Today I wanted to bring you joy with the history of the main dessert to the table - I'll tell you about the CAKE !!! After reading this article, you will learn the history of the appearance of the cake, what cakes were like in past centuries, and you will also find out what was the first, a cake or pastries.

The history of the origin of cakes, according to historians, began two thousand years ago. Of course, the exact date remained unknown, but thanks to the cunning Greeks, FLOUR began to be included in the first cakes - archaeologists found small cakes during excavations, which included crumpled wheat grains. Surprisingly, the grains were first moistened and then boiled. The recipe for the first cakes included such products as honey, eggs, nuts, milk, various flavors. It is noteworthy that fruits were added after baking.

There are different versions in history as to where the cake was invented and who was the first chef who brought cakes to our table. Let's look at each of these versions separately.

So, Pharaoh Pepionkh lived in the East, who lived in Egypt in 2200 BC. So, this pharaoh, apparently, during his lifetime was a great sweetheart, that after the death of Pepionkh, something was put in his tomb that was served to his table as a dessert. This something could rightly be called a cake, and the oldest cake in the world!!!

But where did the word CAKE come from? According to linguists, cake in Italian means something intricate and ornate, which is associated with various decorations cake - from ornaments to flowers, from inscriptions to figures. According to another version of historians, the first cake appeared in Italy. In favor of this version, there are such details. Firstly, we say "there is no arguing about tastes", and the Italians in such cases pronounce this proverb as "there is no arguing about cakes". Secondly, as I wrote above, the word CAKE has Italian origin. Thirdly, in Italy a confectioner is called TORTAIO - a cake maker.

In ancient times, when cakes were prepared, the dough was kneaded with yeast. Later, for the purpose of sourdough, they began to be used regular eggs. But the molds for baking cakes were simple - they were used as a form, regular saucepan without a bottom, having a round shape. Later, these pans were improved, a bottom appeared in them. So there was a form for baking, which is used in our time by housewives.

Another important improvement was the introduction of the use of baking soda for the dough, or the so-called baking powder, which included soda. It is interesting that once in Europe the words bread and cake easily replaced each other, were close in meaning.

It is a pity that the name of the first chef who invented the cake did not enter the history. But on the other hand, we can say with confidence that French chefs introduced the fashion for the cake. In France, cakes appeared in cafes and small coffee houses and became available to customers. It is noteworthy that French chefs have dictated the fashion for cake decoration, table setting and much more for centuries.

Now let's determine what happened before, cake or pastries? According to William Pokhlebkin, a well-known author cookbooks, the word cakes is: " Russian name confectionery, which are either various cakes, cut into small equal rectangles, or specially prepared cookies with a creamy spread or filling.

Here is a story about a cake. Friends, tell us which cake you like first of all. And yet - what kind of cakes is customary to cook in your family. Cake recipes are welcome.

The history of the cake

The cake belongs to those dishes, the age of which is not exactly known. Historians, with the support of linguists, believe that the first cakes appeared about 2000 years ago in Italy, since the word "cake" in Italian means something ornate, intricate and richly decorated.

There is also a version that cakes could not have appeared anywhere else but in Greece - on its territory, pies decorated with drawings and applications from ground and boiled grains were found. According to another version, it is believed that only in the East, with their sweets known at all times, could appear complicated recipes cakes that can make even a sophisticated gourmet bow before their exquisite taste and captivating aroma. The followers of this idea found out that the ancient culinary specialists of the most mysterious part of the world prepared desserts using milk, honey and sesame seeds. Yes, and in shape they resembled those cakes that we used to see on our tables.

But be that as it may, today France is considered the trendsetter in the world of cakes, although not French, but German, Austrian and Russian cakes are widely known. It was French chefs and confectioners who for many centuries dictated the trends in serving and decorating this sweet masterpiece. It was in France that something appeared, without which modern cakes would be impossible - meringue, cream, caramel, jelly and biscuit.

