allure of chocolate cake? Not many, unless you happen to be allergic to chocolate. One of the interesting things about the history of chocolate cake is that its creation was the catalyst for eating chocolate. The first chocolate cake was baked in 1674, ushering in a new love around the world for the sweet, delectable combination of cake and delicious chocolate.
Cake’s history exists long before someone thought of adding chocolate to the mix. Pre-chocolate cake, the dessert known as cake was made shortly after the discovery of flour - one of cake’s key ingredients. Cakes are generally made from different combinations of flour, sweetening, eggs, some form of shortening, milk, a leavening agent, and flavoring…like chocolate. Early cakes were almost interchangeable with bread, being described in medieval England as flour-based sweet foods alongside bread, which were simply flour-based foods without sweetening. Early cakes were actually closer to what we know today as biscuits or cookies, being smaller than bread and likely cooked on a hot stone before ovens became used for baking. Chocolate cake, of course, marked a major turning point in the history of cake, and now remains the most popular type of cake in nearly every part of the world.
Early American cooks on the East Coast considered cake, especially chocolate cake, a symbol of well-being. Each region of the country had a favorite recipe or type of cake. Over the years, the types of chocolate cake available have mounted, and there are hundreds - even thousands - of recipes for chocolate cake around the world. From family recipes to the secrets of professional chefs to popular cookbook confections, chocolate cake is everywhere.
