Selects: Cake: So Great. So, So Great | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hi. everybody. Do you want to learn about. cake? It's called cake. So great. So So. great. That had to be a Josh title. Cake. colon so great. Period. So, so great. Yeah, that's Josh. This is from November. 30th, 2017. Uh, this is superersized. because somehow we did 73 minutes on. cake. Uh, probably because we talked. about cake a lot. Uh, beyond just the. facts and figures. I know our personal.

opinions came around in this episode, so. I hope you enjoy it as much as you. enjoy. pie. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart. Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. There's Jerry. The three. of us are together, which means it's. time for stuff you should know about.

cake. Cake. cake cake. cake. Cake. Uh, this made me just. frankly want to put my face in a cake. I. know. She caking. Oh man. Yep. I know. We had a discussion about cake or pie. quite a while ago and I don't remember. exactly where you landed on that. I'm. surprised you can only think of one. What do you Oh, one time we've done. that. Yeah. Uh cake or pie? Both. Yeah.

Same here. Why choose between two. wonderful things that you don't have to. choose between? Agreed. As a matter of fact, every once in a. while you'll hit like the birthday party. jackpot where they'll have like cake and. pie and you're like, "Looks like I'm in. heaven." But today, today, Chuck, we're. not talking about pie. Although, we. can't talk about one pie in particular. because we're talking about cake. Turns. out, I saw this somewhere, that Boston. cream pie is actually a cake. Oh,

really? Yeah. Surprise Boston. Sorry to. ruin your day. They're probably the ones. that are like that are saying that. Oh, yeah. Probably. Maybe. I don't know. So, cake, huh? The article on it was written. in a thick Boston accent. Yeah. Uh, yeah, it is a cake. I'm not sure. why, but I just know it's a cake now. And I want to give a hat tip here. Um, I. mean, we both worked off of the How. Stuff Works article, but I also found a. lot of good stuff on a site called.

What's Cooking America. Did you run. across them? I did. They are good, man. They're they have, you know, clearly. their niche is cooking, baking, all. things like culinary, but they're. they've got some really wellressearched. articles on their site about like the. history of cakes and things like that. So, yeah, that's good stuff. Kudos to. you. You remember Kudos? Oh, the granola. bar. Those are great. Oh, yeah. Are. those not around anymore? No. No. No. Those are gone. And then RIP. Also,

Bonkers candy. Takudo went the way of. the dodo. I never heard of Bonkers. They were like. a fruit chew, but like really had some. chew to it. Not like Starburst, you. know? It just disintegrates. These were. like They were chewy. They were good. They're about as good as it gets really. candy-wise. Yeah, they need I know. you've noticed they need to chill out. here with the the sweets at work. Oh, dude. Like they have Little Debbie star. crunches and Swiss cake rolls and stuff. all over the place. I know. We don't.

need that in here. There's like three or. four people who are like walking around. toothless now. Well, it's just rotten. right out of their heads. Well, and also. not you. My toothlessness is for different. reasons. Yours is from a crustini. Uh, and I've also noticed though there's. this weird mix in our office now because. they try to get super healthy. Yeah. So, there will be like Swiss cake rolls next. to a bag of like clam chips or. something. What chips? I don't know. Clam chips sound kind of good. Seaweed.

uh seaweed strips. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, I. know what you mean. Or like just figs, right? Yeah. You know, it's like a fig. Newton without the good tasting part. that surrounds it. We take figs and we. mash them up. Then we wrap them in. cellophane and you eat them for $5 a. piece and your child spits them out. because they know better, right? Uh no, today uh yes, I'm with you. I do think. it's gotten a little out of hand. Like. it's basically just a huge test of. willpower at the office like every.

moment, you know? Yeah, I don't I don't. indulge. I'm I'm not getting into those. Swiss cake rolls, but it is tough to. walk by the miniature candy bar section, right? And not be like, "Well, just one. of those little guys. Look how tiny it. is." Right. And then the next thing you. know, you've got like 10 rappers laying. around your desk thinking like, "What. have I done?" I know, man. It's post. Halloween stuff, too. So, maybe it'll. die down. I I don't I don't think that's. going to happen. But yeah. Uh but again, though, today I guess if if you replaced. all of those candy bars with cakes that.

were just sitting around, you get zero. complaints from me. Well, and at my. house at Halloween, we gave away two. things. We gave away whole slices of uh. pound cake and just figs. Right. It's. the worst house in the block. Did you uh. you a pound cake fan? Um not typically. Like I would never. order a pound cake or say hey can. someone bake me one for my birthday. You. wouldn't say like clark me a pound cake? No. I would never ask someone to clark. me a pound cake. But occasionally like.

in my life someone has had pound cake. and said would you like some pound cake? And it's, you know, it's good. It's good. sugary and dense stuff. Yeah. I like it. cuz you can just eat it with your hand. Sure. Just pick it up and eat it. Yeah. It's like cake on the go. Yeah. Um I am. not a fan of lemon cakes. Oh, really? So, like a lemon pound cake I'm not. into. Well, okay. Let's just get it out there. What's your favorite cake of all time? Oh,

jeez. Uh I'm going to toss it up. between a a carrot cake with cream. cheese frosting. That's Bill Clinton's. favorite. Well, you. know, as Bill goes, so goes Chuck. Uh, which is not true. Um, that was a good. COA. Uh, the carrot cake with cream cheese. frosting or. um I like a a a red velvet cake. Really?

Yeah. Well, that's the southern. buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Yeah, you can go either way. Yeah. Emily's favorite of all time, hands. down, is the Waldorf Atoria Red Velvet. Cake, which is red velvet cake with a. frosting that is basically only like. shortening, vanilla, and sugar. Oh, that. sounds nice. It's not a a cream cheese. thing. What's What's your. favorite of all time? Well, everybody. knows that cake perfection was achieved.

sometime in the 20th century when. Publix's grocery stores started selling. their yellow cake with buttercream. frosting. Oh, yeah. There's no better. cake on the planet. It's like a yellow. sheet cake. Mhm. It's simple, but it's. tasty. It doesn't need any dressing up, but if it does, we'll just put like some. add some more frosting in the shape of. balloons on top. Right. It's just It's. just perfection. And it's the perfect. cake. I love it. I can eat it morning, noon, and night. I can eat stale stuff I.

found in the dumpster behind Publix. I. can eat the fresh stuff right out of the. oven, so hot that it burns my mouth. I. would eat it any way that it it it was. given to me. Uh I'm a big frosting and. icing guy, too. So, a corner piece of. sheetcake is pretty much heaven. Yeah, that's that is the tops. What What is. Yumi's favorite cake? Yumi's is actually. the same as mine. We both are junkies. for Publix's cake, to tell you the. truth. Although, I have to say, she.

introduced me to the wonder of um. Japanese cakes. Uhhuh. And there's this. little known fact about Japan. It loves. to take I shouldn't say it's little. known, probably a lot of people know. this, but it loves to take things that. other cultures came up with and then. improve them 10,000%. And one of the things that they've done. that with is the French bakery. So, if. you go to Japan, you'll see all these. cute little kind of um provenance style. French bakeries everywhere that sell the. best baked goods you've ever had in your.

life, right? Better than Paris. Yes. Oh, by far. By far. That's very. controversial. I It is. But I'm telling. you, you would you would just be like, Josh was right. This is better. I'm not. kidding. They They've improved on it. And they're all very They're very. differential still. They're like, "Oh, well, this is this is crap compared to. the what the French are making." however. you would say that in Japanese, but it. they're actually wrong. It actually is. better. But one of the things that they. make that's just top-notch is this um. what they call cheesecake. It is not. what you or I would call cheesecake at.

