The term "cake" has a long history. The word itself is of Viking origin, from the Old Norseword "kaka".[2]

The ancient Greeks called cake πλακοῦς (plakous), which was derived from the word for "flat", πλακόεις (plakoeis). It was baked using flour mixed with eggs, milk, nuts and honey. They also had a cake called “satura”, which was a flat heavy cake. During the Roman period, the name for cake became “placenta” which was derived from the Greek term. Placenta were baked on a pastry base or inside a pastry case.[3]

The Greeks invented beer as a leavener, fryingfritters in olive oil, and cheesecakes using goat's milk.[4] In ancient Rome, basic bread dough was sometimes enriched with butter, eggs, and honey, which produced a sweet and cake-like baked good.[5] Latin poet Ovid refers his and his brother's birthday party and cake in his first book of exile, Tristia.[6]

Early cakes in England were also essentially bread: the most obvious differences between a "cake" and "bread" were the round, flat shape of the cakes, and the cooking method, which turned cakes over once while cooking, while bread was left upright throughout the baking process.[5]

Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain.

Cake (also known as gateau or gâteau, from French) is a form of sweet dessert that is typically baked. In its oldest forms, cakes were modifications of breads, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, and that share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.