Cake: A Slice of History

If you have wondered about the stories behind the cakes made on the Great British Bake Off or the difference between a Victoria sandwich and a sponge cake (especially if Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson is not to hand), this is the book for you. Baking has always been about memories passed down through families and Alysa Levene will take you through this compelling social history of baking. ''My sister had three wedding cakes. Rather than spend a lot of money on a traditional cake she asked our grandmother, our mother, and our step-mother to make their signature bakes. My grandmother made the rich fruit cake she always baked at Christmas. My mother made a chocolate sponge which we called Queenie''s Chocolate Cake after the great aunt who gave her the recipe; it appeared at almost every one of our birthdays in one guise or another. And finally, my step-mother made chocolate brownies (Nigella Lawson''s recipe, if you''d like to know), whose sticky, pleasurable unctuousness is