all. Um it's more like a yellow spongy. cake. I don't know where the cheese. thing comes in. Maybe there's a little. cream cheese in there. I'm not quite. sure. But um you and I would call it. like kind of a dense yellow sponge cake, but it is very very tasty. And that's a. kind of a Japanese tradition that I. would guess Yumi would say is one of her. favorites. Okay. And just a little shout. out, there's a place in Toronto. Uh, next time we're there, I'm going to take. you there. All right. Uh, actually, that's not true. I brought you a cake.

from there. From Uncle Tetsu's Oh, yeah. cheesecake bakery. Yeah. That's a. Japanese cheesecake. Oh, that was good. Yeah, they're the bomb. All I know is. get out of my face with any coconut or. any pineapple. I'll take that. You you. you I'll just slide that over to your. desk then. Yes. Keep them coming. I. don't even like German chocolate cake. Really? I love German chocolate. All. right. Well, have have you ever heard. that German chocolate cake and red. velvet cake are the same? It's actually. not true. I haven't heard that. I I had.

heard that many times. It's not true. But that German chocolate frosting is. like, man, that's good. I'm not into. that. See, I think that's what it does. That's what it is that I don't like. I. like sort of a tradition buttercreamy or. just good oldfashioned birthday cake. icing type thing. Yeah. Pipon. Yeah. And. and surely you agree Publix is the. pinnacle of that. I don't know if I've. ever had a Publix cake. Oh, I go to. Publix three times a week. So, next time. I'm just going to Well, now that you say.

that, it might be best that you stay. away because you're going to start. adding us. They sell it by the slice, which is dangerous. Oh, they do? Cuz. that was that's the only way I would. want to do it. They sell it by the slice. chuck. Like I can't bring a whole cake. in my house. It's full. Be sure you look. closely because they have Yeah. Yeah, it. would be. They They sell also the same. kind with like a cream cheese frosting. You want yellow cake with buttercream. frosting. Okay. Just give it a shot and. let me know what you think. All right. The funny thing is we really haven't. even started yet. No. Do you want to.

take a break? No. Let's Let's at least. give out like three facts first. Oh, okay. Well, I think we just gave a lot. of facts about what the greatest cakes. in the world are. All right. How about. this then? I'll start you out with the. word cake. Apparently is uh an old Norse. word uh kaka, which is kind of funny. It. is cuz here I don't know where it came. from, but here in America, kaka can mean. dudu. Yeah. Uh but ka ka is where the. original word supposedly came from, right? Um and a lot of English words.

have like Germanic or Norse origins. You. know that? Yeah. So cake, the word cake. is is of English origin. So is bread. And apparently the um bread and the. cakes from back in the day, say during. the medieval era, um they were very very. similar. Probably the only difference. was the cake might be slightly smaller. Yeah. And it was definitely sweeter. So. cake was like a sweeter version of bread. back then. Yeah. They'd add a little.

honey to it, but it's not like what we. think of as cake today. But that's not. where the first cakes originate. They. actually go way way way further back. than that. Right. Is that true? Yeah, it's true. Tuk tuk. Uh, that may be a. little too far back. Yeah, I think so. So, but basically around the time um I. believe of Egypt, the Feronic Egypt, they were making cakes using hot stones. and honey and some sort of grain mashed. up. Right. It seems like I bet the.

Chinese were doing it too. Didn't say in. here, right? Right. But it seems like. anytime you're talking about who did. stuff first, it's like Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans pretty much. I mean, you know, ancient civilization, but maybe not China, cuz it doesn't seem. like a very cakey culture. No, I'm not. sure about Chinese cakes. I don't think. I've ever had one. I bet you someone. knows though. And I bet you there's like. one of the best things in the world, it's probably a Chinese cake. You know, one of the other things too that I.

didn't realize that I learned from this. article, Chuck, was that um a lot of the. cakes you see around the world that you. would mistake for, you know, customary. or traditional cakes for that culture, they're actually relatively new. Oh, yeah. That the cake that we know and. love and understand is is very much a a. 19th century American invention that. came out of the industrial revolution. That's right. Uh, I mean clearly like in. Germany like you talked about in the. 15th century they were making cakes.

They were actually even serving cakes at. birthdays and by all accounts that's. probably the first people to start the. birthday cake tradition. But um and I. think they even put candles on top. Well. no the Greeks put candles on top but it. wasn't like uh happy birthday cake. It. was more like, "Hey, this cake is round. like the moon and we we're going to put. candles on it to make them glow." And. they're probably huge candles now that I. think about it. Yeah. The Greeks gave us. the round cake and putting candles on.

the cake to honor Artemis to make the. cake look like the moon and Artemis was. the goddess of the moon. Right. Right. So they were like, "Look, Artemis, what. do you think of this cake?" She'd be. like, "It needs some frosting." That's. right. And then the Germans in the 1400s. started doing birthday cakes. And then. the 1700s were fullon like, "It's a. kid's birthday party. It's got candles. It's a cake. And we'll sing some. depressing German song, right? That. makes you reflect on your own. existence." That's right. And its.

eventual end. But um there so by the time the people. were were making birthday cakes in. Germany, there was a long long long. tradition of cakes already. Um and the. word cake had started to originate in uh. medieval Britain. But um there was such. a thing as a cheesecake already. The. Romans created that and called it. placenta. Seriously? Really? Yeah. Uh the Greeks. had created uh something that was. basically a prototype of the fruit cake.

plus I believe. Yeah, they called it. feces, right? Um so there were all these. kind of cakes and breads and things that. were starting to to be developed and I. think even that that pound cake that. you're not so hip on um came before the. industrial revolution too. Okay. So. there's stuff that you would kind of. recognize as cakes, but the idea of a. cake, what Americans call a cake and. know and love is a cake, that came out. of the industrial revolution. The show.

sponsored by cake. Eat some today. Uh, all right. So, let's take a break. We. definitely gave away more than three. facts. Yeah, we have earned our keep. And we're going to come back and talk. about a little chemistry right after. this. [Music].

All right, so we're back and uh we. promised talk of chemistry and I think. we talked about this briefly on one. show. I have tried to bake I I did a. birthday cake for Emily a couple of. years ago, Red Velvet Waldorf Historia. cake, and it was okay. It wasn't pretty. though. Uh what do you mean? Like it like it was. lopsided or there was a horn growing out. of it? It it just uh you know, it didn't. look like a cake you would buy in a. store, but it tasted really good. I bet. it was made with a lot of love, too. Oh,

of course. Um, but my deal is is I'm not. a great baker because baking requires. you to be very precise. with your ingredients because it is. chemistry. I'm a much better cook, right? Because I'm a fly by the seat of. my pants and throw a little of this in. there, throw a little of that in there. And there's a much You can't do that. with No, there's much more forgiveness. in general cooking than baking. Yeah, cooking is an art. Baking is a science. for sure. Yeah, that's what they say, right? Yeah. Well, that's what I say, too. You didn't know you didn't make.

that up, right? I think I did. Okay. So, uh, with a with a cake, right, what. you're doing is producing a chemical. reaction. And I knew that. Yeah. But I I. had no idea um on this granular level. that this article gets into just how. much of a chemical reaction baking a. cake is. Yeah. Pretty neat. The. understanding of it too to me. So, you. want to start with a leavenvening agent, right? That's right. That's how you get. from batter, which is kind of flat and.

soupy and wet, to a nice tall cake. The. reason it rises is because of a. leavenning agent. And way, way, way back. in the day, they used to use yeast. They. use yeast for everything. They would. make some beer, they would make a cake, they'd make some bread. Um, they would. throw it into the eyes of their enemy. They would in a fight, a dirty fight. Um. and then eventually uh yeast kind of. fell to the wayside a little bit is they. realized that there's other ways um to.

