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Slice of life

Cake has a long, sweet history
From the chef | Search restaurants | Archives

October 17th, 2007 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
Sweet, sour and saucy: The lemon tart is the perfect way to finish a special meal.
 

Cakes have been around as long as humans have gathered in organized societies. Scholars have discovered patties of crushed oats in the remains of Neolithic villages. The word derives from a Viking term, and recipes from ancient Rome, sweetened with fruit or honey, still survive today.

Although they come in thousands of forms — gooey chocolate gateau, sheet cakes, fluffy angel food — most of the cakes we recognize today date from the 1650s on, when shaped molds and reliable ovens arrived in kitchens. By the 1700s, cooks were boiling sugar, egg white and other ingredients (such as lemon juice) to create rudimentary icing.
Modern conveniences in the 1800s such as baking powder, extra-fine flour and softer sugars turned baking from a time-consuming chore into an everyday occurrence. Later, cake mixes and ovens that maintained a constant temperature made it easy.
Still, cake made “from scratch” should not be a daunting task.
This lemon-cake recipe combines the age-old essentials of cake: flour, fat (in the form of butter), eggs and fruit. It is a very forgiving dessert — simple yet pleasing, and perfect for the novice baker.
Jerome Lorieux is chef at La Provence, located at Štupartská 9, Prague 1–Old Town. Tel. 296 826 155.

LEMON CAKE

(Serves 8)
Ingredients:
500 grams (1.1 pounds) flour
200 grams butter
400 grams cream
2 kilograms lemons
12 eggs
300 grams sugar

Preparation:
Mix flour, two eggs and 50 grams sugar and work the dough.
Rest the dough for an hour in refrigerator.
Roll the dough to make a 5-millimeter (0.2-inch) thick cake.
Place rolled dough into a cake pan and bake for one hour at 160° C (320° F)
Beat 10 eggs and 250 grams sugar into until foamy.
Squeeze juice from all lemons.
Pour the cream and lemon juice into a pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Still stirring, add cream and lemon juice mixture to the egg foam.
Spread this mixture on the cake and return to oven, baking for another hour at 95° C.
 


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