In Russia, the concept of cake for a long time did not exist, but there were wedding loaves - the most festive and fancy pies. Such loaves were called "bride's pies". "Bride's Pie" was made only round shape. This is also due to the fact that our ancestors put a certain meaning into this form. The circle symbolized the sun, which means well-being, health and fertility. wedding loaf was richly decorated with various braids, braids and curlicues. Sometimes figures were placed in its center, which denoted the newlyweds: the bride and groom. It was customary to serve the pie at the very end of the celebration; it served as a kind of sign for the guests.

Since the 17th century in Europe, two cakes have been required at weddings - one for the bride, the other for the groom. The main difference between the bride's cake was that a glass ring was baked into it, it was believed that the girl who found the ring in her piece would soon get married. The groom's cake was decorated more modestly than the bride's cake (by the way, then a tradition was already formed to make the wedding cake or the bride's cake white color, symbolizing purity and purity), but was much larger in size. Most often it was the usual fruit pie. The groom's cake was cut into pieces in advance, placed in white boxes, tied with a white or silver ribbon, or simply written with the initials of the newlyweds and folded near the exit. Guests, dispersing home, could take such boxes with them to pass on to those who could not attend the wedding celebration, or eat them themselves the next morning.

In England, the cake remained rather modest until the 17th century, in the form of a cake with candied fruits and nuts. And only in the 18th century at the weddings of the European aristocracy began to be popular tiered cakes. The multi-story wedding cake is believed to have been invented by a London grocer. He really wanted to create something out of the ordinary, but he could not think of anything until he noticed the dome of St. Bride's Church in Fleet Street.

Record-breaking cakes

The longest cake was made by Peruvian chefs. Its length was two hundred and forty-six meters. It was decorated with an abundance of candied fruit and cream roses. Then it was divided into fifteen thousand pieces and treated to all the children of Peru who celebrated their birthday this month.

Russia also did not stay away from sweet records. Most a big cake confectioners made for the birthday of the most famous department store in Moscow GUM. The cake was decorated huge amount jam and marzipan. Its height, which was recorded by invited experts from the administration of the Guinness Book of Records, was three meters, and its weight was three tons.