make a cake rise. One of the big ways is. to actually introduce air into it. And. if you say, you know, beat some eggs, um. what you're doing, you're not just. breaking the eggs down into their their. kind of components or like a mishmash of. all of their components. You're also. introducing air into that mix which will. eventually, as we'll see, transfers into. the cake to make it rise. Yeah. And like. when you're when you're following a. recipe, if you've never baked a cake. before and it says cream the butter and.

sugar or sift the flour, you can't just. say, "Eh, like I don't have a sifter.". Mhm. So, I'll just throw the flour in. here. Like, your cake is screwed. Yeah. Because it's not just like, "Oh, that. makes the flour pretty." Yeah. The. sifting flour introduces air into the. whole mix, too. Yeah. This is all very. important stuff. So you can't you can't. cheat any of these steps. No, you can't. You really need to follow a cake recipe. pretty closely. I mean, I guess if. you're a master baker and you know what. you're doing, you can do something in. lie of something else. Sure. But if.

you're just an ordinary uh. nonprofessional baker at home, just. follow the recipe and do what they say. Yeah. Because you couldn't say, "Well, I'm going to substitute um this flour. for a bunch of salt." Like not only. would it would it taste radically. different, like you're affecting the. chemical composition of the mixture. True. Unless you're making a traditional. South Georgia salt cake, right? Which. you can also use on those snowy days to. clear the road, too. That's right. So,

you've got yeast as a living leavenning. agent. You've got introducing air. through like whipping something. And I. found this um mention of a recipe that. called for four eggs to be beaten for. two hours. Holy cow. So, you can imagine. that everybody was pretty psyched when. chemical leavenning agents were. introduced in the mid-9th century. Oh, so that was an old recipe. Yes. Yeah. And so, in other words, you couldn't. just put the mixer on with your eggs and. leave. No. And go uh get on social.

media. No, this was with your arm. Yeah. And and Yeah. It was not I mean, I. imagine if the person you were working. for asked for a cake, you're just like, "This is a bad day. This is going to be. a bad day. Did you beat for 3 hours? Right? And the whole reason again you're. doing this is to introduce some air, right? But if you could use something. else, say like sodium bicarbonate, also. known as baking soda, and you mixed it, which is a base, and you added another. ingredient in there, which is like an. acid, say like buttermilk or yogurt or.

vinegar, right? Yeah. Like in a vinegar. cake. um that sodium bicarbonate, that. base and that acid are going to mix. together and form a chemical reaction. and release CO2. Yes. And this is how. modern cakes rise. CO2 is released uh. through this chemical reaction and it. goes and bubbles up through the cake and. makes the cake rise with it. That's what. leavenning agents do is they they take.

air and they expand it and make it the. cake. Yeah. Yeah, like when you slice a. a piece of cake, um not not so much. pound cake cuz it's way more dense or. other non-flowered cakes, but your. standard birthday cake, you slice it up. and you see those it's you know those. pockets, those holes that you know those. are air holes. Those were where the. bubbles were and we'll we'll get to that. a little more, but it's that's very. important stuff. That's a that's a. famous uh chef's apron, baker's apron. Ask me about my air holes.

Um fat source very important. Sure. Uh. fats improve the texture of a cake, allow it to be moist, flavorful, because. we all know fat tastes great. Uh and. butter, you know, people can use. shortening, which is good. Margarine is. good. Cooking oil. This can all be used, but for me, just get some real butter. And and I say that for all foods. I I. went on a butter uh uh not a kick. No,

no, no. I am on a butter kick. I went on. a butter uh a boycott of sorts for a. while. Uh like real butter, but now I'm. back on butter. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. what you mean. I tend to think butter is. healthier of all of them, too. Yeah. Um. although olive oil has a beat, it's just. such a radically different taste. Yeah, sure. I love Especially when you're. baking with it. Although, have you ever. had an olive oil cake? I don't think so. I don't remember where I had it, but.

man, they are good. Really? Yes. They're. surprisingly good. But it is definitely. its own distinct thing. You know what. I'm saying? Like subbing olive oil out. for butter is going to give you a weirdo. recipe that no one's going to like, but. they might pretend they do if they like. you. Yes. But they don't really like. that, right? Uh, and all these fat. sources, they can be used sometimes. together, um, or swapped out for butter. But, but again, you got to know what. you're doing. You can't just say, "Well, I'm not going to use butter. I'm going. to just use the same amount of cooking. oil as melted butter, right?" And the.

one of the reasons why swapping. something out for butter in particular, too. I mean, butter gives it its. richness. It's it helps improve its. moistness and texture, right? Butter's. great, but also has a tendency to um in. incorporate air when you cream butter. when you start to mash it around. That's. the whole reason like they're not. telling you to cream the butter just to. make it look good before you add it to. the batter. You're actually. incorporating air there. So that butter. is serving both as a fat and as a.

leavenning agent in that that recipe. Correct. So if you come across a recipe. that calls for butter that must be. creamed, there's something else going on. besides just getting a buttery taste out. of your cake. That's right. Uh. sweetener. I was about to say sugar. instead of sweetener. Might as well. though. But let's be honest, you can use. honey and stuff. You can use uh agave. uh artificial sweetener, but sugar is. the best thing to use in my opinion. It. bonds best to water molecules. It's.

really going to help. That'll help. everything be nice and moist and soft. And uh you don't want to overdo it, though. You want to use again the right. amount of sugar because not only could. it could it affect the taste, but it. could make the the texture it could be. too tough. Yeah. Yeah. And sugar is. another one too where if you see sugar. and you sub it out for something else, it can have an impact on that chemical. reaction. For sure, cuz it does all. those things you were talking about, like one of the things it does is it the. crystalline structure of sugar actually. cuts through the batter to help release.

CO2 more easily. And like you said, it. binds to water, which means it does two. things. It locks it in so that it keeps. moisture in. But it also sugar also robs. that water from some of the proteins and. the starches that give the cake its. structure. Um, which means that they're. not going to be able to become tough and. dense like you were saying because. sugar's already grabbed onto that water. molecule, right? And sugar in. particular, you're not going to get the.

same thing with like stevia or honey. Like it's not going to have the same. effect. It's it's crystalline sugar. And. it doesn't have to be white refined. sugar. You have the same effect I think. with like turbanado cane sugar too. Yeah. And you can uh I mean if you don't. want to use sugar and you want to use. honey, look up a recipe that is specific. to honey and they will help account for. that, right? Uh in certain ways, but. it's still to me, you know, white sugar. do it right. Um and then they sugar also. gives it that nice golden brown color.

through the mayard reaction. Yeah, that. and the eggs for sure. Yeah. Well, we're. at eggs. Sugar and eggs. Eggs are big. Uh, yeah. Especially if they're ostrich eggs. Eggs. I know. Eggs have proteins in. them, right? Mhm. And there's a couple. of things in there. Um, those proteins. help give structure to the. cake, I believe. Yes, absolutely. Uh, the emulsifiers and the yolk, uh, they.

help, it's also kind of serves as a. binding agent. There are a lot of. things, including flour, that help bind. things together. But those eggs and. those yolks uh very much do because. there are certain things in cake. sometimes that don't want to mix. Yeah. Like the water. Yeah. And the egg comes. together and says, "What? You know, can. we all just kind of stick together. here?" Literally. Nice. Yes. That wasn't. meant to be a pun. I meant that. And I. think the two big emulsifiers are. actually in the egg yolk. Um cholesterol. and leithin are found in egg yolk. And.

