The humble cake needs no introduction, it is the local ambassador that is a window to the country’s culture and a door to its past. Most cakes are cherished because they hold some memory associated with a great person, maybe just the taste or even associated with a religious occasion that makes them extra special. Grab a slice and make not of these cakes for your next trip to these countries with these cakes; for this article we picked the alphabet G.
This is nothing but a Bulgarian version of the chocolate cake that consists of thin layers of walnut sponge cakes held together by molten dark chocolate. These layers are coated in a thick chocolate ganache or chocolate icing. It is neatly decorated with coconut flakes, nuts, or chocolate shavings. The chocolate cake is named after its inventor Kosta Garash in 1885, when he was working at a lavish hotel in Ruse. He shifted locations later on in his life but continued to make the cake earning him fame for the delicious cake. The cake didn't take very long to become a staple in the menus of the country’s patisseries and restaurants.
A rich and dense cake from the little island of Guernsey in the English Channel, Gâche melée is traditionally made with apples, flour, sugar, milk, salt, and suet (a kind of animal fat). It is either baked in a round baking dish or a rectangular one and is usually enjoyed by cutting into squares. Since it is an apple cake, ice cream or local Guernsey cream goes really well with this cake.
This is a rich cake from Spain’s Valldemossa region. The name comes from the Almendra de Mallorca meaning Almond of Mallorca, which is an essential ingredient that goes into the Gató or cake. These local almonds are protected and the almonds from the local trees are sweet and they lend the perfect amount of greasiness and rich taste to the cake. The cake’s batter also uses eggs, sugar, and grinded lemon peel with the usual flour, butter and cinnamon and baked. It is dusted with powdered sugar and eaten hot off the oven.
One of the most simplest cakes to come out of France, it is said to be quite finicky relying heavily on the correct ratio of ingredients – equal parts yoghurt and oil, 2:3 sugar to flour, and three eggs and a pinch of leavening. It’s literally said to be child’s play so much so that kids in France know the recipe by heart in nursery school itself. It is taught to them like a simple maths problem and it’s quite quick and simple to prepare. It is eaten as a snack because it is not overpoweringly sweet as most cakes.
In walks a bundt cake that looks like a fancy courtesan among a sea of common flat topped cakes. Gers ogaily comes from Kuwait. It is a sponge cake baked in big bundt pans. It's eaten alongside tea which unlike the European bundt, has a hint of local spices. It's rich, buttery and sweet and fragrant courtesy of the combination of local citrus and spices of saffron, cardamom, orange blossom water, rose water and sesame seeds. They are sometimes also baked as mini cakes that are as small as cupcakes suitable for individual portions.
A traditional cake from Madagascar, this cake uses rice flour, coconut milk, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, oil and sugar. Caramel is also prepared and added to coconut milk and the ingredients are cooked over low flame until it thickens. It is then baked and served by cutting it into slices. The cake was first made by a woman from the African Comoros, using sugarcane juice, in 1841. It was introduced to Madagascar during the colonial era.
Some cakes are coffee house staples and the Hungarian Gesztenye szelet is one such cake. It's made with a puree of chestnut, flour, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, heavy cream, dark chocolate and a splash of brandy. The preparation is also different, it is baked yes but before that the eggs and sugar are prepared to triple in volume, expanding over a pot of simmering water. The rest of the ingredients go in and it is then baked. Brandy goes in the syrup that is used to brush over the cake not in the batter. A bit of the chestnut puree, vanilla, whipping cream, and sugar becomes the fluffy topping of the cake with dark chocolate shavings raining down on it. It's best eaten chilled, as is served by the coffee houses and bakeries.
This one’s from Croatia which is also known as the bonfire cake from Grižane in Croatia. It neither uses wheat nor uses rice flour, but actual bread slices that are dipped in liquid made of milk, cream and sugar. The wet slices go on a greased baking tray and over them goes the grated apples which are mixed with ground walnuts, figs, cinnamon, honey, rum, and egg yolks. A layer of sliced apples go over the second layer and a mixture of eggs and sugar is poured on top. This is baked then a mixture of whipped egg whites and sugar and baked again. It’s a delicious cake to have alongside a cup of tea.