Origin of cake names

Over time, preferences for cakes among residents of the whole world acquired their own traditions. So in Hungary guests will certainly be treated famous cake"Esterheis". France loves open fruit cakes Tarte Tatin. In Switzerland holiday tables are inconceivable without carrot and cherry cake, in which they put cherry kernels for piquancy. Sweden is proud of two cakes at once - "Apple" and "Swedish air", decorated with whipped cream. Austria is the country of the "Linz Cake" with red currant filling - the cake is named after the city and is good because it can be stored for a very long time. There is no cake with the Russian name "Anna Pavlova" in Russia, they know how to cook it only in New Zealand. In 1926, a Russian ballerina toured there. She impressed the New Zealanders so much that they came up with a cake as airy and light as Anna Pavlova herself.
A rather strange cake is offered to be tasted in Spain. It is called Tarta de bellota. Once a tourist from Russia asked the waiter what this cake was made of. Judging by the taste, it included honey and poppy seeds. However, there were no black poppy dots in the biscuit. The waiter said it was from pig food. The puzzled tourist asked for the recipe. It turned out that the waiter called acorns "feed for pigs".
Despite the name, you will not find nuts in the Italian biscuit “Nutty”. It is stuffed with white crushed beans. Real nuts are rarely found in “branded” cakes, except that in Portugal almonds are added to absolutely all cakes.
Now let's dwell in more detail on the origin of the names of cakes. And, of course, you should start with the king of cakes.
NAPOLEON. Famous layer cake or a cake with a cream layer. Under the name "millefeuille" (millefeuille - "1000 layers") is known in France and Italy, in the UK it is called "vanilla slice" (vanilla slice), and in the USA and Russia as "Napoleon". His recipe appeared at the end of the 17th century.
When layers of history, time and dates are layered on this or that dish, it is difficult to reliably determine how one was born cooking masterpiece and how it became popular. Napoleon is no exception. There are a lot of versions - from romantic and sentimental to philosophical and ordinary ...
They say that when Napoleon became the sole ruler of France, he bathed in glory, was surrounded by a halo of heroism. Stormy secular and social life always had one exception: Bonaparte celebrated Christmas only with close people. On Christmas Eve of the frosty year 1800, the emperor called his cook: “On this holiday, Josephine de Beauharnais will be next to me. Dinner must be amazing. I don’t care what you cook, but be sure to include green Marengo chicken on the menu and something great for dessert - ladies love sweets, it would be nice if you could impress Josephine. Smiling, the cook retired to the kitchen. For dinner, Napoleon was served green meat and a cake: on top of the delicacy was decorated powdered sugar, the cakes were generously smeared with cream, but the sides were left open, showing many layers. The emperor frowned and asked the cook what that meant. Lagoupier replied:
- Life is cyclical, events change each other, but repeat what has already happened ... We must always remember them - this is the main thing in life.
So the cake "Napoleon" became a philosophical dish.
In Russia, its appearance is associated with 1912, when the centenary of the victory over the Napoleonic troops was widely celebrated, and a number of new dishes were invented. "Napoleon" was originally a cake triangular shape by analogy with the cocked hat of Bonaparte, the best minds of confectioners who serve at the homes of aristocrats worked on this miracle of cooking. Subsequently, the cake became a rectangular cake.
BIRD'S MILK. The phrase "bird's milk" is found in the myths and legends of many countries. This is an allegorical designation of something unattainable-beautiful.
If "Napoleon" became a cake made of brownies, then "Bird's milk" has come a more interesting way - it has become a cake made of sweets. This soufflé cake, covered with chocolate icing, today it has many types - creamy, coffee, chocolate, with two cakes and with one. They invented it in Russia. The first experimental batches bird's milk” have been produced since 1968 at the Rot-Front factory.
PRAGUE. Cake "Prague" consists of three cake layers soaked in "Prague" cream, and topped with chocolate fudge. Cake layers are baked from biscuit dough with the addition of soft butter and cocoa powder. The cream consists of butter, chicken yolks, cocoa and condensed milk. After soaking the cake for a day in the refrigerator, the top cake and side surfaces are smeared with fruit and berry jam (usually apricot), covered with glossy chocolate fondant and decorated with cream or chocolate chips. In many recipes chocolate fudge due to the complexity of preparation, they are replaced with a simpler chocolate icing. The Czechs themselves, without regret, add dark rum to this cake, soak the cakes with four types butter cream, which are prepared on the basis of cognac and Chartreuse and Benedictine liqueurs, pour thick chocolate icing on top of the cake. The taste is extraordinary.
Kyiv. The heyday of the popularity of the Kyiv cake fell on the days of the USSR. We came up with this airy nutty cake in Kievskaya confectionery factory. The names of his "parents" are Konstantin Petrenko and Nadezhda Chernogor. For this cake, a special cream layer, and it was a real triumph - in a year " Kyiv cake» received a bronze medal at the confectionery competition. During its more than fifty years of history, the cake has become one of the symbols of Kyiv.

Maybe in the CCCP they didn’t know how to sew bright clothes and built gray, faceless neighborhoods, but there were many things in this country that could be proud of, and one of them was wonderful cakes that were delicious, of high quality, corresponded to high standards security and prepared from the most best products. Everyone who was born in the Soviet Union remembered the taste of cakes - it was the taste of a real holiday, the taste of a day off, when you don’t have to go to school, there is a huge, long day ahead, and at home they set the table and wait for guests.

So let's remember which cakes were the most popular in the Soviet Union and made our life and the life of our parents sweeter.

Cake "Prague"

If the family managed to buy this cake, it could be considered that the celebration was successful - it was one of the most exquisite cakes of the Soviet Union. Its appearance is associated with the name of Vladimir Guralnik, who headed the workshop in the Moscow restaurant "Prague" and exchanged experience with Czech colleagues. According to rumors, the cake he invented was named after the restaurant; Soviet people liked it so much that its recipe was sent all over the CCCP through the Restaurant and Canteen Trust.