they're like, "Hey everybody, come on. Let's let's hang out." That's right. And. there's also fats in egg. And we also we. already mentioned that fats are are. awesome and taste delicious. Plus also, if you're using whole eggs, most of the. egg white is water. The vast majority is. water. And as we'll see, water and. liquids play a big role in the cake, too. So, it's all like the the idea of. people figuring all this out through. millennia of little contributions here.

or there is just it's just a blessing on. humanity. It is it's a really neat accomplishment. that everyone had came together to. figure this out over the span of time in. wonderful kitchens on cold winter days. that were like, you know, you've got. like a nice cake baking in the oven. You're contributing to humanity's. knowledge of being great. Yeah. A lot of. bad the carcasses of a lot of bad cakes. have been left in its wake. Sure. To get. where we are today. A lot of unhappy. families and a lot of unpleasant.

conversations about those cakes. But. still, and I bet in the olden days when. times were a little tougher, they. probably still ate those cakes. Oh, yeah. I would guess so. You know, you. probably didn't just toss it out to the. mules. No, you gave them to sailors who. were glad to have them. Uh, all right. That brings us to flour. Very, very. important uh ingredient in most baked. goods. And flour is what is going to. really be the binding agent. It's really. going to hold everything together, give. it its structure. Yeah. A lot of.

structure and strength. And uh this is. when when you mix these proteins with. water, it's going to form gluten. And. gluten, I know a lot of people hate. gluten, my wife being one of them. Yeah. But gluten is a pretty key ingredient. here. Although, I will say they've come. a long way now with gluten-free cakes. They have. It doesn't make you quite as. sad to eat one. No, they're pretty good. now. If you get a good gluten-free cake, it's um Well, a cheesecake is. gluten-free, so that's okay with me. I. mean, you know, your standard substitute.

flour. Uh, they they've just gotten a. lot better, I think. Yep. So, in a. standard glutenous cake, um, that that. gluten from the, um, from the flour. mixing with the water forms a gel and it. gives it that structure. It gives it. that, um, consistency, the texture that you're. looking for. But again, the sugar's. robbing the the um the proteins and the. starches from getting too much water.

because the more water it gets, the more. um the tougher the cake is going to be, the the more gluten. So, you actually. want to make sure that your sugar's. taking away some of the liquids. But. also, the type of flour you use um has a. lot to do with how tough your cake's. going to turn out. So, like there is. such a thing as cake flour. Yes. That's. something like 7% 7 and 12% protein. which is going to translate into less. gluten when you mix it with water. Right. Yeah. So it's going to be a. lighter fluffier cake. Um and then.

there's allpurpose flour is 10 12%. Bread flour is 12%. And depending on. what kind of consistency you want in. your cake, you would use these different. kinds of flour. And all of it comes down. to the the amount of gluten that's going. to be produced when it interacts with. the liquids. That's right. And finally, that brings us to the liquids. The. liquids are obviously going to help keep. things moist. They hydrate those. proteins. They allow all those chemical. changes to take place. Uh but that.

liquid does when you actually bake the. cake when it comes time to put it in the. oven, which we're going to get to here. in a sec. Mhm. Uh that creates a steam. like that liquid cooks out and. vaporizes. So that steam expands the air. cells and that volume and uh it it. really lends itself to the the light. airy structure and texture that you're. going to get. Yeah. It blows up the the. CO2 bubbles in it even further which. helps make the cake rise. Plus it also. Chuck fosters that chemical reaction.

between the acids and the bases that act. as leavenning agents that release CO2 in. the first place. the presence of liquids. and the presence or water specifically, I think, and heat really make that CO2. go berserk. Uh, all right. Well, we should talk. about ovens. Yeah. I was about to say you can't bake. a cake without an oven, but apparently. you can. You can in Egypt. Yeah. Ancient. Egypt. All right. So, let's say we're. not in ancient Egypt. Um, let's say.

we're in in in regular North America and. Europe. Mhm. In the 18th century is. basically when the semi-closed oven came. around. And before this, if you were. baking cakes, well, you were probably a. professional baker because these ovens. weren't in every household, right? And. even in the the 18th century, they. weren't in every household either, but. they started to become a lot more. prevalent around that time. That was a. big first step toward people baking at.

home. um not just cakes but anything you. know. Yeah. In cake history that was a. huge monumental moment when the enclosed. oven became kind of ubiquitous among. households for sure because what you get. there is um consistency. You get a. consistent even temperature and of. course that just got better and better. over the years with advances in oven. technology. Yeah. Uh and more than. anything you get a a reliable. temperature ideally, right? And if you. have those things, you can make a cake.

after cake after cake that your family. won't be mad about. The sailors will. stop coming by and being like, "You got. any more of them terrible cakes you. made?". Sailors. Yeah, that's who you give the. terrible cakes to. I say bumpin sailors. Sure. All right. Um, so with the uh oven. in particular, I didn't realize this, but you know how the the liquid and the. heat and the sodium bicarbonate and the. acids are mixing together to make the. cake rise. Yes. That is actually a.

really fragile state of affairs while. the cake is baking and the structure, the proteins and the starches and the. gluten are actually solidifying and. making this this cake. Um, and if you mess with the oven, meaning like you open and close the door. too often or you slam it shut too hard, Yeah. you're gonna that the change in. temperature on the one hand can cool. those gases and make your cake fall and. it makes a W sound as it does as.

everyone knows. And then um the air. pressure from slamming the door can. burst those CO2 bubbles. And again, your. the proteins haven't had a chance to. like solidify and make the cake. structure. So the cake can fall from. that as well. And if you'll notice, um. once a cake gets to a certain point, if. it falls, it falls in the middle. The. outside usually stays up because that. part has solidified already. The stuff. in the middle hasn't quite cooked. through. So that would be the part that. falls. And that also proves my point. That's right. Uh, you also want to put.

your cake in the middle. Uh, where you. place your cake in the oven can even. cause problems. It's very finicky cakes. are. Sure. Well, again, it's a science. experiment. Yeah. They're basically. like, "Do do this right, jerk." Or, "I. might just take a nap here in the in the. middle of the in the middle of the cake. Maybe it'll burn. Maybe I'll stink up. your whole house." But like you said. about opening the door, like ideally, you know, the the temperature of your. oven, you know how long it takes. And. maybe don't wait till literally you. think I can pull it out. Although if.

you're a good baker, you're not sweating. it. You pull it out and you know it's. pretty much ready, right? But definitely. don't keep opening it. Try and at least. wait till the end. And if you have uh. they're not quite as in fashion now, I. don't think, but uh ovens with a a. window and a light. Mhm. Um you can. obviously take a little peek that way. Sure. Those are kind of out of fashion, right? Or are they? I don't not that I. know of. I feel like I don't see those a. lot. Do you have a a window in your. oven? Sure, of course. What am I, a. communist? Do you? Yes, with a light.

