Endless Cake Inspirations for Christmas, Weddings, and Home Baking – Escape the Mundane!

Traditional cakes for celebrations, pilgrimages, and festivals

One of the major showcases of pie-making artistry used to happen during traditional folk festivals, especially during feasts, festivals, and pilgrimages. Each region developed their own unique recipes for festive cakes, both in terms of preparation and decoration. For instance, in the Beroun region, multi-layered cakes gained popularity, while in the Pilsen area, they baked a similar treat known as pierogi, which is a pie packed with various fillings. This tradition continues today in numerous styles, from square-shaped pies baked on a sheet to those made with yeasted dough and choux pastry. In some parts, there are pastries called spinners, which are reminiscent of today’s sweet snail-like puff pastries, and in Polná in the Highlands, where the second Sunday in September is still celebrated with a Carrot fair, you can taste sweet buns filled with carrots or carrots. In Moravia, cakes with double fillings, also referred to as three-crust cakes, made from several small loaves were popular. If someone finds a baked coin in their slice, it’s believed they will have good fortune for the entire year.

Wedding cupcakes: traditions, superstitions, and tips for finding a groom quickly

While afterglow cakes can be found in many variations, wedding cakes are generally made similarly across the country, although specific recipes can differ. These cakes tend to be small and are easy to enjoy, often filled with ingredients like cottage cheese, nuts, and poppy seeds.

In Moravia, these cakes tend to be more stuffed, while in Bohemia, they usually feature a visible filling and are often topped with crumbs. In East Bohemia, you’ll find them tied together as shatkes, and in the Highlands, they appear as buns. Some recipes are enhanced by dipping them in melted butter and rum, or dusting them with sugar, but the core essence remains unchanged.

Numerous superstitions surround wedding cakes. The most well-known belief is that the bride shouldn’t be involved in baking them, as this is thought to bring her misfortune, stress, and weeping children. Traditionally, if a single woman or a bachelor eats a piece of the wedding cake, they are said to find happiness in love within a year and a day. Another superstition suggests that it’s best to eat the cake secretly under the table for even better luck. There’s also a belief that if a girl manages to stealthily take a piece of the cake and slips it under her pillow at night, she will dream about her future husband. Does this apply to cupcakes as well? Why not try it!

Cupcakes are typically given out as wedding invitations, served on the wedding day, and are sometimes taken home as party favors. However, the saying “different region, different customs” applies here, too. In Ořechov near Brno, for instance, guests used to take home a slice of a large cake called retired. This cake is decorated with virgin apples, myrtle branches, and gingerbread and can be seen being made in one episode of the TV show Baking for Sunday.

Baking for Sunday and cakes made by the whole country

The series Baking for Sunday features the talented Petra Burianová, who won the Bake the Whole Country competition. She travels throughout the Czech and Moravian countryside to discover unique recipes, then prepares, bakes, and decorates these dishes right in front of the camera.

This show offers an excellent chance for cake lovers to broaden their culinary knowledge and recipe collections. In Bernartice nad Odrou in the Kravaře region, you can learn how to make knead cakes, while in Horace, you can observe the creation of “hodobožové” Pajerski pie. If you visit Podještědí, you will learn why Chatty cakes are so widely enjoyed, as they utilize all the leftover fillings one might have at home. You’ll also understand how to make **Archlebovské cakes andwhy Rosenberg logs require Petr Vok to ferment four times, and head to Jilemnice to discover how to prepare Krkonoše cakes.

Of course, there are also popular culinary highlights like the famous wedding cupcakes from Milotic and Wallachian frgals. You can learn how to make these at the Valachy Resort in Velké Karlovice, and in Chodsko, you can savor authentic Chodsko cakes. For a genuine chodsky pie, make sure to include rum in both the dough and the glaze (and maybe even for yourself).

Sweet geography: cakes from Hlučín, Prague, or Zvíkov

While lattice cakes, cast cakes, or fruit cakes are named based on their appearance and the ingredients on or in them, other desserts are named for their places of origin. For example, the Hlučínské pie, which was traditionally baked on special occasions like indulgences (pilgrimages) and krmash (celebrations of light). These round cakes are abundantly filled and typically embellished with yolk crumbs, arranged in patterns like daisies or four-leaf clovers.

Prague cakes feature a delightful mix of crispy, sliced dough paired with a rich whipped cream filling and a crunchy topping. Meanwhile, Zvíkovské pies are prepared using a delightful mixture of apples, sugar, eggs, nuts, raisins, and flour.

Where to escape from boredom: CzechSpecials and Grandma’s lattice cake

Join us in baking a classic pie through the Czech Specials initiative featuring Grandma’s lattice cake! This delicious dessert, rich with blackberry and walnut flavor, will remind many of the times when grandma used to keep little fingers away from her hot pies fresh from the oven, supposedly to prevent them from burning their tummies.

Ingredients:

300 g semi-coarse flour
200 g butter
2 egg yolks
80 g sugar
¼ packet of baking powder
½ packet of vanilla
sugar
lemon zest
blackberry marmalade
walnut halves
fat and coarse flour for greasing and dusting the mold

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

Instructions: Mix together sifted flour, butter, sugar, egg yolks, baking powder, vanilla sugar, and lemon zest to create a soft dough, then let it chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Next, press two-thirds of the dough into a greased and floured tart tin, around 30 cm in diameter. Spread the blackberry jam over the entire surface. Roll out narrow strips from the remaining dough and place them in a lattice pattern over the tart. Fill the openings in the lattice with walnut halves.

Put the filled tart in a preheated medium oven and bake slowly until it turns golden brown. Then, try to let it cool a bit… but your appetite may not let you wait long!

Feel free to get creative, adding your own ingredients or decorating the cakes however you like. Enjoy!