Unfortunately, in Soviet times this cake was very difficult to reproduce at home, as some of the ingredients were impossible to "get" in stores. "Prague" was prepared from a special biscuit soaked in syrup, the cakes were smeared with a special chocolate oil cream"Prague", the sidewalls were lubricated apricot jam, and on top the cake was poured with chocolate fudge or icing and decorated with cocoa, chocolate or chocolate cream. Flour was used to bake "Prague" premium, butter, cocoa, eggs, sugar, condensed milk, fruit essence and starch syrup. Since the latter were not on sale, the chance to repeat such a cake in the kitchen was small.

Cake "Bird's milk"

Cake "Bird's milk" marked full prosperity and abundance in the CCCP, and in the unspoiled province it was considered one of the most delicious treats. To get such a cake for a wedding or birthday was considered the height of chic and recognition that "life is good." His invention is again associated with the name of Vladimir Guralnik, under whose leadership a group of confectioners came up with a cake recipe in 1974. In 1980, the CCCP even issued a copyright certificate for this masterpiece of confectionery art.

The cake quickly became popular, at first restaurateurs baked 50-60 pieces a day, but this was not enough, they had to increase the number of cakes to 500 and send the recipe all over the CCCP.

If somewhere sometime the recipe for the “Bird's Milk” cake fell into the hands of women, it was cherished like the apple of an eye, passed from mother to daughter, rewritten by hand, and kept for years in the back drawers of the table, like a treasure. Of course, the products needed for the cake were often not in stores, and ten years later the recipe was unrecognizable - what resourceful women just didn’t add to it: gelatin, semolina and rice pudding.

In fact, agar-agar was used for the soufflé in the real Bird's Milk cake, egg whites, molasses, lemon acid, water, butter, vanilla and condensed milk. The preparation of the soufflé was quite difficult: they took whipped proteins as a basis and added boiled and cooled syrup from molasses with a thickener to it, and then, pouring it onto a thin cake, cooled it in the refrigerator.

Cake "Honey" ("Honey cake")

Cake "Honey" was in the CCCP a cake "for every day" - inexpensive, hearty cake with addition natural honey often bought in the middle of the week, not only on holidays.

It was prepared from many thin honey cakes, missed sour cream and generously sprinkled with golden biscuit crumbs on top. This delicacy still adorns the counters of the country's stores, but, unfortunately, honey has long been excluded from the recipe, which was replaced by analogues, while earlier at least 75 grams were used for one cake. natural product. The history of this cake goes back to the time of Empress Elizabeth, who did not really like honey, but a confectioner from Germany, who did not know about it, baked such a cake, and the queen liked it and has since “taken root” in Russia. In CCCP there was a "cheapening" of the recipe, and instead of walnut the cake began to be decorated with biscuit-honey crumbs.

Cake "Kiev"

This cake was so good that it was even presented from Ukraine to the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev for his anniversary. The work of art of Kyiv culinary specialists weighed five kilograms, had three tiers and consisted of 70 cakes. And this masterpiece appeared thanks to a chance: in 1956 at the Kyiv confectionery factory named after. Karl Marx, the confectioners forgot to put the whites whipped with sugar in the refrigerator, which were intended for the cake. The squirrels froze in the air, becoming brittle, but instead of throwing them away, the head of the biscuit shop, Konstantin Petrenko, with the help of confectioner Nadezhda Chernogor, decided to make a cake based on them, which turned out to be original and very tasty. Air-nut cakes, butter cream, nut crumbs, hazelnuts, wine and cognac are still used to make the "Kiev" cake.