Oh, man. What do you have? Just a. stainless steel door. That's a. dishwasher, man. Oh, that's my problem. Yeah. Like, my cakes always come out wet. and soapy. Wait a minute. Do I have a. window? Sure you do. I think everyone. does. I'm literally cannot picture my. kitchen right now. Jerry, he's got a window, right? Have I. been baking in the dishwasher? Jerry and. I say yes. You have a window in your. oven. Yeah, that might be I might have. just said something very dumb. So So.

it's staying in though. Well, I do know. You know what? I think I do have a. window, but I don't have a working. light. That's why I think I don't have a. window. Need to replace the light bulb. Yeah, but who wants to bother with that? For all you can go to like uh any any uh. big box hardware store, Colop hardware. store off the internet. Sure. I don't. replace light bulbs at my house. Matter. of fact, I think they probably sell them. at the grocery store even. You go find. yourself some Gulf wax and you're. probably near the refrigerator oven. light bulbs. All right. The heat of the.

oven is very important. So, depending on. how good your oven is, it may be a. little off, maybe a little hotter or. cooler. So, uh you might want to. purchase an oven thermometer just to. give it a double check because baking is. science. And when you think that that. cake is done, take a little peek through. your window that everyone has. Uh or. open it if you really think it's done. Give a little tap in the center. If it. springs back, then it's probably done. If you're an experienced baker, you just. know by looking at it. Or you can always.

do the old toothpick trick, which is. sticking that toothpick, wooden. toothpick, in the center of the cake and. pull it out. And if there's no cake on. it, then it's pretty much. done, right? If it's if it's covered in. goo, that means it's not done. Uh, that. is correct, Chuck. But then you can also. lick that goo off that toothpick. Uh, that's not bad. No, you can, but. you're it's just never quite as good. I. think it's it always tastes like.

disappointment. You know what I mean? Cuz you you want. it to come out clean anytime you're. doing that. You're never really putting. it in expecting it to come out battery. Yeah. Yeah. So, even though you do get. to lick it, that's like the one plus. side of that that experience. I think. that's true. Uh, and if your cake is. done, you're not finished baking it yet. Even, you need to let it cool in the. pan. Yeah, that's a big one. You don't. just pull the cake out and and turn it. upside down in your sink and eat it with. your hands while it's still hot, right?

That's not the way to do it. No. No. You. want to let it finish in the pan cooling. because it's still doing a little bit of. baking and it's getting used to its new. room in the kitchen and saying, "All. right, this is a different temperature. in here. I I can I think I can hang with. you guys." Yeah, I'm alive. 10 or 15. minutes later, get out that wire rack, flip it over, and ideally it comes out. all in one nice thing. Yep. Uh, and the. other good thing about letting it cool. in the pan first, too, is when you cool.

it on the wire rack, it won't get those. wire indent indentations in the cake. because it'll be stable enough. I never. thought about that. Nobody likes those. Sure, you can fill it in with a little. extra frosting. Yeah. Actually, now that. I think about it, that's great. Those. those indentations are just fine. The frosting grooves, in other words. Yep. Should we take a break? Yes. All. right. We're going to talk um well just. about other cakey stuff right after. this. [Music].

Okay, Chuck, you remember I was talking. about baking soda and how that changed. everything? Yep. That was a big one. That was from the 1840s. baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, um just good. oldfashioned regular old baking soda. started to be added to it. But at the. time, you needed to um also add another.

ingredient that was an acid so that the. two would react and form CO2 or produce. CO2. Right. Yeah. Somebody about 20. years after baking soda was developed. said, "Oh, I got this. Um we're going to. come up with something called baking. powder." And I never knew this, but this. is the difference between baking soda. and baking powder. Baking soda is just. sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder is. sodium bicarbonate and two other dry. acidic minerals. Yeah, that when dry, they don't do anything. You can mix them.

together all day long and they just sit. there like what? Um, but in the presence. of water and heat, then they start to. react chemically with one another. So, you can add just a little baking powder. and you don't need an extra ingredient. like yogurt or vinegar or some other. acid. It's got the base and the acid. that's going to produce the CO2 in. there. That was a huge huge advancement. for cakes. But it actually came um kind. of toward the end of cake advancements. Prior to that um just the the mass.

production of the uh industrial. revolution had a big impact on cakes. among many many other things but. definitely had an impact on the spread. of cake baking especially in the United. States. Yeah. And then so just, you. know, leave that baking soda in your. fridge to soak up the stink. Sure. Cuz. that's all it's good for. Well, that and. No, you can use the baking soda for a. lot of stuff. Yeah. It also gets stink. out of like clothes, too. Oh, yeah. Mhm. Um, you can use it to uh Well, that's.

it. No, like school science projects. You want to make a volcano? Yeah. Vinegar and baking soda. That's right. With your parents help. Yeah. uh. pre packaged cake mix was a very big. deal when it came out in the 1930s, but. it was uh it was a company named P. Duff. and Sons. Mhm. And they said, "We got a. problem here. We got too much molasses. on our hands." So, and then this is kind. of how a lot of great things have been. invented. They had too much of.

something. They said, "Well, what can we. use this for?" So, they got to work and. they said, uh, Mr. John Duff, the owner, said, "You know what? Throw a little. wheat flour in there with this molasses, little shortening, some spices. We got a. gingerbread mix that we can sell to the. public. All you got to do is add water, dum dum, and you can bake yourself some. gingerbread cookies. Yeah. And the the. public went hooray because remember they. had. um ovens now in their houses. Yes. Um. and they had this the idea that you.

could just get a mix from the store and. just add water was huge. That was a huge. change. And what's interesting is this. this whole like Puffin Son story, they're out of Pittsburgh by the way, from them coming up because I think they. quickly um went from just gingerbread. mixes to cake mixes themselves as well, but that bust uh several myths actually, some like long-standing food myths. Yeah. One of them is that um cake mix. came out of a surplus of flour in from.

World War II. That's where the cake mix. came from. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cake. pre-made cake mixes did get way more. popular after World War II, but it. wasn't because there was so much flour. No, it was because that a lot of the. food companies started getting into. premixed foods. Yeah. That that you. could make pretty easily in your. kitchen. Um, but then the other one, I. love this one. There's this. long-standing myth or this story about a. guy named Ernest Dar who uh back in the.

1950s, Ernest Dar, he was a. psychologist, I believe. He came up with. the term focus group. He he came up with. the whole idea of focus groups um to. help companies figure out why their new. product wasn't doing so well or how to. make a product that they hadn't launched. yet even more appealing. Um this guy. came up with that whole idea of focus. groups. Right. Correct. So, he's also credited with being the. man who saved cake mixes because cake.

mixes came out. Everybody kind of loved. them. And then supposedly sales went. flat and Ernest Dictor got a focus group. together and found out that women who. made cakes using these cake mixes felt. guilty that they weren't contributing. anything to their families. They were. just adding water and making a cake and. then quietly sobbing while their family. ate it. Talk about a patriarchal. brainwashing, right? So, Dictor um. realized that the the best thing that.

these cake mix companies could do is to. remove the dried egg ingredients from. the mix and tell the consumer to add her. own eggs. So then that way she was. contributing. Well, it was a huge. success and cake mixes took off and. became part of the American pantheon. from that point on. Right. Not true. No. Yeah. That is a total urban myth. Uh. most of these pre-made mixes for years.

had said to add your own eggs because it. just was better to add fresh eggs. It. tastes better and perform better. So, I. don't know how that got started. Uh the. the myth. Yeah. Was it uh I'm not sure. either. Okay. I I don't know. But it is. a long-standing food myth that you can. find like some very credible sources who. say like, "Oh, this is this happened.". Um it's just everywhere. But it turns. out that's not true. But I think the. reason why it has had legs for so long.

is because Ernest Dictor is actually. rightfully credited with saving the cake. mix market, right? um through a focus. group and he did find that um women were. kind of not they didn't feel guilty. about it about you know not contributing. more to the cake mix. I think they were. more bored by it. Mhm. So he advised. companies to um figure out a way to make. cake baking about way more than just. baking the cake. And so companies.

decided that um they were going to start. promoting cakes as just the beginning. part that the real point of baking cakes. was to make these elaborate amazing. cakes that you decorated and and it took. you hours and hours to make these things. and it was like a scene of like Humpty. Dumpty on a brick wall, but the whole. thing was made out of cake. Um, and that. was fostered by the introduction of. frosting. And that came from Ernest. Dictor. And that actually is what saved.

