8 Cakes from Around the World

8 Cakes FROM AROUND THE WORLD I Gateau de Rois In France, gateau de rois, or king cake, is part of the Twelfth Night celebration honoring the Christian holiday of Epiphany in January. Recipes can vary, but most use puffed pastry, choux pastry, a thin sponge cake or meringue filled with cream and fruit. Angel Food Cake A uniquely American sponge cake with a divine, light consistency. It isn't hard to imagine how angel food cake got its name. It's been around since the 19th century, whipping up an angel food cake was a great way to use the egg whites left over from yolk-heavy recipes. Strudel Strudel is an old-style German cake made with high-gluten flour and shaped into a long roll. If you're making desert, layer the dough with a fruit filling, like raisins, cherries or apples, and decorate the top with icing. Sacher Torte Master baker Franz Sacher created the sacher torte in 1832 for Viennese prince Klemens von Metternich. Today, most people serve it with dark chocolate frosting and a generous dollop of whipped cream on top. It's an easy cake to make but packs a real flavor wallop. Whisky Dundee If you think fruitcake makes a better brick than dessert, try whisky Dundee the next time the holidays roll around. This gentler and more flavorful Scottish version of the traditional Christmas fruitcake includes enough whisky to warm your heart. Burfi Burfi is made by cooking sugar and evaporated milk together with a main ingredient, like coconut, until the mixture becomes semisolid. You can use the sugar-milk base to create lots of distinctive barfi variations. Some common ingredients for burfi-style cakes are cashews, pistachios, almonds and mangos. Panettone An Italian Christmas cake that started out as a regional favorite in Milan, this lighter, airier take on the classic fruitcake is usually baked into a dome shape containing candied fruits and nuts. Recent variations are filled with other ingredients, like custard and chocolate Pavlova A cake fit for a dancer, pavlova was originally created to honor Russian ballet superstar Anna Pavlova. A masterpiece of timing and patience, a pavlova is a meringue cake that has a crisp exterior and a soft, marshmallowy center. It's traditionally served with whipped cream and fresh fruit f /simplytopps @simplycakecraft Simply Cake Caft www.simplycakecraft.com sources: howstuffworks, google images