Cake "Napoleon"

The origin of this cake is still being debated. Some believe that it was invented by Russian confectioners during the festivities in honor of the victory over Napoleon, and at first it was only a cake in the shape of a cocked hat, and only then they made a cake out of it. Others consider Neapolitans to be the authors of the recipe - allegedly, the cake was previously called Napolitano (Naples), and the name "Napoleon" is just a distortion. Previously, the cake was made from many thin layers of puff pastry made with the addition of vinegar and cognac, smeared with the most delicate custard from cream, butter and eggs, then in the CCCP, boiled condensed milk was included in the recipe.

This cake was so fond of the housewives that they managed to cook it even in remote villages on a Russian stove. And to this day, this delicacy remains a favorite in our country, although the recipes of manufacturers are very different from each other.

Cake "Leningradsky"

Sand cake "Leningradsky" against the background of other biscuit cakes was unique, its name is associated with direct competition to the "Kiev" cake. The recipe was invented by Leningrad confectioners in 1960 and quickly gained recognition from consumers; it was prepared throughout the USSR from Leningrad to Vladivostok in confectioneries, but very rarely at home, since the baking process was laborious, and shortbread dough considered more suitable for everyday biscuits. But this cake was inexpensive and therefore popular. Its recipe included flour, butter, eggs, powdered sugar, fondant ( icing), milk, cognac, water and cocoa, and decorated it with what they could - often with butter cream and scraps of cakes. Unfortunately, this cake has not "survived" to this day, modern manufacturers make it only its analogues, which are very far from the original Soviet recipes.

Carrying out any festive celebration impossible without a culinary masterpiece - a cake. Confectioners offer options for every taste, for the originals even options for a sweet present with a photo of the hero of the occasion are offered.

It is difficult to state where and by whom exactly the cake was invented. Some historians suggest that the prototype of the cake originated in Italy. According to linguists, the translation from Italian implies the word cake as something intricate, which is associated with a lot of decorations from ornaments, flower arrangements and inscriptions. For many, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that with the help of the Internet you can cook delicious desserts on your own, learning about cooking pancake cake With curd cream and other equally appetizing confectionery products.

There is another theory of the origin of cakes. delicious oriental sweets always popular. Adherents of this trend found out that in ancient times this mysterious part of the world was popular for creating desserts based on honey, fresh milk and sesame. The shape of these products is similar to modern cakes.

To date, in the world of dessert, France has become a trendsetter. In the cafes and coffee houses there, a cake appeared that conquered the whole world. For many centuries, French confectioners and culinary experts have dictated trends in terms of decorating and serving a sweet masterpiece. From this romantic land went famous titles desserts - caramel, cream, meringue, biscuit and jelly.

Regardless of who first invented the cake, each country has own recipes and traditional features baking this dish. Cooking cakes is associated with curiosities and curious facts, some of which bothered the Guinness Book of Records.

Yes, the most tall cake Made in USA (Michigan). culinary product consisted of hundreds of tiers and rose above the table by more than 30 m. In the state of Alabama, USA, the heaviest cake was baked, with a total weight of more than 50 tons. One of the main parts of this masterpiece was ice cream, the shape resembled a representation of the state.

Peruvian culinary specialists are known for the longest cake, which was 246 m long and decorated with candied fruit and cream roses. This dish was divided into 50 thousand pieces and distributed to all the children of Peru who celebrated their birthday during this period.

The largest cake in Russia was made on the birthday of the famous Moscow department store - GUM. The product was decorated with a large number of marzipans and jam. Invited experts recorded a height of 3 m and a weight of 3 tons.

In the days of Russia, there was no definition of a cake. They baked a wedding loaf, but it was not a full-fledged cake, but only a beautiful and festive cake.

The variety of desserts allows you to choose any to your taste, cook it yourself for the holiday or to pamper loved ones.

