“Ancient Egyptians added honey, nuts, and fruit to bread to make it sweet – a dish thought to be the earliest version of CAKE.”

National Geographic 5,000 Awesome Facts, Fact # 1 out of 35 on Decadent Incredible Desserts.

The Egyptians are credited with making the first known cakes in the history of the world. Because there was no sugar; dates and fruits, nuts and honey were used to make the cake sweet.

According to https://www.messynessychic.com/2023/01/31/a-brief-compendium-of-preserved-pieces-of-cake/, the world’s oldest known cake is a preserved cake that accompanied Pepi’Onkh’s tomb during the reign of PepiIl from BCE2251-2157, and was found in 1913. The cake is held by the Alimentaruim Museum in Verey, Switzerland.

This Egyptian cake is a perfect example of the age-old practice of preserving food in a vacuum. “This cake comprises two wheat flat breads filled with honey and milk cooked in two copper molds that fit together perfectly. The molds were preheated in the fire and placed on the damp dough, which led to the formation of air bubbles inside. As the cake cooled, these air bubbles escaped thus creating a vacuum in the mold. This ensured that the cake stuck to the metal and allowed it to be preserved to this day.”(https://www.alimentarium.org/en/object/egyptian-cake)

Basbousa is an ancient Egyptian cake that is still cooked today. It is a semolina cake that’s drizzled with sugary syrup from dates and fruit juices and is sprinkled with nuts and often cut in diamond or rectangular shapes.