When: July 20
International Cake Day on July 20th celebrates one of humanity's oldest sweetened foods and the staggering diversity of what "cake" means across cultures. From Japanese mochi to French mille-feuille to Ethiopian honey cake to American layer cake, the concept of sweetened baked or steamed dough spans every food culture on earth, each with its own techniques, textures, and traditions.
Ancient Egyptians made the first known sweetened baked goods over 4,000 years ago — but they bore more resemblance to bread than to anything we'd call cake today.
In 1832, Prince Metternich of Austria hosted a formal dinner and demanded an impressive dessert. The head chef was ill. A 16-year-old apprentice named Franz Sacher stepped forward and produced a chocolate cake layered with apricot jam and coated in dark chocolate ganache. It became the most famous cake in Austria and eventually in the world — served under the name "Sachertorte" at the hotel Sacher in Vienna, which Franz's son Eduard founded in 1876. The Sachertorte became the subject of one of the most absurd lawsuits in culinary history. From 1954 to 1963, the Hotel Sacher and the Demel pastry shop fought in Austrian courts over which establishment had the right to call its cake the "Original Sachertorte." The dispute centered on whether the apricot jam should go between the two layers of cake or only under the chocolate coating. The courts eventually ruled in favor of the Hotel Sacher. The Demel still sells its version, labeled "Eduard Sacher Torte." Both remain sold in Vienna. Both...