arCAKEology: an edible archaeology

The following is an excellent post with marvellous related illustrations written by archaeologist-museologist Dr Naya Dalakoura. 

Naya, it is a great pleasure and honour to have you on the Consuming Greek Antiquity blog. 

Dr Naya Dalakoura

ArCAKEology: an edible archaeology

Tasting the Parthenon as dessert could have never crossed the mind as perhaps archaeology is  not well known for being a discipline in which you bake cakes …seems though that human imagination is endless as there are some fantastic archaeology inspired cakes out there! Birthday cakes, puddings, fruity shots, cupcakes, all faithful replicas of original artifacts have inspired archaeo-lovers who are privileged with the knowledge of antiquity and the ability to create pastries, sharing their love of baking with the world.

Celebrating the end of a dig, archaeological course reunions, archaeological bakes off, museum fund raisings, birthdays or Christmas dinners are all potential reasons for consuming antiquity. From Megalithic temples to Bronze Age graves, funerary masks, mosaics, temples, archaeological trenches, excavations, models of archaeological sites are impressing, most original and ingenious examples of incorporating and often interpreting elements of world ancient culture, presenting almost every period in cake form (Stonehenge and the Parthenon are the most beloved ones!) . What makes these cakes good? Their correct or nearly correct proportions, their shaping and texturing, the coloured icing and their spicy details.

The confectioners, proud fathers of their culinary creations, cannot resist the temptation to respond to the calls of magazines as the Current Archaeology Magazine and post the photos on line contributing to the international must-do-trend of themed baking.  Some creators modestly ask to remain anonymous and others, as the Italian pastry cook Mirco della Vecchio, have gained international recognition for baking white chocolate world cultural heritage monuments.

Baking archaeo-cakes instructions are used as educational material (activity sheets) for teaching archaeology to children. According to the educators of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Council for British Archaeology, trying to make a stratigraphy layer cake can lead to learning archaeological concepts and skills, discovering more about how layers build up and what an archaeological section might look like – and it tastes pretty great too! All you need is some layers for the cake, chocolate, vanilla, butter icing, cream and jam!

Get the inspiration, bake archaeology, consume antiquity and offer us the taste!