“Pie” vs. “Cake”: What’s Baked Into Their Delicious Differences?

The 14th of March is the day to contemplate the specific number pi. Pi has the exact first three digits as 3/14 if written using it in the American style and with the month preceding the day. It’s also a holiday on which people enjoy eating pie as a homophone but with a different meaning.

Pi is much longer than 3.14, Of course. And what does it feel like it’s a lot longer than the endless digits of pi? The delicious debate about the distinction between pie and cake. Pie and pie. Pie.

There are indeed cakes people and people who eat pie people around the world. We’re not going to tell you which one is more delicious (correct answer: they’re equally delicious). We can, however, offer an example of the things that make cake cake distinct from pie. Pie. Yes, that includes the reason why some pie varieties are more savory instead of sweet.

What is pie?

Pie is an oven-baked food that is placed inside a pastry-lined pan dish with meat, fruit pudding, or another filling. It usually includes the pastry crust to top it.

The word first came into use in 1275-1325. It is in Middle English. It’s not as easy to pinpoint what the term was used to be used to describe the foods we love and eat, but there is a belief that it originates from magpies–yes, it’s the bird. According to the theory, magpies gather whatever catches their attention, and people are known to put everything edible in the pie. Pie.

There are fruit pies, which are most popular within the United States, but also chicken pot pies, savory pies, and meat pies. Some parts of England, such as Italy, are known for their famous fish pie, and some countries located in the Levant are renowned for their sfiha pie, which is made from Mutton or beef as well as spices along with Labneh–a Soft cheese. Meat pies that are made from Mutton, pork, or beef are also popular in the UK as well as in some countries that were once British colonies, such as Australia (think Shepherd’s Pie or smaller hand pies).

In spite of the variety of these pieces, they have one thing they share: the crust that’s on top. However, this isn’t always the case with foods that carry that “pie” label. For instance, take pizza. This phrase is popular throughout America. US (especially on the East Coast), and references to pizza are traced way back to the 1800s. Pizza is a pizza’s design that is identical to pie. It is essentially a pie with no crust, and the definition of pizza is “a flat, open-faced baked pie of Italian origin.”

What exactly is cake??

Cake refers to cake as “a sweet, baked, breadlike food, made with or without shortening, and usually containing flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, eggs, and liquid flavoring.”

In contrast to the pies, cakes are sweeter in their definition. Instead of meat, fruit, and pudding, cakes are described by ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs, sugar, and baking powder or soda. Cakes are also devoid of the traditional pastry crust topping that is added for various kinds of desserts.

Discussions around the word cake frequently prompt questions about what is included in the definition and what’s not, similar to the pie. There are many kinds of cakes, including fruitcake (which provides candied or dried fruit), angel food cakes (a type of sponge cake with a porous texture), and cookies (a cake that’s the same size as cake). Cakes are in the same category since they’re made with all the right ingredients, even if they’re a bit smaller than party cake. Then there’s cheesecake with a lot of characteristics that make it cake, but the question of whether it’s truly a cake is a matter of debate.

The whole discussion of cakes could make you consider muffins and the distinction between them. It’s no surprise that the English language is brimming with these kinds of arguments about names for food items. It’s simpler to calculate those first hundred digits of pi rather than to dip your toes in the debated etymological origins of baked products.