Q 01/05

The English word 'cake' comes from kaka, a word in which language?

A) Old High German

B) Old French

C) Old Norse

D) Latin

Answer · why

C) Old Norse

'Cake' derives from the Old Norse kaka, brought to England by Scandinavian settlers; the word appears in English by the 13th century.

Q 02/05

Which ancient people are credited with first using beer as a leavening agent for cake?

A) Persians

B) Greeks

C) Phoenicians

D) Romans

Answer · why

B) Greeks

The Greeks are credited with first using beer as a leavener; their plakous, named from the word for 'flat', combined flour, eggs, milk, nuts and honey...

Q 03/05

A famous early record of a birthday cake with one candle per year comes from a 1746 party in which country?

A) England

B) Italy

C) Germany

D) France

Answer · why

C) Germany

Germany: the 1746 birthday festival for Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf at Marienborn featured a cake with a candle for each year, as big as the oven allo...

Q 04/05

By tradition, a birthday wish comes true only if what happens?

A) All candles go out in one breath

B) The candles are lit twice

C) The cake is eaten in one sitting

D) The wish is spoken aloud

Answer · why

A) All candles go out in one breath

Blowing out all the candles in one breath is said to make the wish come true; a second superstition adds that the wish must be kept secret.

Q 05/05

What new name did the white topping on Queen Victoria's wedding cake acquire?

A) Fondant

B) Royal icing

C) Bridal icing

D) Windsor glaze

Answer · why

B) Royal icing

Royal icing: after Queen Victoria's 1840 wedding the pure white sugar icing on her cake became known as royal icing, and white became the fashionable ...