Recipe: Autumn’s Cranberry Orangey Spice Cakey

Autumn’s Cranberry Orangey Spice Cakey

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• bake :

  to cook food with dry heat, as in an oven.

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• mix :

  to thoroughly combine two or more ingredients until uniform in texture.

• soak :

  to immerse a hard food for a certain amount of time in a liquid to soften it.

History of Spice Cake!

• Spice cake may have originated in Ancient Greece, Egypt, or Rome. These ancient people made cakes with wheat or barley grain, honey, seeds, and spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and coriander. 
• During the Middle Ages in Europe, dried or preserved fruit was added, and in the 17th century, a coating of white icing was sometimes added. 
• The modern spice cake is a butter or layer cake that often uses brown sugar or molasses as a sweetener, resulting in a darker brown cake. Maple syrup can also be used, and maple spice cake is considered an American variation. Spices include cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Many recipes have applesauce. Cream cheese frosting is a popular topping.
• Variations of spice cake include applesauce cake, carrot cake, gingerbread cake, hummingbird cake (a banana and pineapple spice cake from Jamaica), and pumpkin spice cake.

Let's Learn About Ancient Greece!

• Ancient Greece was a civilization in the northeastern Mediterranean region that existed from about 1100 BCE to 600 CE. Democracy began there in Athens in the 5th century BCE.
• Several poleis made up the area of Ancient Greece. From the word "polis" or city-state and "mētēr" (mother), we get our word "metropolis" (mother city), a very large city or urban area. Poleis were ruled by kings, oligarchies, and tyrants.
• Some well-known city-states included Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Rhodes, Sparta, Syracuse, and Thebes. 
• Alexandria was one of two major capitals of Hellenistic or Ancient Greek culture. The other was Antioch. Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, was part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. Antioch, founded by Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, was part of the Seleucid Empire, consisting of Anatolia (modern Turkey), Persia, the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria), and Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), and parts of Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Turkmenistan.
• Classical Greek culture, especially art and philosophy, influenced the Roman Empire and the rest of Europe. Ancient Greek art included paintings, pottery, and architecture. The writings of philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are still being studied today.
• An example of Ancient Greek architecture that we can still visit today is the Acropolis of Athens, a complex of buildings that includes the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena.
• The first Olympics were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the plains of Olympia. Ancient Olympic sports included running, chariot racing, mule-cart racing, boxing, discus throw, long jump, wrestling, and pankration, a wild cross between wrestling and boxing with no rules except biting and eye-gouging!
• A few of the well-known figures from this period were Alexander the Great, who ruled over the whole empire from 336 to 323 BCE; Hippocrates, a physician referred to as the Father of Medicine; Herodotus, called the Father of History, who wrote his "Histories" about the Greco-Persian wars; Socrates, considered the founder of Western Philosophy; Plato, an author and philosopher who founded the first academy of higher learning in the West; Aristotle, a student of Plato's who also founded a school of philosophy; and Thales, a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. 
• Staples of Ancient Greek cuisine included cereals, like barley and wheat, figs, grapes, and olives. Grecians made flatbread and used herbs and spices in their cooking.

What Was It Like to Be a Kid in Ancient Greece?

• During the Hellenistic period (323-30 BCE), some city-states had public schools for boys, starting at age seven. Wealthy families would be able to employ a teacher to teach their children. Boys would have learned how to read, write, memorize and recite poems, sing, and play an instrument. They may have learned their father's trade, or they would have trained as athletes and for military service. Becoming a good citizen was the priority. Girls would have learned to read, write, and do some simple arithmetic so they could manage a household.
• Girls may have played with dolls and, as they got older, practiced cooking, embroidery, and weaving. Boys may have played with balls and hoops, played tug-of-war, and later, practiced running, wrestling, and throwing the javelin or discus.
• For a treat, kids would have enjoyed eating sesame seed candy or a thin honey sesame seed cake, similar to a snack bar. They also would have had fresh or dried fruit and nuts for a snack.