the cake mix industry. That's right. You. want to know something about my mom? Yeah. Champion cake decorator. Is that. right? Not literal champion. Like she. never won a contest. Yeah, because that is out there. Uh but. yeah, I mean as far as the the home uh. the home cake baker goes, like she she. couldn't go on one of these uh shows now. where they make like the Great British. Bake Off. Yeah. Like giant submarines. and stuff out of fondant. But um just. for like mom making special cakes every.

year for the birthday, every year she. would say, "What kind of cake you want. this year?" I'd be like, "I want a Star. Wars cake. I want an Atlanta Falcons. cake." And lo and behold, I would get my. Atlanta Falcons cake. That's awesome. Very cool stuff, you know. Um I had an. older sister who uh she died actually. when I was 16 uh in a car accident, but. she um used to be I the equivalent of. your mom at making cakes. Oh, really? But she didn't even need to ask. She. would just I she'd just make something. up, right? Yeah. Yeah. And there was.

this one year, I'll never forget this. cake. Um we were all big time into. Howard Jones, so it must have been like. my Yeah. It must have been like my ninth. or tenth birthday. My whole like both my. sisters and me were totally into Howard. Jones. And uh Karen, my sister, my. oldest sister, made a Howard Jones. keyboard cake. Wow. And it was a couple. of sheet cakes put together frosted, so. it looked like one big thing. The like. the black keys were Kit Kats. Like the. the knobs on the synthesizer were rolos.

And I was I just looked around at all my. friends like, "Does everyone see my. cake? This is the greatest cake anyone's. ever had." And no one can have any but. me. No, I shared, of course. I wanted to. everyone to partake in the bounty. Was. it a guitar or a keyboard? It was a. keyboard. Okay. Yeah. You never know. Strap a uh Yeah. Strap a guitar strap on. it. You might could have held it. I. would not have put a pastor to make it a. a key. Man, that is very sweet story. Yeah, literally and figuratively. Thank.

you. Hojo fans, huh? Yes. Wasn't that his nickname? I don't. think so. Did I make that up? Yeah, I. think that's the hotel chain. I think. you're totally right. Um, all right. Well, another tip here for baking a. cake. If you were looking at recipes and. it says use this kind of pan, you think, "Well, I don't have that kind of pan. I've got this kind of pan. It's aluminum. and square and they're calling for a. round uh dark pan." Uh, it's it makes a. big difference. Like, it can literally.

ruin your cake. Yeah. You supposedly. want to reduce the heat, I think. Not. the heat or the cook time. One of the. two. Yeah. It says a dark non-stick pan. requires 25% reduction in temperature. So, you want to knock that heat down. 25%. Yeah. But also like Google that. stuff. Don't just say Josh and Chuck. said this should work, you know, like. you have to have this the right pan for. that recipe and they they will tell you. in the recipe and if you don't have it, just look up the the cheat for it.

basically. Yeah. two things you don't. want to take our advice blindly on. Medical stuff and baking stuff. Yeah, everything else is fine. I don't know. about that, but those are the two. leading ways that we will mess your life. up for sure. Um All right. Well, I guess. we need to talk about the different. methods. We're getting super wonky into. cakes here. Well, I mean, that's what we. do. All right. Well, let's talk about. creaming then because that is one kind. of method of making a cake. And uh. creaming is what we talked about. You.

may not have known exactly what we. meant, but when you combine like the. butter and sugar, and it says cream it. with an electric beater. That's what. you're doing. And it's it's really tough. at first to get it going. But just hang. in there cuz that butter will start to. break apart mixing it with that sugar. and you uh you've got a nice a nice. creamed um mix of ingredients, starter. mix of ingredients on your hand there, right? But you don't skimp on that that. uh that first step. No. And that's like.

that I think the creaming method um. that's that's that's the one that best. gets across this point that this is like. this is a there it's a chemical. reaction. I know we've kind of been. beating that horse. But it's really. true. Like if you if you don't follow. the steps correctly, the chemical. reaction is not going to come out. correctly. Right. And when you step. back, you're like, "But I'm baking a. cake." That's true. But do you want your. cake to to be good or do you want to. just waste your time? Yeah. So, in the. creaming method when it says then mix.

ingredients in this order, wet then dry, right? Do that, right? Don't just say, "Ah, just throw it all in there." Right. Yep. It makes a difference. And uh it. says that pound cakes are a like a. variation on the theme. Sure. I looked. in the pound cakes, man. Do you know? So, the the idea that pound cakes called. for a pound of each ingredient, that's. actually true. Yeah, I know. But the. reason why it called for a pound of each. ingredient was because a lot of the. British people at the time in the early. 1700s.

um couldn't read. So it was just an easy. way to remember the recipe. Oh, interesting. Yeah. All right. I'll buy. that. They'd be like, "What's a. tibis?" And also pound cakes, too. The. reason um why you're not going to find a. pound cake with a big buttercream. frosting is cuz that will that will send. you into sugar shock in a second. Poundake is already really dense and. sugary. Like that's why you just have. like a little glaze on top. Yep. I do.

like that glaze actually. I'll eat a. poundake. I think that glaze is Oh, what's it called? Delicious. Something. something icing. Imperial icing. Oh, I. don't know. I can't remember. Uh okay. Okay. So, the next one is the non the no. arration method to where you're not. really you're not whipping anything up. Um yeah, you probably don't even have. flour in this in this probably a. flowerless cake, right? So, this this is. the kind of thing that you use to um. make like a cheesecake or a flowerless.

chocolate cake. Yeah, those can be very. good. Sure. Um, and you are probably. going to need to add some sort of. moisture because cakes like this tend to. crack while they're baking. Which is why. a lot of them, cheesecakes in. particular, you cook in a water bath in. the oven because that water vaporizes. and steams around it and helps keep that. moisture in. Yeah. I never knew that. The reason for the water bath, I didn't. know that you used a water bath. That. was news to me. Yeah. I've never made a. cheesecake. Yeah, they can be quite.

good. Oh, I love cheesecake. I don't. think I've ever had any bad cheesecake. That's always good. That's another. thing, too. Um Publix cheesecake is. incredible, man. They need to sponsor. us. And they sell it by the double slice. for those. Like you get two slices. And. they have a key lime one too, Chuck. That's just Oh, man. Although, if you. don't like lemon stuff, you might not. like that. Oh, no. I love key lime. Okay. Try their key lime cheesecake. Yeah, they really should send us some. stuff. Frankly, at uh Isisle of Palms,

the for my vacation that I've spoken. about, they had um one of the I can't. remember which one, but one of the. seafood joints where I would get all the. fresh seafood had a homemade key lime. pie and I bought and ate one of them. with my friends that week and I bought. two to go home with. Mhm. Did they make. it home? Huh? Did they make it all the. way home? No. Yeah, I stopped in uh I. stopped at the border. Yeah. Just put my. face in it. No, they made it home and I. think there's still one in the freezer.

actually and then one of them uh was. consumed. Nice. Yeah. Good key lime pie. Delicious. Mhm. And finally, with the. non-arration method, you are you not. doing the um the beating. You're not. creaming that stuff. You're folding the. batter. And uh we could describe it. here, but if you don't know what folding. is in baking, just just look it up on. the YouTube for a proper folding. technique. Right. Generally done with a. like a rubber spatula. Yep. Um there's a. foaming method too where you are.

