# Is the flavor of a cake determined by the bread part or the icing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740 "2015-02-27T01:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/61 "2015-03-07T21:40:51Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I just don’t even know where to start in this thread. > > Chocolate is cocoa plus fat and sugar, it does not have to be cocoa fat. So if you made a Chiffon cake, then it’s chocolate cake. If it’s a sponge cake, well, OK, we can maybe allow the egg yolk fat to qualify, but you’re pushing it. Chocolate angel food can not exist. You knew this was inevitable, right? [Chocolate Angel Food Cake](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-angel-food-cake-with-fruit-and-maple-yogurt-230816). ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/62 "2015-03-07T21:50:00Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Of course it’s bread. Anyone who had made both cakes and bread can attest to that. It’s just very sweet and flavorful bread. What are you, some kind of Welshman? I am Welsh. What do you mean by this? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/63 "2015-03-07T21:54:58Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I am Welsh. > > What do you mean by this? I’ve been pretending to despise Welshmen for years. If you prefer I’ll be bigoted against Andorrans. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/64 "2015-03-07T22:08:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ve been pretending to despise Welshmen for years. If you prefer I’ll be bigoted against Andorrans. I have no preference. Please, do continue to pretend despising whoever you wish. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/65 "2015-03-07T22:13:19Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I have no preference. Please, do continue to pretend despising whoever you wish. Nah. If there’s an actual Welshperson on the board, I shall be retarget my hatred toward … let me think … Lemurians. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/66 "2015-03-07T22:47:25Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > TruCelt, take your facts back to Ottawa where they belong. Facts are just a crutch for people who don’t carry broadswords. 😉 Ottawa? How did that come into it? Don’t make me introduce you to my Grandfather’s shillelagh! > [@WhyNot](#): > > You knew this was inevitable, right? [Chocolate Angel Food Cake](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-angel-food-cake-with-fruit-and-maple-yogurt-230816). OK, so there’s my point exactly. You can a have an Angel cake with cocoa in it, but not a chocolate angel cake. Either it has no fat, in which case it is a cocoa angel cake, or it has added fat (and therefore needs baking soda or powder to keep it from collapsing) and is therefore a chocolate chiffon cake. But Angel cake (and I would argue, sponge cake) can never be chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/67 "2015-03-07T22:59:39Z")
I really can’t contribute anything to any thread in which cake is repeatedly called bread. Cake is not bread. Cake may have a bready texture but it isn’t bread. I have a headache from the very idea. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/68 "2015-03-08T01:49:37Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > But Angel cake (and I would argue, sponge cake) can never be chocolate. If you added chocolate, would it cause it to collapse and become a fallen angel cake? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/69 "2015-03-08T02:36:36Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Ottawa? How did that come into it? Don’t make me introduce you to my Grandfather’s shillelagh! > > OK, so there’s my point exactly. You can a have an Angel cake with cocoa in it, but not a chocolate angel cake. Either it has no fat, in which case it is a cocoa angel cake, or it has added fat (and therefore needs baking soda or powder to keep it from collapsing) and is therefore a chocolate chiffon cake. > > But Angel cake (and I would argue, sponge cake) can never be chocolate. How did Ottawa come into it? You know very well that, as I hate everything, I randomly choose specific nationalities to be prejudiced against in every post, and it was Canada’s turn in the barrel. I swear. Sometimes I think you’re from Dis. You’re lucky I lurves ya so much. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/70 "2015-03-08T03:55:46Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Here ya go.](http://www.thevikingsworld.com/Skald/recipes/) 😃 If _blod kaker_ (from the link) doesn’t have blood, then cocoa cake is certainly chocolate cake. What flavor _is_ yellow cake? (And don’t say uranium.) Is it ever frosted with anything but chocolate? Whatever it is, with chocolate icing, is my favorite. And my birthday is June 7. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/71 "2015-03-08T04:22:57Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > If you added chocolate, would it cause it to collapse and become a fallen angel cake? Devil’s food cake. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/72 "2015-03-08T14:39:42Z")
If you did a poll of the general public I would bet a majority would call yellow cake with chocolate icing “Chocolate Cake”. I don’t agree but that’s the world we live in. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/73 "2015-03-08T17:19:44Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > If you did a poll of the general public I would bet a majority would call yellow cake with chocolate icing “Chocolate Cake”. I don’t agree but that’s the world we live in. [Nope](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=599171). ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/74 "2015-03-08T19:44:56Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > [Nope](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=599171). I actually remembered that thread that’s why I said the general public. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/75 "2015-03-08T20:36:56Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I actually remembered that thread that’s why I said the general public. I don’t think the general public would be that far off from the poll. I mean, I understand that the Dope can be especially pedantic, but we have something like 95% agreement there, which is incredibly high. Just do a quick google image search for “chocolate cake” and one for “yellow cake.” Almost all of the “chocolate cake” images are images of cake with chocolate/cocoa in the cake part. Meanwhile, nearly half the “yellow cake” images are of chocolate frosted yellow cake. Perhaps it varies by region, but I’d be surprised if most people called a yellow cake with chocolate frosting a “chocolate cake” around here. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/76 "2015-03-08T21:04:37Z")
I have never heard a cake referred to by the flavour of the frosting instead of the flavour of the cake itself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/77 "2015-03-08T22:34:47Z")
**Skald** , what’s wrong with just hating Etruscans? That simplifies everything. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/78 "2015-03-08T22:57:59Z")
You know, the Fates\* really do have it in for me. I cannot make the smallest claim without them bashing me over the head with it. We have an exchange student joining our household today, and she’s from [Guadaloupe](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Guadeloupe/@16.1730949,-61.4054001,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x8c0e755a77287d51:0xecbe3e37b74a07ab). So I looked up some recipes to help her feel at home on her first day. Accordingly, we just made a vanilla sponge cake with applejack and lime syrup to go with the sliced bananas and a stabilized whipped cream frosting. And then it happened: I heard myself refer to it as a “Banana Cream Cake.” And that, without a doubt, is what it is. :sigh: \*Skaldy seldom mentions them, but I’ve often suspected that he has them on speed-dial. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/79 "2015-03-09T00:02:19Z")
Oh, and **Skald** , you didn’t respond to my earlier question about which recipe you wanted, so I’m defaulting to gobs: > [@](#): > > The cookie part > Blend together: > 2 cups sugar > 1⁄2 cup shortening > Beat in: > 2 eggs > 1 cup sour milk\* > 1 cup boiling water > 1 tsp. vanilla > Sift and stir in: > 4 1⁄2 cups flour > 2 tsp. soda > 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder > 1⁄2 tsp. salt > 3⁄4 cup cocoa > Drop by big spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for only 5-6 minutes. Gobs bake quickly. Remove to rack and cool completely. > \*Sour milk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to milk. > > The filling part > Cook until thick: > 5 tbsp. flour > 3⁄4 cup milk > Cool thoroughly. > Cream: > 1 cup confectioner’s sugar > 1⁄2 cup shortening > 1⁄2 cup margarine > 1⁄2 tsp. salt > 1 tsp. vanilla > Beat both mixtures together with mixer. Spread liberally between two cookie parts. Wrap each gob in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator or a cool place. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740/80 "2015-03-09T00:06:59Z")
Again, I will say I agree with the majority here but as I wrote above I have seen personally a great deal of people not bat an eye if Yellow Cake with chocolate icing is called “Chocolate cake.” A further data point, TastyKake’s yellow cake with chocolate icing is called a “Chocolate Junior.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-flavor-of-a-cake-determined-by-the-bread-part-or-the-icing/713740.md?page=5)