My Life as a Coffee Cake Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marzipan

Marzipan is ground from almonds and has sugar mixed in to make a sweet, nutty paste often used to ice cakes, including Battenberg cake. Battenberg cake was said to originate when baked to celebrate the marriage of one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters and Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884. Battenberg cake brought with it a German sense of culinary style, as marzipan was popular in German dishes at the time.

Although Louis of Battenberg eventually changed his name to Mountbatten to avoid persecution during World War I, Battenberg cake has since kept its original name.

Answer: For blackout drills practised in World War II

Blackout cake does have dark chocolate, and lots of it, but its name originated from World War II blackout drills in the USA, specifically in Brooklyn, New York. The lights would be turned off so as to avoid giving clues as to human locations when night-time bombings would take place.

The cake's dark colour might reflect its concealment quality in a dark location during such times. The cake is a layered cake with dark chocolate pudding layered inside and on top of the cake, with cake crumbs dusted on top. Sadly, the Ebinger Baking Company, who first made the cake, went bankrupt and bust in 1972.

Answer: Carrot cake

Carrots are a sweet vegetable, and back in medieval times, it is theorised that sweeteners were difficult to obtain. Thus, carrots were used instead. An alternative name of carrot cake is Passion cake, and carrot cake typically contains walnut and a cream cheese topping (or white icing).

The carrot cake fell out of favour until World War II due to rationing and especially the 1960s, where it really took off in US restaurants, first as a novelty cake, then as a cake in its own right. The inclusion of carrot has made it look more healthy than it really is - it still has plenty of indulgent standard cake ingredients, after all!

Answer: Cheesecake

Cheesecake typically is mostly made of cream cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese, which forms a custard that is placed on a biscuit, pastry or sponge base. Fruit such as lemon or strawberry are often used to flavour the custard, and can also be used to top the cheesecake. Some argue that because cheesecakes do not rise, they are not typically a cake, and the base often leads people to call it a pie, instead. However, cheesecakes were one of the first cakes, first used in ancient Greece for religious purposes, and so perhaps it's the other, later cakes which aren't 'true' cakes.

Oh, and for those concerned of animal welfare, hummingbird cake exists but does not contain a single hummingbird, rest assured.

Answer: Sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream

A variant of the cake uses whole milk instead of cream, however, typically the 'third' type of milk is often heavier than the others in any case. Tres leches cake can be a butter or sponge cake; if it is a sponge cake, it is very light so as not to become soggy from the large amount of milk used in its production. It can be served with whipped cream, adding even more dairy to the mix. It was used by Jenna Bush Hager as a wedding cake, and in Mexico is a favourite for special occasions.

I'm not sure I would recommend putting milk of magnesia and milk of eucalyptus in a cake: that experiment would not end well, I believe.

Answer: Hungary

I say appropriate because one might be hungry for a cake from Hungary. The cake has between five and seven almond sponge layers, with a smooth chocolate buttercream in-between these layers. In addition, the cake is soaked in rum, lemon, or vanilla syrup, and topped with caramel to help keep the moisture inside. Dobos wanted to make a cake that would last longer than other cakes, in which he succeeded, and there are over a hundred known variants of the recipe.

Answer: Pineapple

In upside-down cake, the juicy pineapples are placed at the bottom of the pan so as to provide a decorative, yet unburnt layer on top once inverted. Sweet cherries are often placed in the 'holes' of the round slices of pineapple. The cake has several similarities to Tarte Tatin, which is also an upside-down cake, cooked by accident, although accounts on how it was done so vary.

Answer: Dalloyau

Opera cake was one of the most famous baked items from the Dalloyau patisserie, and has some similarities with tiramisu, another multi-layered dessert. In opera cake, almond sponge, ganache (rich chocolate and cream filling), and coffee buttercream were layered together, with a rich chocolate glaze on top.

It is said that Charles Dalloyau first cooked for Louis XIV of France in 1682 and became a royal chef of his. His descendents enjoyed a seat as Royal chefs until the French Revolution, when society changed and Jean-Baptiste Dalloyau formed the Dalloyau patisserie in 1802.

Then, later in 1955, the opera cake was said to be repopularised from the Dalloyau patisserie, which survived all those years.

Answer: Jesus and his apostles

Variants of the cake use twelve balls to represent all twelve Biblical apostles, or Jesus and the other eleven apostles, however, it is generally considered that Judas is omitted, so sometimes eleven balls are used instead.
Simnel cake is typically only eaten at Easter or in Lent, so is more popular at those times of the year. Historically, in medieval times, simnel cake was eaten when Lent's fasting was relaxed. The cake is a light fruit cake and often has a layer of marzipan cooked into its centre. Fruits used include sultanas, glace cherries, currants, and lemon zest.

Answer: No

Coffee cake can be a variant of a classical sponge cake but with coffee layer(s). Often, the icing of the cake has some coffee mixed in with the icing sugar, and this type of cake can be popular as it melds the bitterness of coffee with the sweetness of sugar.

However, perhaps more commonly, it is a cake-like bread (often with a single layer) which can contain raisins, nuts, or chocolate chunks, and can be topped with icing or streusel, a butter, flour and sugar crumb topping. The name 'coffee cake' might have been given because of their role in providing nourishment alongside drinks of coffee in the 17th century.

So, there is a literal 'cake with coffee' in, and a cake used at a coffee break.