Gateau

French for cake. The word is derived from the old French guastrel, which gave medieval English the word wastrel, meaning fine flour and loaves or cakes made from it. The word ‘gateau’ crossed the Channel to England in the early 19th century (le cake, meaning a pound cake containing dried fruit, crossed in the opposite direction, to France). In Victorian England cookery writers used ‘gateau’ initially to denote puddings such as rice baked in a mould, and moulded baked dishes of fish or meat; during the second part of the century it was also applied to highly decorated layer cakes. Judging by the amount of space given to directions for making these in bakers’ manuals of the time, they were tremendously popular. Their prices varied according to the quality of the ingredients, their size, and the amount of decoration. Most were probably rather sickly, made from cheap sponge filled with ‘buttercream’ (butter and icing sugar beaten together), and coated with fondant icing. Elaborate piped decoration was added. Many fanciful shapes were made, such as trefoils, horseshoes, hearts, and butterflies, all using these basic mixtures. The primary meaning of the word ‘gateau’ is now a rich and elaborate cake filled with whipped cream and fruit, nuts, or chocolate.