Cakes are an integral part of celebrations - Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, Graduation, Promotions in the workplace or essential company milestones. We often order a cake for festivals, yet, most people's understanding of cakes is relatively shallow unless they are bakers.

Cakes are a type of bakery product that is rich in sugar, fat and eggs. They come in many shapes, sizes and flavours. Before I started my baking journey, I always thought that all cakes were similar - That the cake-baking processes are generally the same, except we use different ingredients to give a different flavour and texture. However, I am entirely wrong; there is much to learn about each type of cake. In the rest of this article, I will highlight some of the cake types and their differences. The information below should also help you to understand which cake type is more suitable for different celebrations.

Butter Cake - Best For Designer Looking Cake

Butter cake is one of the most common cakes in most bakeries. A wedding cake, a children's birthday cake, a tall-looking designer cake in the shape of a Rubix cube or cartoon characters are most likely a butter cake. A butter cake usually contains a lot of cream butter and sugar and has a very dense texture. The thick texture gives enough support for the cake to withstand the weight of the entire cake, ensuring that it will not collapse during any birthday celebrations. It is best to serve butter cakes one to two hours after taking them out from the fridge. It is because the cake tends to harden, like butter, when frozen, making it very difficult to cut. In terms of taste, butter cake usually tastes drier and less fluffy than other cake types.

Sponge Cake - Easy to Create Flavourful Cake

Another prevalent type of cake you see in most retail bakery stores. Sponge cake is much fluffier and lighter compared to a butter-based cake. It usually contains a lot of whipped eggs and no baking soda or powder during the baking process. In addition, bakers have more choices in creating different kinds of flavours with sponge cake - mango cake, strawberry cake, oreo or chocolate cake. Hence, sponge cakes are more savoury compared to most other bakes. Sponge cakes are best served immediately after being removed from the refrigerator, as these cannot "survive" at room temperature.

Chiffon Cake - No Decorations Needed

Chiffon cake is a type of foam cake lighter than sponge cake. It uses vegetable oil instead of butter to give the cake a tender and moist texture. In addition, the vegetable oil makes it easier to beat air into the batter. As a result, the chiffon cake texture is airy and has subtle sweetness and flavour to your palate. A chiffon cake does not dry up quickly too. Chiffon cake can serve fresh from the oven, and no creaming is needed. Due to its lightweight, it is highly recommended not to use chiffon cake as a multi-tier wedding cake.

Pound Cake - Simplest Cake to Bake

Pound cake, as the name suggests, is made up of one pound of the different main ingredients: A pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs and a pound of flour. The pound cake was first introduced in 1700 in England. The pound cake is very dense and flavourful, usually served fresh from the oven without any creaming. Pound cake has many flavours, and some bakers add extra ingredients to create different pound cakes. For example, one can put in dried fruits to make a fruit pound cake that gives extra sweetness and texture. Pound cake is readily available in most retail bakery stores.

A lot more variations

There are many more variations of cakes besides those highlighted above. There are limitless variations depending on the ingredients, the proportions used, and how these ingredients come together. Cakes are an important segment in the baking industry, and I do see a trend in the cake industry: Bakers are now focusing on developing new healthier recipes because people, in general, are more health-conscious than before. I will continue to learn and see how the cake trend evolves in the next five years.