A slice of cake Once it was a luxury to eat a slice of cake, but that indulgence is now a more affordable treat. We eat it when we celebrate, reward ourselves, or when we seek solace from the realities of life. "Cake is a very comforting thing to make, eat and smell," says Jessica Simmons, who has penned a book on Women's Institute vintage teatime. But with tea and coffee prices rising, and ingredients like milk, eggs and butter all affected by inflation, for some it has become an expensive pleasure to sit down with a slice of cake and a hot drink. As home economist Liz Martin says: "With everyone feeling the bite, it is probably still a luxury, especially in the average home." While we still see cakes as a treat, 50 years ago "baking was a requirement really rather than a pastime", says Jessica Simmons. Cheap, plain cakes were regularly whipped up as an essential part of Sunday tea during the 60s, but the more luxurious chocolate cake was a rarer treat. For a basic cake, the same ingredients were available then as they are now. So how do prices compare? Historian Annie Gray says a basic sponge recipe with chocolate powder is "the best reflection of something which covers then and now". So I took Great British Bake Off presenter Mary Berry's chocolate sponge cake recipe and compared the prices of the ingredients in 1962 and 2012, leaving out water, the cost of the power used to bake the cake and avoiding monetising the baker's time. Using average prices from Tesco online, it was easy enough to work out that in 2012 it would cost £3.85 to make the cake (see below), or 48p per slice (cutting it into eight portions). But it was a little harder to work out how much it would have cost in 1962. The Office of National Statistics's Retail Price Index gave some prices, but I also used those in a leaflet for goods from 60s grocery retailer Shaw's, and a Cadbury's chocolate price list from the time. By converting the imperial measures for the ingredients into metric, and their pre-decimalised prices in to decimalised currency, I found the cake cost 35p to make, or 4p per slice.
Affordable treat – доступное удовольствие Indulgence – привилегия, поблажка Reward – вознаграждать Seek solace - искать утешение Has penned – сочинил Requirement – требование Plain – простой Whipped up – на скорую руку Compare – сравнить Covers – охватывать Avoiding monetizing – избегать монетизации Leaflet – листовка Grocery retailer – сеть продуктовых магазинов By converting – путем преобразования Currency – валюта
What an interesting article) I love to indulge myself into cakes)) Even more, I love to bake different cakes and pies myself. And I completely agree that it's not cheap ... Prices in recent years have become higher, it's so sad(
Wow, the atricle is about sweet-stuff again!Cake is one of my favourite foods!!!I read this text with big pleasure!!Moverover, i have known a lot of interesting information!!
What an interesting article) I love to indulge myself into cakes)) Even more, I love to bake different cakes and pies myself. And I completely agree that it's not cheap ... Prices in recent years have become higher, it's so sad(