The History of the Origin of the Cake The History of the Origin of the Cake The cake refers to those dishes whose age is not exactly known. Historians, with the support of linguists, believe that the first cakes appeared about 2000 years ago in Italy, since the word "cake" in Italian means something ornate, intricate and richly decorated. There is also a version that cakes could not appear anywhere else, except in Greece - on its territory, pies decorated with drawings and applications from ground and boiled grains were found. According to another version, it is believed that only in the East, with their sweets known at all times, complex cake recipes could appear that even a sophisticated gourmet can make bow before their exquisite taste and enchanting aroma. The followers of this idea found out that the ancient culinary specialists of the most mysterious part of the world prepared desserts using milk, honey and sesame seeds. Yes, and in shape they resembled those cakes that we used to see on our tables. But be that as it may, today France is considered the trendsetter in the world of cakes, although not French, but German, Austrian and Russian cakes are widely known. It was French chefs and confectioners who for many centuries dictated the trends in serving and decorating this sweet masterpiece. It was in France that something without which modern cakes would be impossible appeared - meringue, cream, caramel, jelly and biscuit. In Russia, the concept of a cake did not exist for a long time, but there were wedding loaves - the most festive and elegant pies. Such loaves were called "bride's pies". "Bride's Pie" was made only in a round shape. This is also due to the fact that our ancestors put a certain meaning into this form. The circle symbolized the sun, which means well-being, health and fertility. The wedding loaf was richly decorated with various braids, braids and curlicues. Sometimes figures were placed in its center, which denoted the newlyweds: the bride and groom. It was customary to serve the pie at the very end of the celebration; it served as a kind of sign for the guests. Since the 17th century in Europe, two cakes have been required at weddings - one for the bride, the other for the groom. The main difference between the bride's cake was that a glass ring was baked into it, it was believed that the girl who found the ring in her piece would soon get married. The groom's cake was decorated more modestly than the bride's cake (by the way, then a tradition was already formed to make a wedding cake or a white bride's cake, symbolizing purity and purity), but it was much larger in size. Most often it was an ordinary fruit pie. The groom's cake was cut into pieces in advance, placed in white boxes, tied with a white or silver ribbon, or simply written with the initials of the newlyweds and folded near the exit. Guests, dispersing home, could take such boxes with them to pass on to those who could not attend the wedding celebration, or eat them themselves the next morning. In England, the cake remained rather modest until the 17th century, in the form of a cake with candied fruits and nuts. And only in the 18th century, multi-tiered cakes began to become popular at the weddings of the European aristocracy. The multi-story wedding cake is believed to have been invented by a London grocer. He really wanted to create something out of the ordinary, but he could not think of anything until he noticed the dome of St. Bride's Church in Fleet Street. Cakes-record holders The longest cake was made by Peruvian cooks. Its length was two hundred and forty-six meters. It was decorated with an abundance of candied fruit and cream roses. Then it was divided into fifteen thousand pieces and treated to all the children of Peru who celebrated their birthday this month. Russia also did not stay away from sweet records. The confectioners made the largest cake for the birthday of the most famous department store in Moscow, GUM. The cake was decorated with a huge amount of jam and marzipans. Its height, which was recorded by invited experts from the administration of the Guinness Book of Records, was three meters, and its weight was three tons. The origin of the names of cakes Over time, the preferences for cakes among the inhabitants of the whole world acquired their own traditions. So in Hungary, guests will certainly be treated to the famous Esterheis cake. In France, open Tarte Tatin fruit cakes are adored. In Switzerland, festive tables are inconceivable without carrot and cherry cake, in which they put cherry kernels for piquancy. Sweden is proud of two cakes at once - "Apple" and "Swedish air", decorated with whipped cream. Austria is the country of the "Linz Cake" with red currant filling - the cake is named after the city and is good because it can be stored for a very long time. There is no cake with the Russian name "Anna Pavlova" in Russia, they know how to cook it only in New Zealand. In 