cake

cake

cake / kāk/ • n. an item of soft, sweet food made from a mixture of flour, shortening, eggs, sugar, and other ingredients, baked and often decorated. ∎  an item of savory food formed into a flat, round shape, and typically baked or fried: crab cakes. ∎  a flattish, compact mass of something, esp. soap: a cake of soap. • v. [tr.] (usu. be caked) (of a thick or sticky substance that hardens when dry) cover and become encrusted on (the surface of an object): a pair of boots caked with mud. ∎  [intr.] (of a thick or sticky substance) dry or harden into a solid mass: the blood under his nose was beginning to cake. PHRASES: a piece of cake inf. something easily achieved. sell like hotcakes inf. be sold quickly and in large quantities. take the cake surpass or exceed all others: of all the hard-hearted women, she takes the cake.

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"cake." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"cake." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-cake.html

"cake." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-cake.html

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cake

cake originally a small mass of dough baked by turning on a spit; in present usage a dessert made of flour, sugar, eggs, seasonings, usually some leavening and liquid besides the eggs, and shortening. This last ingredient is not always used; unshortened cakes depend mainly on beaten eggs for leavening (e.g., spongecake and angel food cake). The early method of making sweet cake was by adding other ingredients to a portion of bread dough. Some cakes, such as fruitcake or poundcake, called for many eggs and for wine, brandy, or sack (an Elizabethan wine); these ingredients supplying the leavening agent. Modern cakes are generally raised with baking powder, baking soda, or beaten eggs.

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"cake." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"cake." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-cake.html

"cake." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-cake.html

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cake

cake (arch.) flat sort of loaf XIII; confectionery made with flour XV; (Sc.) thin hard-baked oaten bread XVI. prob — ON. kaka (Icel., Sw. kaka, Da. kage), f. *kak-, rel. to *kōk-, repr. by G. kuchen, etc., COOKIE.
Hence cake vb. form into a cake. XVII.

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T. F. HOAD. "cake." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "cake." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-cake.html

T. F. HOAD. "cake." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-cake.html

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cake

cake Baked from flour with added fat (butter or margarine), sugar, and eggs. Plain cakes are made by rubbing the fat and sugar into the flour, with no egg; sponge cakes by whipping with or without fat; rich cakes contain dried fruit.

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DAVID A. BENDER. "cake." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAVID A. BENDER. "cake." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-cake.html

DAVID A. BENDER. "cake." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-cake.html

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cake

cake cakes and ale merrymaking, good things; originally, a quotation from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1601).
one's cake is dough one's project has failed.

See also cherry on the cake, you cannot have your cake and eat it.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "cake." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "cake." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-cake.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "cake." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-cake.html

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Cake

Cake

a mass of matter moulded into a solid shape; used figuratively.

Examples: cake of customs, 1872; of dynamite, 1884; of ice; of laws and customs, 1879; of paint; of soap; of tobacco; of wax, 1528.

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"Cake." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Cake." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300212.html

"Cake." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300212.html

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cake

cake See MUD-CAKE.

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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "cake." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "cake." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-cake.html

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "cake." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-cake.html

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cake

cakeache, awake, bake, betake, Blake, brake, break, cake, crake, drake, fake, flake, forsake, hake, Jake, lake, make, mistake, opaque, partake, quake, rake, sake, shake, sheikh, slake, snake, splake, stake, steak, strake, take, undertake, wake, wideawake •bellyache • clambake • headache •backache • pancake • teacake •seedcake • beefcake • cheesecake •fishcake • johnnycake • tipsy cake •rock cake • shortcake • oatcake •oilcake • fruitcake • cupcake •pat-a-cake • cornflake • snowflake •rattlesnake • handbrake • mandrake •heartbreak • airbrake • daybreak •jailbreak • canebrake • windbreak •tiebreak • corncrake • outbreak •footbrake • muckrake • earache •firebreak • namesake • keepsake •handshake • milkshake • heartache •beefsteak • sweepstake • stocktake •out-take • uptake • grubstake •wapentake • toothache • seaquake •kittiwake • moonquake • earthquake

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"cake." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"cake." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-cake.html

"cake." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-cake.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Cakes, fillings, and more!(Food)
Newspaper article from: Manila Bulletin; 4/14/2010
CAKES CONFIDENTIAL; WEDDED BLISS.
Newspaper article from: The Mail on Sunday (London, England); 5/27/2007
Cake.(News)
Newspaper article from: Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales); 12/22/2005

Facts and information from other sites

cake images
cake. (Image by Tracy Hunter, CC)