basically using just egg whites usually. and you're airrating it by whipping them. up which makes a meringue. You can just. stop there and incorporate sugar and. you've got meringue which would make a. pavlova cake which apparently Australia. and New Zealand have been fighting over. the origin of for close to a hundred. years now. But doesn't New Zealand win? Supposedly. All right. Although I saw. another um article from some researchers. who said no, it came even earlier, a. decade earlier out of America via. Germany. Huh. So, who knows? But yes,

out of Australia and New Zealand. New. Zealand's apparently won that fight, but. that's meringue and pavlova cake is like. a meringue cake with um like fruit in. the middle of it. No. Um and. then Yeah. And then um a listener sent. us pavlova once. We made it. It was. pretty good. It It is pretty good. Yeah. Um and then um you can also take that. egg foam and turn it into like a sponge. cake, like an angel food cake or. something like that. Not me. You don't.

like those either? No, not big into. angel food cake. Although you can use. sponge cake for strawberry shortcake. that I will have. Okay, so those spongy. cakes that's that uses the egg foaming. method. But if you're making a true. strawberry shortcake, you're going to. use an actual short cake. Yeah, those. are really good. And the reason they're. called short cake or shortbread's called. shortbread is short is apparently a. British term for crumbly. Oh, okay. So. that's where that came from. Not not has. nothing to do with the size. Yeah, Emily.

makes a really good gluten-free. shortbread. She's kind of gotten into. baking a bit in the last five or six. years and gotten pretty good at it. Um, so she makes a good gluten-free. shortbread that we've had as short cake. with homemade whipped topping and uh. good fresh strawberries. Those are good, but u my one complaint with her baking. is it literally looks like she came in. there and just started throwing. ingredients everywhere with her bare. hands like a three-year-old and then. baked, right? And then said, "I'm done.".

Yeah. Good night. It is a It is a mess. Yeah. A big big mess. And she always. just says, "Get out of here. I'll clean. it up afterward. Don't worry about it.". Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. The kitchen can. be a place of real tension sometimes. Huh. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Especially if. both of you uh are do different things. in the kitchen, right? Like one's. hovering like, "Are you going to clean. that up?" Well, I'm the kitchen cleaner, so that's why she's just like, "Just. stay out of here, dude." Right. Just. wait until the end. Yeah. and you show. up, you're like, "It's Marg's time to. shine." Well, I'll do this. And this is.

such a passive aggressive move for me, uh, which is my style. Um, not endorsing. that. I'm just saying it's one of my. downfalls I need to work on. But I will. just go in there and just like groan or. something. Like, oh god. And she'll just say, "No, out." Right. Again, that's life at the Bryant House. Um, that's that's pretty nice, Chuck. It's always with love, though. Yeah. It.

always comes out. There's always a cake. on the on the other end, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not like we get. in serious fights over the kitchen. stuff, right? Yeah. Um, so what's the. last thing here? Uh, something called. the all-in-one method. Yeah. That's just. like a cake mix. We put it all all. together at once. Yeah. Well, we should. talk a little bit about frosting and. icing. Um, the earliest versions of. frosting was just sort of a an almond. and sugar paste. Mhm. Uh, eh, not so big. on that. But, uh, French Oh, really? I.

mean, it can be okay, but almond. croissants are like one of my great joys. in life lately. Oh, yeah. They're so. good. I suppose that's kind of what a. bearclaw is, too, right? Yeah. All. right, I take it. Yeah, but that almond. that sweet almond paste inside is Man, that's it. It is good. But I'm like, don't put that on top of a cake for me. Sure. understood. Stuff it in a pastry. Good. Um, a French chef though is the. first person they think that created. like the first legit iced layer cake in. the 15th century. And then about the.

middle of the 17th century is when the. first frosting recipes started uh. spreading around on the internet. Right. And fondant is gross. Yeah, I'm not into. it. No. I mean, you can make a neat. looking cake, but it's gross tasting, I. think. Yeah, I'm not into it. buttercream or cream cheese. Uh or even. Emily's Waldorf Historia frosting. Believe it or not, I mean, it has a bit. of a mouth feel because of the. shortening, but um like a a residue.

Mhm. On the pallet. Yeah. On the roof of. your mouth. Yeah. But it's still good. Well, let's talk about cakes like like. the um Well, no, specific cakes like the. uh red velvet cake, right? Yeah. Delicious. Do you know why it's red? Well, food coloring that they use that. to make it a little richer, but it. actually naturally turns red. It's a. chemical reaction between the cocoa, the. um vinegar in it, and the buttermilk, I. believe. Really? Yes. It turns it red.

All right. I don't know about that. No, it's true. Okay. I read it on What's. Cooking America. I will try it because. I'm making Emily. Her birthday is in a. couple weeks and I'm making another I'm. taking another stab at it. Try the try. go find like an original like like. recipe. Well, I mean, what do you mean? Like one. if you if you see one that actually uses. buttermilk, be like, "Okay, this one. This is one of the ones I'm going to. try." No, no, no. I have to use the. recipe she tells me to use. Oh, I gota.

the Waldor the gluten-free Waldorf. Historia version. Oh, gotcha. I see. But. you have cocoa. Does it have like. vinegar and buttermilk in it? M I can't. remember. It's been a couple years since. I tried it. Okay. Well, it should turn. red on its own, but I don't think. there's any harm in adding some more. synthetic chemical red dye to Well, and. the the thing is too, a lot of people. that don't try red velvet cake don't try. it because they think it doesn't like it. tastes like chocolate cake pretty much. Yeah. It just is red. Doesn't taste red. No, that'd be weird. It's not ketchup.

cake. There's uh Yeah, that's Canadian, isn't it? There's hummingbird cakes. Uh, well, what do you mean by the. hummingbird? What is it? Hummingbird. cake has like some nuts and some fruit. in it. Uh, lots of frosting. I think. it's a southern cake. Yeah. Like we. called my grandmother Bryant called one. of the great all-time southern cooks and. bakers. Mhm. Like, you know, banana nut. bread. Yeah. She called that. hummingbird. And I don't know if that. was specific to her or if they are. interchangeable. I I don't know. I'm not.

actually a southern native, so I I would. not say one way or the other. All my. experience with hummingbird cake is it's. more like a carrot cake. Yeah. With with. say like pineapple in it and some other. fruits in it and a thick layer of. frosting. And supposedly the reason it's. called a hummingbird cake is because. it's so sweet it could attract. hummingbirds. See, maybe I mean that's. sort of like banana nutbre. So I don't. know if they're interchangeable or if. it's a variation, but give me some. banana nut bread, which is not a cake,

but it sort of is. and slice it up and. put some butter on it. Yeah. Toast it in. the oven. Yep. No, I'm with you. Um, our freezer is. always chuck full of black bananas. Blackened with age. Oh, sure. Um, cuz. Yumi makes a killer banana nut bread. from scratch using I mean, you just. can't look at the bananas when she's. incorporating them. Yeah. What does that. do? Why Why is that the key? Do you. know? Uh, they just are supposed to be. mushy. Okay. Oh, okay. Gotcha. And and.

like it the best way to make bananas. mushy is to let them age. Let them age. Freeze age them. All right, let's talk. about Indian pound cake. Apparently. that's a thing that has cornmeal in it. And I can't imagine that taste, but I'd. like to try it. Well, yeah, and that was. one of the earliest cakes in the US. And. I think the what um the author Aaliyah. Hoy is pointing out is that like cakes. came from all over the place through. time and and geography. and that the mass.

immigration toward into America over say. like the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries and. 20th too. All these people from all. these different lands brought their. ideas or ingredients of cake and they. kind of went through this Americanized. grinder to where eggs were added, butter. was added, and like you've got these. ingredients. So, it bears a resemblance. to its original one, but it's been like. cakeified, right, in the American way. Um, and that that started basically.

right as as um European settlers got to. um North America. Yeah. Apparently the. the good oldfashioned chocolate layer. cake came out of Boston. Mhm. Uh because. there were chocolate companies there. Even the German chocolate cake is not. German. It's American. It's named after. a man whose last name was German. Oh, interesting. Well, that means he's. German. German American could be. Maybe. they should call it the German American. chocolate cake. Or just German chocolate. cake. But it's really American everybody. is what the real title should be.