1926, a Russian ballerina toured there. She impressed the New Zealanders so much that they came up with a cake as airy and light as Anna Pavlova herself. A rather strange cake is offered to be tasted in Spain. It is called Tarta de bellota. Once a tourist from Russia asked the waiter what this cake was made of. Judging by the taste, it included honey and poppy seeds. However, there were no black poppy dots in the biscuit. The waiter said it was from pig food. The puzzled tourist asked for the recipe. It turned out that the waiter called acorns "feed for pigs". Despite the name, you will not find nuts in the Italian biscuit “Nutty”. It is stuffed with white crushed beans. Real nuts are rarely found in “branded” cakes, except that in Portugal almonds are added to absolutely all cakes. Now let's dwell in more detail on the origin of the names of cakes. And, of course, you should start with the king of cakes. NAPOLEON. The famous layer cake or cake with a cream layer. Under the name "millefeuille" (millefeuille - "1000 layers") is known in France and Italy, in the UK it is called "vanilla slice" (vanilla slice), and in the USA and Russia as "Napoleon". His recipe appeared at the end of the 17th century. When layers of history, time and dates are layered on this or that dish, it is difficult to reliably determine how a culinary masterpiece was once born and how it became popular. Napoleon is no exception. There are a lot of versions - from romantic and sentimental to philosophical and ordinary ... They say that when Napoleon became the sole ruler of France, he bathed in the rays of glory, was surrounded by a halo of heroism. Stormy secular and social life always had one exception: Bonaparte celebrated Christmas only with close people. On Christmas Eve of the frosty year 1800, the emperor called his cook: “On this holiday, Josephine de Beauharnais will be next to me. Dinner must be amazing. I don’t care what you cook, but be sure to include green Marengo chicken on the menu and something great for dessert - ladies love sweets, it would be nice if you could impress Josephine. Smiling, the cook retired to the kitchen. For dinner, Napoleon was served green meat and a cake: powdered sugar decorated the top of the delicacy, the cakes were richly smeared with cream, but the sides remained open, showing many layers. The emperor frowned and asked the cook what that meant. Lagupierre answered: - Life is cyclical, events change each other, but repeat what has already happened ... We must always remember them - this is the main thing in life. So the cake "Napoleon" became a philosophical dish. In Russia, its appearance is associated with 1912, when the centenary of the victory over the Napoleonic troops was widely celebrated, and a number of new dishes were invented. "Napoleon" was originally a triangular-shaped cake by analogy with Bonaparte's cocked hat, and the best minds of confectioners who served at the homes of aristocrats worked on this miracle of cooking. Subsequently, the cake became a rectangular cake. BIRD'S MILK. The phrase "bird's milk" is found in the myths and legends of many countries. This is an allegorical designation of something unattainable-beautiful. If "Napoleon" became a cake made of brownies, then "Bird's Milk" has gone a more interesting way - it has become a cake made of sweets. This souffle cake covered with chocolate icing today has many types - creamy, coffee, chocolate, with two cakes and with one. They invented it in Russia. The first experimental batches of "bird's milk" have been produced since 1968 at the Rot-Front factory. PRAGUE. Cake "Prague" consists of three cake layers soaked in "Prague" cream, and topped with chocolate fudge. Cake layers are baked from biscuit dough with the addition of soft butter and cocoa powder. The cream consists of butter, chicken yolks, cocoa and condensed milk. After soaking the cake for a day in the refrigerator, the top cake and side surfaces are smeared with fruit and berry jam (usually apricot), covered with glossy chocolate fondant and decorated with cream or chocolate chips. In many recipes, chocolate fudge is replaced with simpler chocolate icing due to the complexity of preparation. The Czechs themselves, without sparing, add dark rum to this cake, soak the cakes with four types of butter cream, which are prepared on the basis of cognac and Chartreuse and Benedictine liqueurs, and pour the cake with thick chocolate icing on top. The taste is extraordinary. Kyiv. The heyday of the popularity of the Kyiv cake fell on the days of the USSR. They came up with this air-nut cake at a Kyiv confectionery factory. The names of his "parents" are Konstantin Petrenko and Nadezhda Chernogor. For this cake, a special cream layer was invented, and it was a real triumph - a year later, "Kyiv Cake" received a bronze medal at the confectionery competition. During its more than fifty years of history, the cake has become one of the symbols of Kyiv.