Strawberry shortcake that you mentioned. that does come from the old world. I'm. not much of a jingoist either. I think. you might say I've never felt more. national pride than in talking about. cakes. Yeah. Yeah. This is where cakes. were born. Really? Uh the pineapple. upside down cake. Heaven help you if you. eat that stuff. I love it. Do you. really? Man, it's so good. Yeah. I just. don't like fruit anywhere near my cake. Yeah, unless a strawberry shortcake. You.

definitely wouldn't like a hummingbird. cake then even. Yeah, maybe that's the. difference between a uh hummingbird and. uh banana bread, right? Although bananas. in there, right? That's a Well, that's. not a fruit cake to me. No, you just. don't like the um juicy fruits in your. cake. It sounds like No. or coconut, which isn't the German chocolate cake. fro is that coconut in the icing. Yeah. Yeah. See that? So good. I don't want. coconut anywhere near my cakes.

But that pineapple uh upside down cake. Apparently that stuff sort of sprang out. of a contest uh Dole had the Dole. company in in the mid 1920s that said, "Hey, bake some cakes with fruit." And. so thousands of uh pineapple upside down. cakes came out. So, I don't think they. were invented for that, but maybe that's. just what made them so popular. I don't. know. Gotcha. And then there's other, again, there's cakes around the world. that look like cakes, kind of like. tiramisu. Yum. Is a quintessential.

Italian cake, but it was invented in the. 1960s. Black Forest cake actually is. from Germany. It was invented in 1915. So what happened was again cake. explosion happened here in the good old. US of A and it spread back out to the. world. There was an influx of cake ideas. into America. America perfected the cake. and it went back out to the world. That's right. That's what happened. What. else? What uh what about the trese.

leches? That's great, too. Three kinds. of milk, evaporated, condensed, and. whole. It's tough to go wrong with that. Yeah. Talk about moist. And I've like. I've had good and bad trace leches, but. I've never had an actual trace leche. that I was like, "This is so bad I'm not. going to finish it." Right. Have you? No. And then there's Doda. Yaki, which is like um Have you ever had. this? I don't think so. Uh one of the. big things that that um people in Japan.

love is like sweetened red bean paste. Okay. Uh you can find it here or there. in like sweets, but this doriyaki um in. particular is like between two pancakes. It's like a filling. Sometimes it's not. even two pancakes. It's like a hole with. like a red bean paste inside. Okay. It's. like this light kind of fluffy uh cake-. like thing with red bean paste inside. It's good. Um you can they're best like. hot off of the street from somebody who. just made it. That's when it's. absolutely best. But it's like the kind.

of thing you can also find in a 7-Eleven. or something too, like in cellophane. Wow. Yeah, it's good. It's no. cheesecake. No Japanese cheesecake, I'll. tell you that. Nope. But it's still. pretty good. Man, that was a good one. I. think. cakes. All right. Are you done? I'm. done. Okay. If you want to know more. about cakes, go eat some. You're going. to love them. Yes. There's a cake out. there for you. Uh and since I said that, it's time for listener mail. All.

right. I'm going to call this um a. special oneman administrative details. shout. Oh, wow. Cuz we got a box today. from a man named Nick Pagan. Mhm. From. uh San Jose, Bay Area, and he sent us. just a lot of stuff. Mhm. Like good. stuff. It wasn't a box full of garbage. He sent uh he sent Not that anyone ever. has sent us a box full of garbage. He. sent us uh framed things. Uh sent me a.

framed pavement poster, which is great. Very nice. And sent us uh CDs of music. He sent bottles of liquid stuff. Most. notably wine for Jerry and then bourbon. and scotch for us. Mhm. And he is a. whiskey enthusiast that lives in the Bay. Area like big time. Yeah. And just a. good dude. And beyond that, he uh he. added this. He added he's a he's a list. maker, an amateur list maker, right? And.

he sent us a list. And Nick, if you're. listening, please send us the the word. document digital version of this. printout that you sent cuz he said every. time you said we should do a podcast on. that. Yeah. He made a list. alphabetically of that stuff. Nice work, Nick. And the list is so comprehensive. and awesome that we need it to work. from. Yes. He made he made a list of. films that each of us said we need to. see. Mhm. Which is pretty good. And then. finally, he sent us a list and and.

encouraged us to play a little game. here, which we'll do very quickly. Of uh. see if Chuck can see if Josh can guess. how many times we've done the following. things. You ready? Why me? Well, because. I have the list in my hand and you're. sitting across from me and you can't see. it through this paper, I don't think. So, how many COAs, and for people that. don't know, it means cover our butts. Uh, how many COAs have we issued over a. thousand shows? I'm going to say 27. 75. Wow. Wow. We.

are really good at that, huh? Uh, how. many times have we admitted on the air. that it is a take two? Man, you're not going to get any of. these. Or maybe you might. It'll be. total luck if I do. Eight. Seven. Oh, so. close. Uh, rare listener mail shout out. Mhm. Oh. Uh, I don't know what that. means. Uh, like where we say, "Hey, can. you say hello to my boyfriend?" Oh, yeah. Three. No. 62. What? That's pretty.

rare though. Out of a thousand. Yeah. But still, it seems like I thought it. was even rarer than that. Did we used to. do it more than we do now? I think so. I. think that's what it was, too. We're a. little more generous in our earlier. days. Yeah. Uh, trips in the wayback. machine. Oh, there's a lot of those. I'm. going to say out of a thousand. episodes, 320. He says 59. So, I don't. know about this, Nick. I think he missed. a few. Nick, you're just making up. numbers, aren't you? Drinking scotch at.

home and making up numbers. How many. paper lists have you eaten? Me? Yeah. One that I know of. Yep. You. nailed it. I I remember the episode, too. It was um how geniuses work or what. makes a genius. Uh-huh. And I said that. if this list, if the list of geniuses, if the number one genius was Einstein, I. would eat the list. And it turned out it. was Einstein. Uh, how many Glenn, Danzig, or Misfits references? Those. would be all you. 17. Four.

Need to step it up. Uh, how many times. has Chuck was How many times have I done. this? Wow. I think it's literally countless. If he. came up with a number, it's a lie. He. says 288. That's got to be more than. that. Uh, Simpsons references. I'll just. go ahead and tell you. 197. Uh, apparently we have high five. Does that include the two episodes on. the Simpsons? No, no, no. I don't think. so. Um, apparently we have high-fived. once. Okay. I'm surprised we even did. that. Sure. Uh, number of times Josh has.

done this a lot. Uh, I don't know. I think a lot just. just works for that. 426 times. almost half of our episodes. That's. great. Yeah. Um, and then bonus, name. all of Josh's nicknames for Chuck. I'll. just go ahead and read those. Uh, you. have called me Chuckers. You've called. me beautiful. Don't remember that one. Uh, the famous Chuck Tran. Uh, Cheich, Rusty, Zonkers, and the.

Flash. Nick is my new favorite listener. This This is all gold. Plus, thanks for. uh for buttering us up with the care. package, too, Nick. That was nice of. you. Yeah. So, Nick Pagan, you are now. on the guest list for the San Francisco. Sketchfest show. Uh just hit me up with. an email. Send that list of shows that. we need to do via digital document and. you are in like Flynn. Cool. Thanks a. lot, Nick. Well, if you want to be like.

Nick, uh you can send us an email to. StuffPodcast@houseuffworks.com. And as. always, join us at our home on the web, stuffyou know.com. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].